Betts improving, but Cora playing it safe

BOSTON -- After being scratched from the lineup before Sunday's loss to the Braves, Mookie Betts was not in the Red Sox's Memorial Day lineup against the Blue Jays due to left side tightness. But manager Alex Cora is not worried about his star hitter.
"Just tightness," Cora said. "He'll be fine. He's getting treatment. We do feel that, you know, probably tomorrow might be a day that he'll come back. I'd prefer to stay away from it before probably two days, if everything is going this way. There's no need to push him. Makes no sense."
Cora said Betts began feeling tight while warming up before the Red Sox's 7-1 loss to the Braves on Sunday. Cora said he is trying to avoid having Betts take swings so he can rest.
"He's day to day, feeling better today," he said. "Getting treatment, we'll see how he reacts to it and we'll go from there."
With Betts out of the lineup, Cora decided on Brock Holt in right field against Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez. Holt, who entered the day 2-for-12 with a double and an RBI against Sanchez, batted seventh.
"Brock has really good at bats against Sanchez, so we felt that it was a good matchup for him," Cora said.
Celtics inspire Cora
The Celtics might have lost to the Cavaliers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night, but the team's journey was still an inspiration to Cora.
"I think everybody gave up on them after opening night," he said. "You know, when [Gordon] Hayward goes down, people just wrote them off. And when Kyrie [Irving] went down, that was it. And just listening to [head coach] Brad [Stevens] and listening to the players, the learning process -- it seems like on a daily basis, regardless of the results throughout the season and through the playoffs, they keep teaching the game, something that we do feel we have to do here.
"That was something we were talking about the other day. On a daily basis, regardless of how good these players are, you got to teach them. It's not only on-the-field stuff, it's about preparation. … And that's something Brad did throughout the season. The future is bright. I was watching and thinking about what can happen next here. So it was fun to watch."
Cora played basketball until eighth grade growing up, and he enjoys watching the NBA. But Cora was just as inspired by what transpired off the court -- watching the Boston fan base become electrified by the Celtics' success.
"The way the fans reacted, that was -- you start thinking ahead, honestly, and how crazy it can be," Cora said. "I lived it before, I saw it last year from the other side, and it's not an easy place to come in in the playoffs. So hopefully we can keep doing what we're doing and we can have that atmosphere here and take advantage of it."