It was a great night for Eduardo Rodriguez.
The Red Sox pitcher was a huge part of his team's 12-3, Game 3 win in the American League Championship Series Monday night, allowing three runs over six innings while watching his offense torture his Houston counterparts.
There was just one small issue.
Upon getting Carlos Correa to ground out to second base, closing out Houston's side of the sixth inning, Rodriguez quickly pointed to his wrist while walking toward the Red Sox' dugout. The gesture was in reference to Correa's routine, which he would execute after successes, suggesting it was his time.
The mocking didn't go over well with Rodriguez's manager Alex Cora.
"Because we don't act that way," said Cora when asked why he immediately reprimanded his pitcher. "We just show up, we play, and we move on, and he knows. I let him know. We don't have to do that. If we're looking for motivation outside of what we're trying to accomplish, we're in the wrong business. The only motivation we have is to win four games against them and move on to the next round."
The manager added, "Overall, he was great. It's not that I'm mad at him. It's like one of the twins. Don't do that. We don't have to do that, so he knows. He understands, but we're not that way. We talk about humble approach and humble players, and that's who we are. We like to grind, and we like to play, but we don't do that."
The directive from Cora clearly hit home for Rodriguez.
"He just told me don't do that," the pitcher explained. "Like I said earlier, it was something that was part of the moment. But he just told me, like, I mean, we don't do that here. Stay humble. Just go out there and play hard every time.
"Like I say, I feel bad for myself because I just do that, you know what I mean, and even I will apologize to Correa if I see him in person because that's not something I normally do, and it was just part of the game. That's it."
Thanks to MacFarlane Energy where they provide championship quality home heating oil and HVAC services.