The 2018 Boston Red Sox won a franchise-record 108 games in the regular season. Their reward? A date with the rival New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.
In years past, the Red Sox and Yankees couldn’t meet in the playoffs until the League Championship Series, but the two-wild card system changed that. The 100-win Yankees figured to be an enormous test for Boston, especially given the nature of a five-game series and the Red Sox’s recent playoff struggles.
The Red Sox hit the ground running in the series opener, jumping out to an early lead and holding on for dear life.
You can see Game 1 of the 2018 ALDS on Monday night on NESN at 8 p.m. ET. Here are some things you might have forgotten about that game.
1. J.D. makes immediate impact
J.D. Martinez had a tremendous first season with the Red Sox. He’d ultimately finish fourth in MVP voting after hitting .330 with 43 home runs and a league-leading 130 RBIs. He won a Silver Slugger award — at two different positions. Martinez wasted no time contributing in the playoffs, coming to the plate in the bottom of the first inning with runners on first and second base. Yankees starter J.A. Happ fell behind in the count 2-0, and Martinez made him pay dearly, hitting a laser to left field that just cleared the Green Monster to give the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead.
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2. Sale looks good … enough
There was real concern about Chris Sale entering the 2018 playoffs. The Red Sox ace had pitched a grand total of 17 innings after July 27. A shoulder issue limited the left-hander down the stretch, and even upon returning in September, Sale’s velocity clearly was down and his dominance was lacking. However, he looked pretty good in Game 1 against the Yankees. Sale struck out the side to start the game and largely held the Yankees at bay for five innings. New York, to its credit, battled against Sale and worked up his pitch count. Red Sox manager Alex Cora ultimately went to his bullpen in the sixth inning, ending an effective albeit relatively brief outing from Sale.
“You know, (Cora) said something to me the other night that really stuck, and that was win the first pitch and then win every pitch after that,” Sale told reporters after the game. “I threw every pitch tonight like he was going to take the ball out of my hand after the pitch I threw. You have to go out there and do what you have to do to get the win.”
3. The wild ride begins
Dominant relief pitching had been one of the hallmarks of World Series runs for the Red Sox in recent years. The 2018 postseason was a little different, especially at the back end of the ‘pen.
With Sale exiting in the sixth, Cora had to rely on his corps of relievers for much longer than he probably envisioned. Ryan Brasier (eventually) escaped the sixth after giving up a walk and a single to allow both inherited runners to score. Brandon Workman started the seventh and promptly allowed two singles before being lifted. One of those runners came around to score, but Matt Barnes did a good job to wiggle out of the jam with the least amount of damage.
But the real sign of the bullpen issues came in the eighth inning where Cora turned to starter Rick Porcello to face three batters. It’s a role Porcello would fulfill again later in the playoffs, and he did fine this time around, retiring two of the three batters he faced.
But the real scare came in the ninth inning. After getting the Sox out of the eighth inning, closer Craig Kimbrel obviously remained in the game for the ninth. The Red Sox — who pushed across two more runs in the third inning — were leading 5-3 to begin the final frame. Things got dicey when Aaron Judge sat back on a slider from Kimbrel and hit a line-drive home run to right field to cut the lead to one.
Luckily for the Red Sox, however, Kimbrel settled in to finish out the game. The flame-throwing righty struck out the next three batters to end the game in what would be one of his best performances in an otherwise bumpy postseason road.
