“DIARY OF A WINNER”

THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ...
 2018 ALDS, GAME #2
David Price loses another
postseason game

October 6, 2018 ... David Price couldn’t get the Yankees or the playoffs monkey off his back, not even making it through two innings. On the other side, the offense was also very disappointing as they couldn’t pick up their starting pitcher. It was particularly disappointing because the bullpen was nails after Price was lifted. Regardless, the Yankees rolled to a relatively easy victory, and the series is tied.

David Price was trying to get two monkeys off his back. He has never had success in the postseason, at least as a starting pitcher. The other was his struggles against the Yankees since joining the Sox, which is impossible to overlook.

It was another disappointing performance from Price. For the first time in either a regular season or postseason game, he didn’t strike a batter out. His command wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. Price made bad pitches at inopportune times, and a strong Yankees lineup was able to beat up on it.

After getting a weak ground ball to start things off, he tried to get a backdoor cutter in for strike three against Aaron Judge. The pitch ended up right in Judge’s wheelhouse, and the Yankees slugger was able to get his arms extended and smashed it way out to center field for a 445-foot shot into the Monster Seats. Price would get two outs after that, but the tone had been set.

In the second, New York got right back into action right away. This time it was Gary Sanchez, who has notably crushed Price throughout his career. Price was once again trying to go with a backdoor cutter, and he got it on the outside corner in the lower-third. The Yankees catcher jumped all over it, and he led off the inning with a solo shot into the Monster Seats.

After two quick outs, Price then walked two straight hitters with the second being an inexcusable free pass to Brett Gardner, and there were two on and two outs. Andrew McCutchen then ripped a base hit off the Monster to give New York a 3-0 lead, and that was that. Alex Cora had seen enough, and Price was lifted.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense was trying to match that performance against Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees righty has had plenty of success in the postseason, but at the same time the Sox has been able to hit him well every time they’ve seen him in 2018. They didn’t get it, though.

The first inning was promising, even if they didn’t get any runs on the board. They did get a base hit from J.D. Martinez but nothing more. However, of the four batters that came to the plate three of them hit the ball hard. It seemed like a good indicator that it was only a matter of time until they really got to Tanaka.

Instead, they’d go down in order in the second and then in the third they managed just a single from Jackie Bradley Jr. Mookie Betts did get a pitch that he knew he should have hit 500 feet, but he popped it up. Fortunately, the script did change a bit in the fourth. There, Xander Bogaerts came up second and he got a first-pitch fastball middle-in. You don’t get many first-pitch fastballs from Tanaka, and the Red Sox shortstop took advantage and drove one into the seats in straightaway center field. Finally, the Sox was on the board. That was also the last bit of damage for a little bit.

Joe Kelly got the call immediately after Price, and he looked like he did in the middle of this season. He got an out with runners on the corners to end the second, then came out and allowed just a single in the third before tossing a 1-2-3 fourth. It was a massive performance.

Ryan Brasier got the ball next, and he had a solid inning as well. He did get a runner into scoring position with just one out, but that was because Eduardo Núñez made a nice play on an Aaron Judge grounder before throwing it away. After a walk, Brasier worked around the trouble with huge strikeouts against Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez.

The sixth belonged to Brandon Workman, at least to start. It was weird to see him in the game since a lefty was starting the frame and Eduardo Rodriguez had been warming earlier. It was the righty’s inning, though, and he did get a quick first out. However, after two relatively weak singles his night was over and Rodriguez did indeed come in. The southpaw did his thing, getting two outs and keep the Yankees at three.

Rodriguez would come back out for the seventh, too, but things got rough. Judge started it with a weak grounder towards first. He was able to reach, though, because Rodriguez got a bit of a late break to the bag and then didn’t hustle to the bag. It was an inexcusable effort and led to an infield single. After that, he allowed a walk and then it looked like Núñez made another error, this time on a throw to second. However, Ian Kinsler somehow kept his foot on the bag and they cut down the middle runner. Then, Sanchez struck again. This time he blasted one a whopping 479 feet for a three-run shot. Just like that, it was 6-1 Yankees.

So, the Red Sox now needed a five-run comeback against the vaunted New York bullpen. In the bottom of the seventh, they did get a base hit from Mitch Moreland to start things off. Núñez for some reason got another at bat after that, and he popped one up. Then Kinsler also got another at bat, and it seemed like a bad decision. He was able to come through, though, smacking a double off the Monster to score another run and bringing the Sox within four. That was all they’d get, though, and they had just six outs remaining.

Zach Britton was on the fourth, with the top of the Sox’s lineup coming up. They did get a walk from Benintendi, but that was it. Aroldis Chapman then came on for the ninth, and while the Sox did manage another walk but that was it.

GAME RECAP