Red Sox usher in new era with win, feel dams are 'about to burst open'

BALTIMORE -- For all the talk of who is out (manager Alex Cora and six coaches) and who is in (interim manager Chad Tracy), the rest of this Red Sox season will be determined by the players, and how they respond to the sudden changes.

Sunday was a good first impression by the men between the lines to prove that there is still time to reverse course from a disappointing first month of the season.

Behind a strong pitching performance by rookie lefty Connelly Early and some well-rounded offense, the Sox (11-17) took the rubber match of the three-game series at Camden Yards with a 5-3 victory over the Orioles.

“We’ve got a job to do,” said shortstop Trevor Story pregame. “If this shows us anything, it's we're here to play baseball, and that's it. We don't make decisions. We don't have any input on that. We're here to play baseball, and our job is to win games. And [I] think that's the message, is that we have to find a way to win games.”

By winning one, Tracy earned a shower of beer (and other liquids) a few minutes after the final strikeout pitch by Aroldis Chapman, which pushed the closer past Goose Gossage for second on the all-time list of strikeouts by a reliever with 1,341.

“It was awesome,” said Tracy. “The guys celebrated it with me. Dumped some beer on me and stuff. There was shaving cream in the eyes. There was a lot of stuff that was stinging the eyes. It was cool. It was really special.”

Early went a career-high 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs while walking one and striking out four. On a day it would have been easy for a rookie to be distracted, the 24-year-old was locked in.

“Obviously, it was a bit of a shock for everybody in the past 24 hours. It's been a whirlwind,” said Early. “I just wanted to show that I was confident out there. And, we talked within the team before the game, and just wanted to go out there and play baseball and support each other. I think we did a really good job today. Played some really good baseball, and played the way AC would have wanted us to play.”

Prior to the game, Tracy said he wanted the team to lean into its athleticism. To that end, the Sox stole four bases. Ceddanne Rafaela flew around the bases with his second triple of the weekend. Marcelo Mayer slid into the tarp along the first-base line for an outstanding catch on a foul ball.

“We have guys that are athletic and fast,” Tracy said. “We have speed, so we can create things like we did today. With that, we also made some outs, and I think some of them, maybe a little careless -- but you want to be aggressive.”

With some speed and athleticism came a touch of power, as Willson Contreras belted a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, to give Early a 3-0 cushion in the fifth.

A happy flight to Toronto was a nice way to end a tumultuous 24 hours.

“We're still gonna be held to the same standard by the fans, by the people around us and within ourselves,” Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony said pregame. “I think regardless of who's here and who's not here, when we take the field, we hold ourselves to that standard. And if we continue to do that, things are going to turn and things are going to be just fine. Obviously this is weird, but at the same time, it's gonna be all right.”

Garrett Crochet got Boston back on a winning track on Saturday, Cora’s final game, when he fired six scoreless innings in a 17-1 win.

“We've been playing terribly, and it kind of feels like those guys [on the coaching staff] paid the cost of our own crime,” Crochet said. “So that's kind of the tough part that you have to have to battle internally, I suppose. It caused a lot of us to be introspective. And really, you understand that it's a business. But when it's a move that big, it really opens your eyes.”

The power lefty thinks, regardless of the switch in managers, the Red Sox are a team that has the capability of taking off.

“It's just a matter of putting it together,” Crochet said. “It's easy to say that, too, when you win a series against a division opponent. I feel like the dams are finally about to bust open.”