If there was a statement to be made Monday night, the Boston Red Sox sure as hell made it.
With their American League Division Series even at one game apiece entering Monday’s contest, the Red Sox dusted the New York Yankees 16-1 at Yankee Stadium in Game 3.
Things were close up until a fateful fourth inning, when the Red Sox’s offense dropped a seven spot to go up by 10 runs. Boston’s offense ultimately combined for 18 hits, with every starter posting at least one base knock in the victory.
Of those 18 hits, four were from Brock Holt, who hit for the first cycle in Major League Baseball postseason history.
Though working with a comfortable cushion, Nathan Eovaldi was everything his team needed on the mound in his first postseason start, tossing seven strong innings to earn the win.
The Red Sox now lead the series 2-1.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Deluge.
Boston inundated the Yankees with runs, overwhelming them and quickly putting the game out of reach.
ON THE BUMP
— Eovaldi looked pretty sharp in his postseason debut. Over seven innings of work, he allowed one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
The right-hander began his night with a 1-2-3 first inning, then he allowed leadoff singles in otherwise clean second and third frames.
With the lead at 10, Eovaldi ran into his only trouble of the night in the fourth. He gave up back-to-back singles to Luke Voit and Giancarlo Stanton to start the inning, with the Stanton hit moving Voit to third. Voit crossed the plate for New York’s first run on a Didi Gregorius force out, but Eovaldi bounced back and got the next two hitters out to strand Gregorius and end the inning.
Eovaldi came back out in the fifth and retired the side in order. He allowed a leadoff single in the sixth but escaped the inning without issue, and he threw a 1-2-3 seventh to end his night.
— Heath Hembree took over in the eighth and retired the side in order, striking out one.
— Eduardo Rodriguez handled the ninth, walking one
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox pounced on Yankees starter Luis Severino, chasing him after just three-plus innings of work.
Rafael Devers led off the second inning with a single and stole second during the next at-bat. With one down, Devers advanced to third on a Holt groundout. Christian Vazquez then hit a ball right back to Severino, which the pitcher could not get a hold of and in turn allowed the catcher to reach with a single and plate Devers, making it 1-0.
— Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi began the third with singles, and with both in scoring position, J.D. Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to score Betts. After Xander Bogaerts singled to put runners on the corners, Devers grounded into a force out, which allowed Benintendi to score from third and up the advantage to 3-0.
— Boston’s offense really went off in the fourth.
The bases immediately were loaded with singles from Holt and Vazquez and a Jackie Bradley Jr. walk — with the Bradley walk resulting in Severino getting pulled from the game for Lance Lynn. Betts worked a walk to bring in Holt, then Benintendi doubled to the corner in right field to clear the bases and swell the lead to 7-0.
Bogaerts singled to put runners on the corners, which resulted in Lynn getting yanked.
Devers popped up for the second out, but Steve Pearce followed with a single to score Benintendi. Holt followed that up with a triple to score two more before Vazquez grounded out to end the inning.
All told, the Red Sox scored seven runs in the frame to turn their 3-0 lead to 10-0.
— Bradley got his first hit of the night in the seventh, smacking a one-out double down the left field line. With two down, Bradley came across when Martinez drilled a single, putting the Red Sox ahead 11-1.
— The Red Sox weren’t done, either.
In the eighth, Devers and Ian Kinsler roped leadoff singles to get things going. Holt then crushed another extra-base hit, this time a double to bring Devers in. Two batters later, Yanks reliever Stephen Tarpley threw a wild pitch behind Bradley that allowed Kinsler to score from third, making the score 13-1.
Bradley ultimately walked and Betts singled to center, scoring Holt and putting Boston ahead 14-1.
— The Yankees rolled out catcher Austin Romine to pitch the ninth inning, an opportunity Holt responded to well.
The Sox utility man roped a two-run homer to right field to secure the cycle.
— Holt’s four hits led all Red Sox batters. Which, as a reminder, is pretty historic.
— Betts, Benintendi, Bogaerts, Devers and Vazquez all had two hits.
— Martinez, Pearce, Kinsler and Bradley each provided one hit.
— Blake Swihart was hitless in his lone pinch-hit at-bat.
TWEET OF THE DAY
When you crush your rival in a momentum-shifting playoff game, you’re entitled to throw plenty of shade.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees will meet for Game 4 of the best-of-five series Tuesday night. Boston will send Rick Porcello to the mound, while the Yankees will counter with CC Sabathia. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET.
