Alex Cora Reveals How Red Sox Caused Astros' Comedy Of Errors

Got to take what your opponents give you

Aug 3, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Chris Murphy (72) is congratulated by catcher Connor Wong (12) after defeating the Houston Astros at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox got the sweep, but the Houston Astros had only themselves to blame.

After outclassing the Red Sox in sweeps at Fenway Park each of the last two Augusts, Boston got their get-back. In a three-game drubbing over the weekend, the Astros made all sorts of errors that Red Sox fans had become accustomed to going the other way.

Houston blew a late lead in the first game of the series. They left 14 runners on base on Saturday. And they completely imploded in the fourth inning on Sunday, as star pitcher Framber Valdez had an error, a balk, a wild pitch, and a hit batsman.

It was uncharacteristically sloppy baseball from a Houston team that's been a winner for longer than any other team in the sport. But Boston manager Alex Cora made it clear after the finale that the Red Sox played a big hand in their opponents' lowlight reel.

“Athleticism helps for that,” Cora said, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “We put pressure on them. As soon as we got a runner to second, it just sped up on them. We’ve been on the other side of those games, where we don’t play good defense, don’t hold the runners, and we don’t do a good job.

“But today, we took advantage of certain things, put the ball in play when we needed to.”

The Red Sox scored all six of their runs in the fourth inning, helping starter Lucas Giolito cruise to an eight-inning outing of one-run ball. They also did a lot of little things right; Valdez's error came on a well-executed sacrifice bunt by Ceddanne Rafaela, then Connor Wong followed with a sacrifice fly for just his second RBI of the year.

Boston is now 19-7 since the Fourth of July, and 26-16 since the controversial Rafael Devers trade. They've continued to develop an identity as the summer has worn along; they're a team greater than the sum of their parts, a team that can win because of any player on any given night.

It's a fun brand of baseball to watch, and it's gotten them a lot closer to their first playoff berth since 2021 than they've ever been.