ARLINGTON -- Ideally, the Red Sox would be playing for playoff positioning in this final week of the season. Instead, the talk is of milestones.
J.D. Martinez reached his 100th RBI on Monday, marking the fourth time in the past five years he's hit that mark. Eduardo Rodriguez went into Tuesday's start in Texas two wins from 20 for the season.
Meanwhile, third baseman Rafael Devers entered Tuesday just eight hits shy of 200 for the season, a rather impressive feat for a 22-year-old.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora has noticed that the players are openly pulling for each other to reach their numbers. An example of that was Tuesday's lineup.
Mookie Betts was originally supposed to have the night off, but he asked to play so he could support Rodriguez's effort.
What does that type of attitude tell Cora about the chemistry of his team?
"That we have something cool going on here and we just had a bad season," Cora said. "That's the way I see it. They care about each other. They're not happy with what happened this year, but at the same time, this is baseball and there's some special things going on."
Though Martinez hasn't been as consistent a force as he was in last year's championship season, he is still one of the most productive hitters in the game. He was hitting .301 with 35 homers, to go along with the 100 RBIs.
"We've been talking about him the whole season, and it's kind of like he's been not scuffling, not struggling, but it hasn't been as easy as last year," Cora said. "At the end, the guy can hit. He keeps working hard at it. We had a day game on Sunday and he texted me the night before, 'Hey, can we hit early? Can we take BP tomorrow?' Usually we don't hit on day games.
"He kind of found something Saturday night and he wanted to work at it, and he goes the other way and gets two or three hits. He's going to work till the end, regardless of the situation we're in. That's what makes him one of the best hitters in the big leagues."
As for Devers, his breakout has been one of the best stories of the season.
"Somebody joked around, like, if he gets up in the morning [of the last game], he'll get whatever hits to get 200 because he's that talented," Cora said.
Porcello's last stand?
Wednesday's start in Texas could mark Rick Porcello's final appearance for the Red Sox.
The righty is eligible for free agency this offseason, meaning his five-year run with the Red Sox is in danger of ending.
Cora has been with Porcello the past two years, and has appreciated the righty's professionalism.
Although Porcello has been used almost exclusively as a starter in his career, Cora will always remember the two key outs he got out of the bullpen in Game 1 of last year's AL Division Series against the Yankees. The manager thinks that was a tone-setter for the postseason run, in which the starting pitchers all became "rovers" for Boston.
"We'll see what the future holds, but the guy is a pro," Cora said. "Just the way he goes about his business. I've been saying it all along, he wins and he tries to find something the next four days to try and get better. He loses and the same thing. He's very consistent at what he does, and I'm very happy that we've been together these two years, and let's see what the future holds."