ATLANTA -- When they head home for Thursday's off-day, the Red Sox will have 21 games left in what has been a magical season so far. Down the stretch, manager Alex Cora will balance winning games with preserving his troops.
It started on Wednesday, as Cora held Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Ian Kinsler out of the starting lineup in Atlanta. That set up the talented quartet to have two full days of rest heading into Friday's opener of a three-game showdown against the Astros.
"That's a lot of talent out there," Cora said of a lineup that still included Jackie Bradley Jr.