BOSTON — Since spring training, Alex Cora has been preaching about the importance of the Red Sox again making Fenway Park a tough place for visiting teams to play.

That hadn’t been the case in recent seasons, as the Red Sox weathered three straight years in which they failed to finish with a winning record. Too often, either the ballpark was teeming with visiting fans, or the home team didn’t provide much to cheer about.

But from the first homestand this season, that changed. Fenway got loud, especially on Friday nights, turning the ballpark into a real home field advantage for the Sox.

The goal was to get back to the postseason so that the fans could again create the kind of hostile atmosphere that existed in the 2018 and 2021 postseasons.

Consider what took place Friday night to a

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