Red Sox manager Alex Cora is taking a night off Monday, but for a very good reason. The Boston skipper will miss Monday's Red Sox-Mets showdown at Fenway Park to celebrate his daughter's college graduation.

Cora will miss the first of a three-game set against the Mets as he celebrates his daughter, Camila, and her graduation from Boston College. Boston bench coach Ramón Vázquez will step in for Cora on Monday night.

Cora said Sunday that his daughter's graduation is an occasion he wouldn't miss for anything. 

"It went fast, it went really fast," Cora said ahead of Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Braves. "For a girl from divorced parents, her mom did an amazing job staying the course, and while I was playing and coaching and doing my ESPN thing. Nilda was amazing with her. She's actually a reflection of her. I appreciate everything that she's done for her and for us, obviously.

"Obviously our lives changed throughout, and [my partner] Angelica has become like a mentor to her, too, and they're very close, and the fact that we were here while she was going through college, it meant a lot," Cora continued. "And it's going to be a very special day. One that I'm not going to miss. And I 100 percent will miss the game for that, and I'll do that any given day, because it's going to be a special day for us together."

Camila has by Cora's side quite a bit since he took over as Red Sox manager in 2018. He recalled going back and watching her next to him on the duck boats as the team celebrated its 2018 World Series title with a parade through  Boston, and then again when she was on the field after the team made it to the ALCS in 2021. 

"She was still a little girl. Now she's not a little girl, she's a woman," Cora said of his daughter. 

Cora said he's proud of how great of a student Camilla was during her time at Boston College, and sees has a bright future ahead. Camila Cora is now heading to her dad's alma mater, the University of Miami, for graduate school. 

"I think she's ready for the 85-degree weather all year round," joked Cora.

Boston is scuffling heading into its series with the NL East-leading Mets, having lost two of three against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend and five of its last six games.

The Red Sox currently sit at 23-25 on the season, which has them five games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East and three games out of a Wild Card spot in the American League.