ALDS Game 2: It Takes A Village
Red Sox beat the everloving poop out of the Rays, plus notes on Chris Sale, Rafael Devers, injuries, and bunch of other stuff
For a moment there it looked like the Red Sox season might be over. Instead, the Red Sox starting hitting and didn’t stop until the game ended.
When the smoke had dissipated, the scoreboard read 14-6, Red Sox. Boston’s Game Two win evened the best-of-five Division Series at a game apiece. Lots to discuss about this game, but first, if you’ve already subscribed to Sox Outsider, thank you! If you haven’t yet subscribed, please do! I’m Matthew Kory, and I’ve written for The Athletic, FanGraphs, Sports on Earth, and a whole bunch of other places, and now I’m writing this newsletter focused on the Red Sox. I’d be honored if you’d join me here and subscribe. It’s free, if that helps sway you at all. Thanks.
The sting from the Game One loss hadn’t dissipated before Chris Sale took the mound in Tampa with a newly minted 2-0 lead. The Rays, with considerable help from Jordan Luplow’s grand slam, immediately, like in two seconds, put up five runs and killed any good feelings the Red Sox may have been developing about themselves. Sometimes things are inevitable. The universe, the forces of nature, and the gods themselves deem it so, and so that thing happens. It sure as heck felt like the Rays were going to roll to an easy series win after the Luplow jack and there wasn’t a thing the Red Sox could do to stop that boulder from rolling off a cliff.
But the Red Sox didn’t give up. I would’ve, but they didn’t. They did what they do best, namely crush the ball. That, plus more fantastic bullpen work highlighted by five innings of one-run ball from Tanner Houck ended up being more than enough to even the series and send the Red Sox back to Boston with home field advantage and enough good feelings to fill a commercial airliner.
Stars come out to play
In the ALDS series primer, I mentioned how good the Rays were at everything (I was slightly more specific, I hope) and that if Boston were to win, the difference in the series would come down to Red Sox star power. The Rays, on account of their inability/unwillingness to spend, don’t have much in the way of star power. They have tons of good players, and even more useful players, but they don’t have many stars. By star, I mean guys who have resumes, All Star appearances, MVP votes, gravitas. The Red Sox have those guys. Those are the guys who need to make the difference in this series. Friday night, they did.
Despite an extremely unfortunate ankle injury that wouldn’t have been out of place in a beer league softball game, JD Martinez showed the heck up. Martinez’s homer to straight-away center field in the fifth inning took the Red Sox from tied to ahead by three runs. Martinez added a double and two singles.
Rafael Devers, in spite of an unidentified forearm injury, showed the heck up. He walked twice and crushed a two run homer just above the spot Martinez had reached. Xander Bogaerts continued his hot hitting and showed the heck up. He had three hits including the homer to left field over everything in the third inning that served notice that the Red Sox weren’t done.
The Red Sox ended up with five homers on the evening and 20 hits in total. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. And they did it all against Shane Baz, Colin McHugh, and Matt Wisler, three of the Rays best pitchers. Somehow. I mean. I dunno. It’s the Rays. But Baz is for real. The rookie had 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings and a 2.01 ERA during the regular season after spending time near the top of Baseball America’s best prospects list. McHugh put up a 1.55 ERA in 64 innings for Tampa this season, and Wisler had a 2.15 ERA in 29 innings. These are some of Tampa’s best pitchers and the Red Sox just unloaded on them.
Overall the Red Sox just hit far. better than they did the night before. Many more line drives, far fewer weak grounders and popups. Tons of hard contact and good launch angles galore. Boston had zero extra base hits and zero walks in Game One. Last night, Game Two, they had three walks and nine extra base hits, including five homers. Somehow, despite all that, not a catwalk was harmed in Boston’s offensive barrage.
Tanner Houck
Last night Tanner Houck served notice. Those, maybe like myself, who think he’s a two pitch guy, a player who can’t get opposite side hitters out, well, eat last night’s performance. And I am eating it. And it is delicious!
Houck came into the game with the Red Sox down three runs and the Rays with all the momentum on their side. They had just knocked Chris Sale out after one inning and were about to go up 2-0 in a best of five series. This was tossing the hungry tiger some meat. But impervious to pressure, Houck got Kevin Kiermaier to fly out to center field, then was downright mean to Randy Arozarena. Houck struck Arozarena out on three pitches: slider, fastball inside corner, slider away (swinging). The last pitch was so devastating Arozarena lost his balance and his bat.
The bat, which ended up at shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ feet, lay there while Arozarena beat a hasty retreat to the Rays’ dugout followed by considerably less high-fiving than usual. It wasn’t quite payback for the steal of home in Game One but it’s a step in the right direction.
It’s not hyperbole to say Houck saved the Red Sox season. He didn’t do it alone, but he shut the door on one of the best hitting teams in baseball for five innings while the Red Sox climbed back into a game they desperately needed to win. During the five innings Houck pitched, the score was 6-1, Red Sox. That, friends, is big time.
And, bonus! Houck ended up throwing just 61 pitches, which means while he’s probably not pitching on Sunday when the Red Sox host the Rays in Boston for Game Three of the ALDS, it’s possible he could be available the next day for Game Four. And right now that possibility has to be terrifying to the Rays.
Chris Sale
It wasn’t all good news though. Red Sox ace Chris Sale started this must-win game, and lasted all of one inning, giving up five runs. The Rays stacked their lineup with right-handed hitters to face the lefty Sale and by the time Sale got a right hander out the Rays had scored five runs.
This is a problem. There are a few things here. First is that Chris Sale is still coming back from Tommy John surgery. Command is often the last thing to come back for pitchers returning from TJ so that’s likely, hopefully, what is going on with Sale right now. Because the man doesn’t have command of his pitches. The slider, when he locates it, is still very effective to lefties and can be to righties as well. The fastball is dangerous to lefties, but it’s dangerous to Sale to throw it to righties because he’s not able to locate it. Sale isn’t throwing 98 mph all the time, and when the fastball velocity drops to the low 90s it’s a pretty hittable pitch unless he puts it in the right spots, and that isn’t happening enough right now.
I don’t think there’s something horribly wrong with Chris Sale, nothing a regular off-season can’t fix, anyway. He may never be CHRIS SALE anymore, but he can still be a very good pitcher, far better than he showed yesterday. I expect he will be next season, but right now Alex Cora needs to be judicious with his usage. I’m not sure what that means going forward, maybe a bullpen role where, like Houck last night, Sale could pitch a few innings against a part of the lineup that featured a bunch of lefties.
The Red Sox certainly know more about what’s going on with Sale than I do. But there’s lots of data pointing towards the fact that this Chris Sale ain’t Chris Sale. Not exactly, not yet. If that’s true, the Red Sox will need to adjust things, because, as great as last night was, you don’t win many games in which you give up five runs in the first inning.
Some Good News
There was considerable consternation about the injuries to JD Martinez and Rafael Devers coming into last night’s game. If those two couldn’t go or were compromised, the Red Sox would be in serious trouble. The good news is both played yesterday and they combined to go 5-for-9 with two walks and two homers.
What’s more, although Martinez was pulled for a pinch runner after doubling in the ninth, he did bat in the ninth with the Red Sox up 11-6. So did Devers, who batted with the final score on the scoreboard. You don’t let either player hit in those situations if they’re in danger of worsening their injury. But both hit and both played a lot, so it’s reasonable to expect they’re both going to be healthy and ready to go for Game Three.
More Good News
The Red Sox have tied the series! And it took a village to do so. I said before the Red Sox needed star power to win, and they do. Their big players have to show the heck up and they can win this series. But it’s not going to work for just Rafael Devers to show up, or just Xander Bogaerts. It’s gonna take a village to win this series. The Rays are too good. The good news is, for one night anyway, in a ball park that has been an inhospitable host and against a team that has more often than not had their number, the Red Sox showed they can do it. That is a start.
Game Three is at Fenway on Sunday. Nate Eovaldi will go for the Red Sox. Until then, thanks for reading.
From the Ashes ....... Suddenly a Chance !