“DIARY OF A WINNER”

THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ...
 2018 ALCS, GAME #4
The Red Sox survive on a controversial call
and great defensive plays

October 17, 2018 ... What an absolutely wild night in Houston. This was intense from the first inning and it never dropped a beat. Things went back and forth, both offenses were all over the place and you never really had a good feel for what was going to happen next. 

Rick Porcello looked awful and Craig Kimbrel fell even further out of the circle of trust. But they still won. The offense gritted and grinded their way through this game while the trio of Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes held strong yet again and Andrew Benintendi made the catch of a lifetime. This was an absolutely wild game

Going up against Charlie Morton this time, the Sox had their optimal offensive lineup, and they wanted to prove that was the case early and often. They got off on the right foot when Mookie Betts was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, making it the fourth time in a row he’s started a game off by reaching base. After a ground out moved Betts to second and J.D. Martinez drew a walk, Morton threw a wild pitch that put a couple of runners in scoring position with just one out. Xander Bogaerts couldn’t come through as he struck out in ugly fashion, but Rafael Devers could, when he looped a soft line drive into left field to knock in both runners, and the Red Sox plated two in the top half of the first.

So, now Rick Porcello was looking to settle into this game in the bottom half and hold the Red Sox lead. It was a rough night for the Red Sox starter. With a runner on and one out, Jose Altuve came up and hit what looked like a home run out to right field. Betts went after it and almost made an incredible robbery on a wildly athletic play, but a fan’s hand pushed the glove closed and he couldn’t make the catch. Joe West, covering the right field line in this game, called interference. When they went to review, the best camera angle was blocked by a security guard, the call was upheld and the Astros were held scoreless in the inning.

JOE WEST

After the Sox managed just a walk in the second, the Astros came back and were still hitting the ball hard against Porcello. After Josh Reddick kicked off the frame with a double, Carlos Correa put one through the left side and Houston cut their deficit in half. The Astros seemed to have some serious momentum, but for some reason they had Martin Maldonado bunt against a reeling Porcello. He popped it up, and Porcello got out of the inning cleanly with the lead still intact.

The Red Sox, fortunately, wouldn’t waste any time getting that run back. This time it was Andrew Benintendi kicking things off as he just missed a home run. Instead, he settled for a wall-ball double to set the table, and a couple batters later Bogaerts knocked him in with a double of his own. That pushed the Sox lead back to two, and it looked like it could be pushed to three when Steve Pearce hit a ground ball to the left side. Alex Bregman made a great diving stop and got the out and the Red Sox settled for a 3-1 lead.

The lead would not last much longer. George Springer wasted no time starting this inning with a bang, crushing a no-doubt solo shot to right field to cut the lead to one. After Altuve doubled off the left-field wall in the next at bat, Porcello did come back with two outs and looked like he might get out of the inning. Instead, Reddick came through with a soft line drive that found a dead spot in the outfield, and just like that the game was tied.

The Red Sox would go down without much of a threat in the fourth and somehow Porcello was brought back out in the bottom half. Two batters in, Tony Kemp hit a solo home run, to give Houston the lead.

The Red Sox didn’t waste much time tying this game right back up. Once again it was Benintendi starting the rally, and once again he did so with a double. This time it came with one out, and Bogaerts had a chance to come through again, this time with two outs. Just like he’s done all year, he did his job with the runner in scoring position and knocked a base hit through the middle making it a 4-4 game.

The tie game didn’t last very long. In the bottom half of the fifth, Joe Kelly came on for Porcello. Yuli Gurriel put a base hit through the left side. After reaching, he made a great read on a ball in the dirt and advanced to second. With two outs Carlos Correa came through with a single of his own, and just like that it was a 5-4 lead for the Astros.

We advanced to the sixth inning. James was still in the game at this point, and after a couple of outs to start things off the Red Sox got going. Christian Vazquez looked like he had one of his patented clutch home runs, but he missed by a few feet and settled for a double. James threw Jackie Bradley Jr. a first-pitch changeup right down the chute, and he demolished it. The no-doubt home run put the Red Sox up one, and now it was up to the bullpen to preserve the lead for 12 more outs.

duardo Rodriguez got the call to start the inning against Kemp, and he made the mistake of walking the ninth hitter ahead of Alex Bregman. Alex Cora pulled him right out after that. Now, it was up to Ryan Brasier against the top of the Astros lineup. Brasier was wildly impressive, shutting down Bregman, Springer and Altuve in order and holding the lead through six.

n the seventh, the Astros brought in Ryan Pressly to try and keep their deficit at just one run. He allowed a single to Martinez before doling out free passes to both Bogaerts and Pearce. In between those two walks, Houston had a chance to get out of the inning with a double play but Correa didn’t step on the bag at second base and that extended the inning. That was huge, because with the bases loaded, Pressly came out of the game and Lance McCullers came in to face Brock Holt. The Red Sox utility man drew a walk, and the Red Sox added an insurance run heading into the bottom of the seventh.

So, with the two-run lead, Brasier came back out for the bottom of the seventh. The inning started off lousy when Marwin Gonzalez reached on a bloop single, but Brasier came back with two outs and looked to get out unscathed. Correa drove one into the right field corner for a huge two-out double. Gonzalez didn’t score, so there were two in scoring position with two outs. Both teams made substitutions and it was Matt Barnes going up against Tyler White. The Red Sox righty came up huge with a clutch strikeout to strand the runners where they stood.

The Sox came out and tacked on another insurance run in the eighth when Martinez knocked in Betts with an RBI single, and they have an 8-5 lead. Cora was not messing around, and Craig Kimbrel came on for the bottom of the eighth. Things started off shaky. Kemp led off the inning with a line drive to right field, but fortunately for Kimbrel and the Red Sox he tried to test Betts’ arm and was thrown out at second. The closer then got two strikes on Bregman, but then had one get away and hit the batter. Springer poked a double into right field, and suddenly two batters were in scoring position with just one out for Altuve. He got one run in, but it came at the cost of a ground out and Houston cut the deficit to 8-6 with a runner on second and two outs. Kimbrel came back with a big strikeout of Gonzalez to close out the inning.

The Red Sox had a chance to add more insurance to their lead when Betts came up with the bases loaded in the ninth, but Reddick robbed him of a couple RBIs with a tremendous diving catch. So, it was still 8-6, and Kimbrel was coming back. After getting the first out, Kimbrel walked Reddick and then did the same to Correa to put the tying run on base. Brian McCann hit a fly ball to deep-ish right field, but it was out number two. Kimbrel then walked Kemp to load the bases for Bregman. He ripped one out to left field, but Benintendi made an incredible diving catch to save the game and preserve the win.

GAME RECAP