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Red Sox’ Alex Cora on surprise steal: ‘I never thought he was going to take off’
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- Red Sox’ Alex Cora on surprise steal: ‘I never thought he was going to take off’
BOSTON — Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez surprised manager Alex Cora when he took off to steal third base with one out in the sixth inning and Roman Anthony at the plate. Boston was trailing 3-2.
"That was him," Cora said.
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Narváez stole third without a throw and then scored the tying run on Anthony's RBI single to center field. The Red Sox won 8-6 over the Tigers at Fenway Park on Monday.
"I never thought he was going to take off," Cora said. "I saw him hopping. I was like, 'Oh, shoot, maybe.' And he had a great jump. So that's awareness. That's game awareness."
It marked the second stolen base of Narváez's big league career.
"He always talks about (how) he can steal bases, especially third ... just paying attention to the game, feeling the tempo," Cora said.
Narváez made his move against Detroit left-handed reliever Brant Hurter after his one-out double.
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"The guy was committed to go to plate," Cora said.
While Narváez isn't known as a base stealer, he had 23 stolen bases in the minors, including nine for Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, in 2024.
"I take my chances sometimes when the pitcher is doing the same thing over and over," Narváez said. "I was at second base the previous at-bat ... He was doing the same thing for three straight pitches so I was like, OK, take my chances. Be on third base with one out and any fly ball, whatever, trying to score to tie the game. So that was the mentality."
What did Hurter do over and over that Narváez saw?
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"He was mixing one look and then going to the plate," Narváez said. "Kind of like same tempo every time."
Narváez said it all depends on the game situation.
"If we're down by five or we're up by five, I don't want to put any risk," Narváez said. "Because that's not my game. But if ... I've got the tempo, if being on third base in that spot is huge, I'm just trying to take my chances."
Narváez contributed throughout the game, going 2 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and one run.
"Overall, we needed a game like this," Narváez said. "It was good for us, close the series like that."
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The Red Sox split their four-game series with Detroit. They welcome the Yankees to town for three games beginning Tuesday.
"Everyone is a big one for us, especially right now but we've got a big one coming up (vs. New York)," Narváez said. "It was a really good game. Good team win."
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