LEADING OFF: Clean-shaven Cora, Melvin out for surgery

By The Associated Press

Dead last in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox were due for a hard look in the mirror, and that’s where manager Alex Cora thinks he found the problem. Cora has shaved the salt-and-pepper beard he grew prior to this season, hoping a new vibe might help Boston snap its season-worst five-game losing streak. Cora arrived clean shaven for Tuesday night’s opener of a two-game series in Atlanta, and he was willing to pin his team’s lousy start on his new look.