Jul 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Red Sox's Alex Cora Admits He Broke 'Promise' With Ejection In Astros Finale

Originally posted on Boston Red Sox on SI
By Jackson Roberts | Last updated Aug 14, 2025 7:53 AM ET

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected for the fifth time this season during a frustrating 4-1 loss in Wednesday's series finale against the Houston Astros.

The controversy stemmed from the top of the sixth inning, when Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown, having already committed a balk earlier in the inning, threw his first pitch from the windup with Jarren Duran on third base and Romy Gonzalez at the plate. But for his second pitch of the at-bat, Brown suddenly decided to switch things up and go from the stretch.

Duran and third base coach Kyle Hudson immediately started pleading with the umpires for a second balk, and Cora came out of the dugout to inquire as well. But the crew ultimately determined that Brown's move was legal. Gonzalez grounded out to end the threat, and the Red Sox gave up two runs in the next half-inning to effectively salt away the loss.

Alex Cora broke his "promise" to umpire Junior Valentine

Before the top of the seventh inning, Cora came back out of the dugout to chat, and as he was walking away, still talking, home plate umpire Ryan Blakney gave him the hook. Cora jokingly said it went directly against a promise he made to crew chief Junior Valentine before the series.

“He’s thrown me out probably two or three times,” Cora said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “I said, ‘Junior, I’m not gonna get thrown out. I promise you. My kids are watching the game and they hate it.’ So then I got thrown out today.”

As for the specifics of the non-call on Brown, Cora said the umpires were right not to charge Brown with a balk, because his normal windup is from a different stance than when he comes set.

“First of all, they got it right,” Cora said, per Smith. “They got the call right. The only thing for me is like we’ve seen that situation before: that guys have a regular windup and they (the umpires) ask the guys (the pitchers) to declare.

"You don’t have to declare if you have a regular windup. It’s only if you have a hybrid windup. That’s when you have to declare because that way you’re not deceiving the runner. But throughout the last two years, we’ve seen situations that it’s a regular windup and they have asked the pitcher to declare. That was the only thing.”

As for why he stirred the pot a half-inning after the situation unfolded, Cora claimed he and Blakney just weren't on the same page.

“I went out there (in the seventh) just to educate myself to be honest with you,” Cora said. “That’s what I told him. I want to learn, I want to know. I don’t know if he took it that I was being sarcastic. I wasn’t. And then I was walking back (to the dugout) and he threw me out.”

This article first appeared on Boston Red Sox on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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