Red Sox Become First Team To Clinch A Playoff Berth After Comeback Victory Over The Blue Jays
Breaking the Red Sox single-season wins record will be nice if and when it happens, but regular season records mean nothing come October. Goal number one — punch a ticket to the postseason. Check. Next up, clinch the American League East. Then, win the Division Series. Then, win the American League pennant. Then, win the whole fuckin’ thing.
After Tuesday night’s victory, it was nothing crazy in the Red Sox clubhouse. A simple toast to the men in the room who collectively achieved a playoff berth, the first team in baseball to do so, which was expected. It seems crazy, but prior to last year, the Red Sox had never won back-to-back division titles, so that’ll be one hell of an accomplishment to win it three years straight. But we all know that winning the division guarantees you nothing.
Under the guidance of first-year manager Alex Cora, the Red Sox won their 99th game of the season in the series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, a game in which Boston trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Red Sox plated their first run on a one-out triple by Steve Pearce, who remained at third base, while Eduardo Nunez worked a two-out, four-pitch walk to put runners at the corners for Sandy Leon, who had been 1 for his last 34.
When the Blue Jays summoned right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera into the game to face Leon, Boston’s backstop was called back to the dugout, as Cora called upon Brock Holt as a pinch hitter with two out and two on. In his career, Holt had been 5-for-11 with a double against Tepera. Just a hunch, but I’m assuming that Cora knew that. With the count even at two, Tepera threw a sinker middle-in and Holt cleaned that shit out for a three-run bomb to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. Holt now has four homers this season, two of which have come as a pinch hitter.
But before any of that could happen, this game was started by Chris Sale, who returned from the disabled list to make his first start since August 12, and just his second start since July 27. The plan was to have Sale throw 40 pitches or two innings, whichever came first, but Sale needed 25 pitches to complete a scoreless first inning with a pair of strikeouts. Not wanting to remove Sale from the game mid-inning in the second, Sale finished his work in the bullpen after an inning of work.
For those panicking, please stop. This was the plan all along. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, none of their minor league teams made the playoffs, so a rehab start was literally impossible. Sale got his work in during a major league game, and completed it as a bullpen session. Pitching one inning and finishing in the bullpen was a scenario that was part of the plan. Take a deep breath. The left-hander was hitting 97 MPH consistently on the radar gun with his fastball, by the way.
Shout out to the Red Sox bullpen, who has caught their fair share of (deserved) grief lately. Six — count ‘em up, SIX — Red Sox relievers recorded scoreless appearances in relief of Sale. The only “reliever” who allowed an earned run was Nathan Eovaldi, and that doesn’t even count because he’s a starter. Maybe I’m out of line here, but I added MULTIPLE Red Sox relievers to the trust list on Tuesday night, resulting in the most Red Sox relievers to ever appear on the trust list at the same time. What a moment!
In the middle game, it’ll be David Price versus Aaron Sanchez. Since returning from the disabled list on August 25 after suffering a bruised finger following a suitcase injury — yes, I said suitcase injury — Sanchez has allowed 14 earned runs in 14.1 innings over three starts. He’s also given up an alarming 24 hits over those 14.1 innings with seven walks. Yikes. Price, on the other hand, still holds the lowest ERA in the American League in the second half of the season (1.78). His last time out against the Blue Jays on July 12, Price pitched six and two thirds innings, three runs, no walks with eight strikeouts.
Yankees lost, too.
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Final score: Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 2
