The Boston Red Sox were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs late Monday night, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any effect on what happens in the postseason.
The Red Sox won their second straight game against the New York Yankees on Tuesday, hammering their greatest rivals for 10 runs and taking the 10-4 win. New York still has a chance to take the American League East title from the Toronto Blue Jays, but Boston just reduced its magic number to one.
Boston now sits in third place in the division and has its first five-game win streak, so fans certainly can’t complain about the way this team has finished.
Let’s see how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Offense.
When you have a 6-4 ballgame after a single inning, it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to have an offensive game. And even though both starters settled down after the first — Michael Pineda retired 11 straight batters after giving up his six runs, and Rick Porcello got through eight innings — the damage was already done.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Blake Swihart hit his second home run of the night to put the Red Sox up 9-4.
It was only a three-run ballgame in the eighth inning, but the young catcher’s two-run shot off Bryan Mitchell put the game out of reach for the Yankees.
ON THE BUMP
— Porcello, like Pineda, had a rough first inning, but he fared a little better. The right-hander gave up four runs, including a two-run homer to Dustin Ackley, to start things off, but he was as close to dominant as possible after that. From the second inning on, Porcello gave up no runs on just two hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
Porcello ended the night with four runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts over eight innings.
— Jean Machi came on in the ninth and got the job done. He gave up a two-out single to Greg Bird but quickly struck out Didi Gregorius on three pitches to secure the win.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts started the game off with a double for the second night in a row and continued to have a great night after that. The outfielder went 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a home run.
— Dustin Pedroia did well for himself, too, going 2-for-4 with a walk.
— Xander Bogaerts went 1-for-5, but he had an RBI and a run scored after grounding into a fielder’s choice in the opening frame. He hit a soft grounder to third for a single in the ninth.
— Swihart hit his fourth and fifth homers of the year in his first career multi-home run game. The catcher hit a three-run shot in the first and a two-run homer in the eighth to end the night 2-for-4 with two runs and five RBIs.
— David Ortiz went 1-for-3 with a run but was mysteriously pulled for Josh Rutledge in the eighth inning. Rutledge ended up reaching on a fielder’s choice in the ninth to earn himself an RBI.
— Brock Holt went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk, and Jackie Bradley Jr. went 2-for-4.
UP NEXT
The final Red Sox-Yankees series continues Wednesday in yet another 7:05 p.m. ET matchup. Boston will trot out left-hander Wade Miley, while Masahiro Tanaka will make his first start since Sept. 18 after suffering a hamstring strain.
Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images
