Nobody was playing it cool after the Red Sox' three-game sweep of the Yankees Sunday.
Alex Cora - who had been ejected during the Sox' nail-biting 6-5 win over New York - subtly defined the mood with his postgame press conference thanks to his t-shirt. Gone was the room-for-interpretation red and gray "U" workout wear and in its place was the message that most knew had already been sent.
"Underdog."
There is no time to pretend these days. The all-in-good-fun rallying cry since Chaim Bloom's trade deadline missive was made has been declared, as has been the rest of the Red Sox' lot in life.
The Red Sox chances to make the postseason may still be at 16 percentaccording to Fangraphs, sitting three games behind Seattle for the third Wild Card spot, but as August is turning into September, they are still firmly in the conversation. And while this is a club that amazingly still hasn't yet to be defined in so many ways, getting to this point in the calendar with his sort of narrative has allowed for some unexpected late-season vibes.
The tidal wave of talk when it comes to what will be and all that comes with ranking prospects can wait. The Red Sox are heading to Houston happy to soak in the here and now.
Want proof? Soak in Cora's words when digesting his ejection after arguing balls and strikes.
"We’re grinding here," Cora told reporters. "We know what’s going on. For us, every (expletive) pitch counts. We’re not gonna give up. We’re gonna keep playing. If I get fined, I get fined. But we didn’t agree with the (expletive) strike zone today."
"We're going to face good teams now and we have to show that we can make a run and make the playoffs," said Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen. "Now it's time to go."
It is time to go.
The Red Sox have 38 games left in the regular season and can head into their four-game set with the Astros feeling like they mean something. A year ago, such a luxury in late August had left the building.
But there is a flip-side to the feel-good tapestry that encompassed the Red Sox' clubhouse after officially burying the 60-64 Yankees. The celebratory jumping up and down is being done on anything but rock-solid ground. That is another piece of the equation that, even with the success in the Bronx, Cora's team hasn't yet shook.
What these three games did was allow for optimism to stick around a little longer. The Red Sox didn't make up a single game in the Wild Card standings with the sweep, and still have the uncomfortable existence of a team (the Blue Jays) sitting between them and that third Wild Card position.
In other words, this whole, "The Red Sox might actually play in October" thing could be a distant memory if Houston takes the Sox to the woodshed in these coming four games. That's the kind of tenuous life this club is living.
But what the trip to New York offered was the latest "maybe" murmuring we have been hearing since spring training.
Can this conversation last until Tom Brady comes to town Sept. 10?
Maybe. For those hoping for baseball banter to stick around when school starts, that's good enough.
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