Cora empathizes with Hendriks over threats
BOSTON — One day after Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media to condemn offensive messages made against him and his family, manager Alex Cora empathized with his player.
Cora spoke Friday ahead of the first game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.
“We’re in the public eye, and people feel they have the right to say whatever they want,” Cora said. “Sometimes, it comes from real people. Other times, it comes from burner accounts, fake people. It puts everyone in a tough spot.”
On Thursday, Hendriks expressed his displeasure about death threats he said he received following Boston’s loss Wednesday to the New York Mets.
Posting on his Instagram account, Hendricks wrote: “Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel. … I think I speak for all players who have had to deal with this in their career when I say enough is enough.”
Hendriks is in his second season with the Red Sox and is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in 11 games. In 2023, he underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Last year, after signing with Boston as a free agent, he missed the entire season with an elbow injury he picked up during spring training.
“I understand what he’s trying to accomplish,” Cora said. “We have to protect our players, and we have to voice what we think.”
Though not on the same level as what Hendriks dealt with, Cora found himself in the middle of a social media storm Monday after attending the graduation of his daughter from Boston College and missing that night’s home game against the Mets.
“If it’s up to me, I’ll bring my daughter here and go through every account and filter it,” Cora said.
Cora has more than 78,000 followers on X. From time to time, he will post a brief message. His most recent post was made in tribute to his daughter graduating from college.
He noted that he reached out to Major League Baseball’s security division after getting suspended in 2020 for his role in the Houston Astros‘ cheating scandal in 2017.
“I put my family in a tough spot, especially when the news came out. It was dangerous, and we were afraid, to be honest,” Cora said. “I don’t want to go into details, but they did an amazing job.”
In an era where sports gambling comes into play, Cora noted the “dangerous path” that crops up when fans look to take out their frustrations on players via social media.
“A decision, a pitch, a play, it puts them in a bad spot and they take it personally,” Cora said. “That’s not my fault. You have to be responsible with what you’re doing.”
MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.
The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.
Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.
Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.
Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.
Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.
“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”
Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”
Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.
New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.
The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.
“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.
Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.
Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.
The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.
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