Since Alex Cora became manager of the Red Sox in 2018, his team has faced plenty of memorable pitching performances.
For starters, there was that no-hitter tossed by Oakland's Sean Manaea back on April 21, 2018.
But when it comes to pitching performances against his team while managing the Red Sox, one just jumped to the top of the list. That would be thanks to the dizzying outing turned in by Shohei Ohtani Thursday afternoon.
"We don’t give mulligans in this game, but let’s give the guys some mulligans yesterday because that was, I mean, I watched again and it was unreal what that guy did," Cora said prior to Friday night's tilt with the White Sox. "Stuff-wise it was probably the best I’ve seen against us since 2018. So let’s wash that one if you guys let me."
Better than Manaea?
“I believe so. Better than the no-hitter in Oakland," Cora reiterated. "I mean, he was throwing 100 (mph) with a sweeping slider, with a curveball, with conviction. You go over sequences. He was spinning the ball and all of a sudden Raffy goes the other way, Bogey mis-hits a ball the other way — but he goes the other way — and then, the four fastballs to J.D. (Martinez). I mean, dotting the fastball away after he was doing all that stuff. You have to tip your hat. It’s part of it. Just watching again, it was impressive.”
Ohtani's outing in what would be an 8-0 loss for the Red Sox included 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings. His fastball averaged 97.4 mph while maxing out at 100.3 mph, with a slider that induced 10 whiffs on 18 swings on the pitch.