ATLANTA — Wednesday’s comeback 9-8 win against the Braves revealed a lot about the fight in this Red Sox team. And it also might have revealed a little something about the team’s manager.

“We were all in at one point, like here we go,” Manager Alex Cora said. “It was fun. Honestly, that was the most fun I’ve had all season, watching the last few innings.”

Cora joked with reporters that Wednesday’s lineup would upset fantasy owners because Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and others were on the bench. Instead, it had Jackie Bradley Jr. and Blake Swihart leading off, and Brandon Phillips getting his first start with the club, at second.

The offense was almost silent for seven innings, scoring one run on just two hits before a six-run, eighth-inning rally that made it 7-7 and will go down as one of Boston’s best on the year.

“They could have folded and said, ‘you know what let’s go home. It’s been a productive road trip,’ ” Cora said. “‘People are talking about leads and where we are in the standings, and all that. So whatever, let’s go home, enjoy the off day and we get Houston on Friday.’ But there was no sense of that. Everybody was pulling for each other. I pinch hit for a lot of guys and nobody was upset.”

Cora pinch hit for four guys in that inning, with Steve Pearce, Ian Kinsler, Bogaerts and Betts all getting a chance to hit despite being given a day off. It was a success for a manager who doesn’t tend to pinch hit.

Freddie Freeman hit a solo shot off Brandon Workman to put Atlanta up 8-7 in the ninth, but the 37-year-old Phillips – after two months toiling in the minors in pursuit of his dream of getting back to the bigs – hit a no-doubter that gave the Sox a 9-8 lead they would not give up.

Even for a 17-year major leaguer who has been an All-Star four times, it was a special moment. Especially considering he did it in front of family and friends at home in Atlanta.

Phillips is fitting right in with his new Sox teammates. Just a couple days after receiving congratulatory messages out of the blue from a few Red Sox veterans, he got to experience a clutch moment with them in person.

“Them boys crazy,” Phillips said. “I love it a lot. Them guys are like, ‘welcome back to the league!’ They were saying all kinds of stuff like that.

“It was funny, man. They really made me smile and it made me feel like I’ve been here. I really thank those guys for that.”

CHRIS SALE threw a bullpen session Wednesday and is slated to throw another Saturday, which puts him in line to make his first start since his second bout of mild shoulder irritation to fall during the Blue Jays and/or Yankees series next week at Fenway.

Whenever that day is, Sale will serve as the “opener,” meaning he will only throw 2-3 innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.

TREY BALL’S days on the mound might be over.

“It’s definitely not a conversion at this time,” said Red Sox vice president of player development Ben Crockett. “There’s still good things with his stuff.

“He’s been taking (batting practice) for a while. He continues to pitch. That’s kind of how we mapped it out for him – more exploratory than anything else. We’re still kind of in that initial stage at this point.”

Ball appeared in two games as a designated hitter for the Portland Sea Dogs to end the season, going 1 for 9 with six strikeouts and an RBI double.

It’s unclear what Boston’s plan will be for Ball in 2019, though he no longer looks like any type of prospect on the mound. With nothing to lose, shifting him to an outfielder/designated hitter role may at least extend his career a couple years and at best give the Sox a legitimate outfield prospect they never anticipated.

THE PLAN to bring the Pawtucket Red Sox to Massachusetts has cleared its first local legislative hurdle.

The Worcester City Council Economic Development Committee on Wednesday endorsed a package calling for the city to borrow more than $100 million to build a 10,000-seat ballpark.

The Telegram & Gazette reported that the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate is looking to play its first season in Worcester in 2021.

The package also provides three tax-relief deals for Madison Downtown Holdings LLC, the private developer of the proposed $240 million redevelopment project.

Bonds for the ballpark, which will be built by the city, are to be paid off by new property taxes, lease revenues and other new revenue sources generated by the private development.

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