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2018 ALDS Tied A Game Apiece

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The Yankees tied up the American League Division Series with a 6-2 win at Fenway Park on Saturday night. The series now shifts for the next two games to New York.

Price: Shortest Postgame Start for Sox vs Yanks

Boston starter David Price lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing solo home runs from Aaron Judge and Gary Sánchez. It was the only start in 299 (including both regular and postseason games) that Price failed to record a single strikeout.

Price’s outing was the shortest for a Boston starter in a postseason start since Doug Fister‘s 1.1 IP against the Astos in last year’s ALDS Game 3 and the shortest postseason outing ever for a Boston starter against New York.

Gary Sánchez is now 7-for-14 (.500) lifetime against Price, with six of his seven hits leaving the park.

Price’s postseason woes have become near-legendary. He’s now 0-9 with a 6.03 ERA over his postseason career, the third highest ever among pitchers with 10 or more postseason starts, trailing only Jaret Wright (7.77) and Tim Wakefield (6.45).

And while Price was clearly not right last night, he left the game with the score 0-3 with more than seven innings to go.

Joe Kelly, looking sharper than he has for a bit, put out the fire Price started, giving the Sox 2.1 solid innings of work in all. After a solo home run from Xander Bogaerts, Ryan Brasier entered the game in the fifth inning and likewise looked more like his old self with three strikeouts over his relief inning.

Brandon Workman, on for the sixth, got a strikeout but then allowed back-to-back singles to the No. 8 and No. 9 Yankee batters. Manager Alex Cora dipped back into the pen for Eduardo Rodríguez, who settled things down with a pop out and strikeout.

Sox Offense Sputters

Price “needs to pitch better, and he knows it,” Cora said in an off-day interview, but at the same time, “I look up, it’s the sixth inning, and it’s 3-1…we were in the spot to win the game.”

But the Sox offense was on hiatus, going 1-2-3 in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Boston’s only other run in the game came in the seventh when Ian Kinsler doubled to drive in a Mitch Moreland.

Games are won on a combination of pitching, offense, and defense. But for the Sox on Saturday, already hampered by substandard pitching and offense, even the normally solid defense was problematic.

Judge, having already punished the Sox with a homer in the first, led off the seventh with an infield single after Rodríguez inexplicably failed to cover first on what looked to be a routine play. The miscue was costly when Judge became one of three to cross the plate on Sánchez’ second home run of the game.

At the time, Sox fans on Twitter wondered about whether an injury caused Rodríguez’ defensive blunder but on Sunday, the manager made his feelings plain. “I just talked to him and told him just be accountable, that’s it,” Cora told the press. “I guess he told you guys he slipped or something like that,” but Cora said that wasn’t the whole story. “I’m like, man, if you don’t break right away, just be accountable, that’s all we ask. And he’s like, ‘Yeah, my fault. I just didn’t break.'”

Sánchez’ 479-foot home run off Rodríguez was the second longest in the postseason since Major League Baseball’s Statcast started tracking in 2015.

Eovaldi For Game 3

With the series now tied at one game apiece, Manager Cora has selected Nathan Eovaldi for his starter in Game 3 on Monday. Eovaldi is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 4 career starts vs New York. New York will counter with Luis Severino.

Eovaldi says he has confidence facing the Yankees, particularly given his recent success against them. “I’m trying to do the same thing that I have been doing, stay aggressive and try to get that first pitch strike out of the way,” Eovaldi said.

Cora had originally pencilled Rick Porcello for the Game 3 start but pushed him back to Game 4 after calling on Porcello for an inning of relief in the series opener. “Rick pitched that inning on Monday, so we felt like one more day is going to benefit him if we stay away from him. Nate hasn’t pitched in a while. He’s rested, had a good week, and we’re going with him,” Cora said on Sunday.

In 14 previous postseason series where they were tied 1-1, the Red Sox went on to win eight and lose six.

2018 is the 13th appearance for Boston in a Division Series but only the second time they’ve been tied at 1-1.


It’s Sox vs Yanks for ALDS

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The Yankees pummeled the Athletics 7-2 on Wednesday in the American League Wild Card Game and earned the right to face the Red Sox in the AL Division Series, which starts Friday.

For Boston, Friday’s game marks the club’s 24th postseason appearance, their 10th in the last 16 seasons. It’s also Boston’s third straight postseason appearance, the longest such streak in franchise history. The Sox join the Cubs, Dodgers and Indians, who have also made the postseason from 2016-18.

The Red Sox will go with Chris Sale as its ALDS Game 1 starter. Sale was 2-0 in two starts vs New York this season with an 0.69 ERA. Over his career he owns a 1.61 ERA against the Yankees, the lowest mark in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) among those who have made at least 10 starts.

Sale lead all major league pitchers with at least 150.0 innings pitched this season in strikeouts per 9.0 IP (13.50) and WHIP (0.86). Sale ranked second in opponent AVG and OPS (.181/.532), and was third-best in ERA (2.11) among that group.

New York has not yet announced a starter but it’s widely expected to be J.A. Happ, who was 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts since being acquired by New York on July 26. Over his career against the Sox, Happ has been tough, going 8-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 21 total appearances, including 5-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 10 games at Fenway Park.

Happ has appeared in 10 previous postseason games (three starts) for the Phillies and Blue Jays. He’s 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA in those games.

Ready to Rumble

The dynamic duo of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez anchored the Red Sox offensive production all season. Betts (.346 AVG/..640 SLG) & Martinez (.330 AVG/.629 SLG) finished the regular season ranked first and second in the major leagues, respectively, in batting average and in slugging percentage. According to Elias, this is the first time teammates have finished first and second in both categories in the same season since 1903, when the Pirates Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke did so.

Surprisingly, the 2018 ALDS will mark the first such series between Boston and New York. The club have faced off in the AL Championship Series three times (1999, 2003 and 2004). Head to head since 2013, the Sox and Yanks are 57-57.


2018 Red Sox Finish At 108-54

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A remarkable Red Sox season closed on Sunday with a 10-2 win over the Yankees on a sparkling Sunday afternoon at Fenway.

With little left to the play for, the Sox had dropped the first two games of the final set of the season, a series many of us earlier in 2018 expected would have far more significance than turned out to be. There was some palpable frustration around Red Sox Nation that abated a bit with Sunday’s decisive victory.

With the win Boston escaped what would have been its first four-game losing streak of 2018. Only the Red Sox avoided a four-game skid this season. Only twice before had a Boston team gone the whole season without losing four in a row (also the World Champion seasons of 1903 and 2013).

New York’s 100th win of the season came on Saturday making 2018 the first time that both the Red Sox and Yankees have won 100+ games in a season.

Most Red Sox Wins Ever

The Red Sox’ 108-54 record was the best in the majors for 2018, assuring the club home field advantage throughout the postseason. It was the most wins in the 118-year history of the franchise. This year’s Sox team is just the 12th baseball team since 1900 to win as many as 108 games and the first since the Mariners had 116 wins in 2001.

Boston’s .675 win percentage in 2018 was the fourth-best in club history and Boston’s best since 1946 (also .675 at 104-50).

On their way to a 10th division title, the Red Sox dominated American League East competition in 2018. In the end, Boston won the division by 8.0 games, their broadest margin of victory for a division title in club history.

Of the 186 days of the major league season (March 29-September 30), the Red Sox began 141 of those (75.8%) alone in first place and another seven days in a tie for first.

Standout Performances

In the last offseason the Yankees got Giancarlo Stanton. The Red Sox waited but finally landed J.D. Martinez. Who made out better? For Boston, the answer is clear: Martinez singlehandedly revitalized the Sox offense in 2018, both by his own contributions and with what he did to boost the performance other Sox players.

With an exclamation point in Game No. 162, Martinez recorded his major league-best 59th multi-hit game, including his 43rd home run. The home run tally, the second-most overall in the majors, was the most in a single season for the Sox since David Ortiz belted 54 round trippers in 2006.

Martinez’ 43 home runs were the most-ever HRs by a first-year Sox player, besting the 42 by Dick Stuart in 1963. Martinez’ career-high 130 RBI were the most by any Boston player since Big Papi’s 136 RBI in 2006 and the fourth-most by a Boston hitter in his first season with the club after Ted Williams (145 in 1939), Jimmie Foxx (143 in 1936), and Vern Stephens (137 in 1948).

A Breakout Betts Season

And yet as big as Martinez was this season, most fans will likely connect 2018 with the superlative work of Mookie Betts, who won his first major league batting title by ending the season at .346, the highest by a Boston hitter since Manny Ramírez in 2002 (.349). The last Red Sox hitter to lead the majors outright in AVG was Wade Boggs in 1988 (.366).

Betts edged out Martinez (.330) for the batting title marking the first season since 1942 in which the Sox have featured the top two hitters by AVG (Williams, .356 and Johnny Pesky, .331).

Again and again in 2018 the record books were re-written by Mookie Betts. His 129 runs scored were the most by a Red Sox hitter at the age of 25 or younger since Ted Williams in 1942 (141) and the most by a Sox hitter since Dom DiMaggio in 1950 (131). He joined Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx as the only Sox hitters ever to finish with a .340+ AVG and 80+ extra-base hits. And according to Elias, Betts became the first player ever to win a batting title while also recording 30+ home runs and 30+ stolen bases.

Not to be lost among the brightest stars, Xander Bogaerts enjoyed a standout 2018 season with career-highs for doubles (45), extra-base hits (71), home runs (23) and RBI (103). Bogaerts also recorded a career best .522 slugging percentage and .883 OPS. Consistent Bogaerts averaged an RBI ever 4.98 at-bats and a home run in every 22.3 at-bats this season, both career-best rates.

“I knew he was good, but to see it on a daily basis…is eye-opening,” rookie manager Alex Cora said after the game. “From Day One in Spring Training…he put the work [in], he’s a good student of the game.”

Cora finished the regular season with the second-most wins for any individual as a first-year manager, trailing only Ralph Houk and the 1961 Yankees (109-53).


Red Sox AL East Champs Again!

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After two tough losses this week, the Red Sox got up off the mat to pound the Yankees on Thursday, 11-6, and secure a third straight American League East division crown.

Thursday’s come-from-behind win was a thriller, particularly after Boston had scored first but fell behind on a humiliating grand slam off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton. As they’ve done throughout the season, the Sox offense clawed back into the game and then broke it open with three runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings.

Two solid performances stood out for the Red Sox on Thursday.

First, there was Steven Wright, whose knuckleball brought stability after a surprisingly poor outing from Eduardo Rodriguez (five runs with a career-high seven walks over 3.2 stressful innings of work). Wright earned a well-deserved game win after providing literal relief with three innings of no-walk, one-hit baseball against one of the toughest offensive lineups in the game. Wright was followed in the game by run-free innings of work from Ryan Brasier and Craig Kimbrel.

The other standout of the game was Mookie Betts, whose night included four hits, none more important than a three-run, two-out blast in the top of the eighth. It was Betts’ third career four-hit, five-RBI game and his first this season. Boston now has 434 two-out hits this season, the most in the American League and second only to the Braves (452).

Betts has been dynamite against the Bombers in 2018. Among all major leaguers with at least 50 at-bats this season against New York, Betts is tops in batting average (.417), on-base percentage (.500), slugging percentage (.767), and OPS (1.267). Against the Yanks, Betts has more hits (25), doubles (10), walks (11), runs (19) and total bases (46) than any other player in 2018. With his home run on Thursday, the MVP candidate joined Nomar Garciaparra (in 1997) as the only Red Sox leadoff hitter with 30 home runs in a single season.

Betts’ offense was supplemented by no doubt home runs from Jackie Bradley and Brock Holt on Thursday. Over the last ten days Bradley and Holt have batted at .269 and .389, respectively. With two singles, Rafael Devers enjoyed his first multi-hit game since August 8 (16 games ago).

Banner Hoisted

Hilarious stories aside, on Friday morning the Sox hoisted the 2018 AL East Division banner outside Fenway Park. It’s step one of a significant journey ahead with plenty of questions still to be answered about the Sox rotation and bullpen. “We’re obviously happy, but we can tell we’re still hungry,” J.D. Martinez said in the post-game party.

With their 104th win of the season this Red Sox team tied the 1946 crew for the second-most wins in franchise history. Only the 1912 team had more (105). Boston’s magic number for the best record in the majors now stands at two over Houston, meaning that any combination of Red Sox wins and Astros losses totaling two secures home field advantage for the Sox through the postseason.

Thursday’s win moved Manager Alex Cora to No. 2 on the major league list for most wins by a first-year skipper. Only Ralph Houk (109 wins with the 1961 Yankees) had more.

The American League Division Series starts at Fenway Park on October 5.


Price Pounded By Yankees

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There don’t appear to be any cutesy, glib comments from David Price after he was shelled by the Yankees on Sunday. No mocking, passive-aggressive jabs at the media after he allowed a career-high five home runs in yet another abbreviated outing.

Sunday’s was a big test for Price and the results were failure, plain and simple: nine hits, including the five dingers, with three strikeouts over a little more than three innings of work. No Sox pitcher this season has allowed as many home runs within the first three innings of a game as David Price (9).

By the time Manager Alex Cora finally brought out the hook, the Red Sox were already down 0-8. When the dust settled, the 11-1 loss was Boston’s largest margin of defeat against New York since a 13-3 loss on August 4, 2015, also at Yankee Stadium.

When it comes to Yankees, Price is wrong

Price is now 2-6 with an 8.43 ERA in nine starts against the Yankees since signing a $217 million contract with Boston before the 2016 season. He’s 0-5 with a 10.44 ERA in his last five starts in the Bronx. He has allowed 10 home runs in his last three starts at Yankee Stadium.

Clearly his Achilles Heel, the Yankees are now responsible for nine of Price’s 19 career games with at least six earned run allowed as well as for three of his five career-high outings with eight earned runs.

Long, Close Games? Not This Time

This was not the weekend series most fans expected. Surely, the top two teams in baseball, already 3-3 against each other in 2018, would be deadlocked in close games defined by razor-thin margins, right? Instead, all three games were blowouts that showcased each club’s pitching strengths and weaknesses.

In Friday’s opener, played in just 2 hours and 41 minutes, the Sox were stymied by CC Sabathia for an 8-1 loss. On Saturday, Chris Sale returned the favor with an absolutely dominant outing that resulted in an 11-0 shutout win for the Sox. It was the longest game of the three, clocking in at just over three and a quarter hours.

But Sunday’s win for New York did more than just spotlight Luis Severino‘s remarkable strengths (he’s now 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA this season), it made clear just how terrible Price’s outing was. The Sox were simply never in the game, never had a chance to mount a comeback.

Entering Sunday’s action, Price had allowed three or fewer earned runs in his last nine starts. He mocked the press after his last game, joking when asked about the upcoming trip to New York that he might not be able to make it.

But on Monday morning Red Sox Nation faces the unavoidable reality that in two starts against his club’s closest competitor this season, David Price is 0-2 with a 24.92 ERA.

A few other notes about this series:

  • Last night, the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks became the 21st major leaguer since 1908 with a club-high three home runs against Boston (two off Price and one coming against Red Sox reliever Hector Velázquez). It was a career-high for Hicks who never before had more than two home runs in a game.
  • Among the 21 players with 3 home runs in a game vs Boston is new Sox minor leaguer Adam Lind (2009). Three players have done it twice to the Red Sox: Frank Thomas (1996 and 2007), Joe Carter (1986 and 1987), and Pinky Higgins (1935 and 1940).
  • Price is now the sixth Boston starter since 1960 with multiple outings of 3.1 or fewer IP against the Yankees in the same season. The most recent was was Clay Buchholz in 2015. It happened to Derek Lowe twice in two different seasons (1998 and 2004).
  • Price set the club record on Sunday for most home runs allowed over 3.1 or fewer IP. Previous high was 4 HR, most recently by Steven Wright last April 12 (4 HR over 1.1 IP). The club record for most HR allowed by a starter since 1908 is 6 by Tim Wakefield on August 8, 2004 facing the Tigers.
  • Yankees rookie Kyle Higashioka, in search of his first major league hit last night, was one of the batter who took Price deep. Higashioka is the first Yankee to homer against the Red Sox for his first major league hit since Andy Phillips on September 26, 2004 at Fenway.
  • The Red Sox are now 6-14 for their last 20 games at Yankee Stadium and have lost straight series there.