Even Alex Cora can't help but crack a smile talking about the Chris Sale belly button saga.
The Red Sox manager addressed the media Sunday, a day after Sale told reporters his stomach ailment was due to an infection from a belly button ring. When asked about his ace's belly button, Cora shifted the focus to Sale's Game 1 availability.
"He's good to go," Cora said. "He's our Game 1 starter."
"Game 5 happened and he gets a few more off days so he can take care of his belly button," Cora added with a smirk. "And he'll be ready to go."
When one reporter asked "how is his belly button?", Cora stated (again with a smile), "I stay away from it".
"But he's ready to go, excited to pitch Game 1. He's been our guy since day one. Obviously the other guys did an outstanding job but him pitching that game, you know, it's just something we mapped out through September. This was the plan all along and I'm happy he's going to be able to go out there and perform."
For what it's worth, it turns out Sale wasn't actually hospitalized due to an infection from a belly button ring and he was just joking with the media when he made the comment.
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