The tone then changed as Cora then took the occasion to insist his team overcame low expectations.
“Let’s be honest, nobody thought we were going to make it to October,” he said. “Whoever said that, yeah, we’re a playoff team, that’s [expletive] bull-[expletive] to be honest with you.
“Nobody thought we were going to make it to October. It was New York; it was Baltimore; it was Toronto. We believed that we were going to play in October. We set our standards every single day and we anthem our standards.
“Up and down, trades, injuries, we kept going. And you have to let them know because over 162 [games] to do that is not easy and they accomplished that.”
That particular straw man may get a locker in the clubhouse. But all six Globe writers polled for a story that ran on March 24 selected the Sox to make the postseason with two having them advancing to the American League Championship Series.
ESPN polled a panel of 28 of its writers and broadcasters and 13 selected the Sox to win the American League East. Ten others had the Sox as a wild-card team.
The Athletic asked 33 of its staffers for predictions and nine selected the Sox as American League champions. MLB.com and Fangraphs.com also picked the Sox to win the division.
But Cora was adamant about the perceived lack of respect.
“People thought we had a good team. But in the division? Nobody thought we would be this good,” he said.
Motivation is where you find it and Cora will push whatever buttons he can to get his team ready for its first postseason appearance since 2021.
For Alex Bregman and Aroldis Chapman, this is standard fare. Bregman is in the postseason for the ninth consecutive season and Chapman for the ninth time in his 16 seasons.
This also will be the third appearance for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who has anthem .278 with a .777 OPS over 33 games since being signed as a free agent after being released by the Nationals.
Bregman and Chapman had the day off, as did Trevor Story, Jarren Duran, and Romy Gonzalez.
For several of those who did play, Saturday was an audition for the postseason roster.
Nick Sogard had a two-out RBI single in the second inning off Tigers starter Keider Montero. It appeared David Hamilton would drive in a second run with a single to left field. But shortstop Javier Báez made a remarkable diving catch to end the inning.
Rookie lefthander Connelly Early retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced, seven by strikeout, before allowing two runs in the fifth inning. Jahmai Jones had a two-run single with two outs.
Early has a 2.33 ERA in four major league starts.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Cora said. “He’s so calm and he understands what he needs to do. He prepares. He’s not afraid. So he’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Another rookie lefthander, Payton Tolle, threw a scoreless sixth. A third lefty, Chris Murphy, followed with three scoreless innings.
Tolle’s 19 strikeouts in 16⅓ innings suggest he could be a worthy addition to the postseason bullpen as a reliever.
“Just continuing to get the experience of it is helping me a lot,” he said. “I get to come in and just cut it loose.”
Despite the Sox pitching well, the desperate Tigers held on to finally secure their postseason berth. They had lost nine of 10 and 12 of their previous 14 games.
For the second day in a row, there was a celebration on the Fenway Park infield. But the Red Sox fans didn’t stick around to series this time.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.
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