Roche: Brock Holt Makes History And Other Leftover Red Sox Thoughts
NEW YORK (CBS) - So many things to talk about after the Red Sox 16-1 thrashing of the Yankees Monday night at Yankee Stadium. The 16 runs are the second-most runs scored in a postseason game in Sox franchise history, just behind the 1999 23-4 Game 4 ALDS drubbing of the Indians at Fenway Park.
Let's give you some thoughts:
*I want to begin with what everyone in Boston thought of as the score was rising Monday night: Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees unleashed a 19-8 crushing of the Sox at Fenway. Yes, we all know what happened after that.
*But, you can also argue that maybe it's like Game 6 when the Red Sox came into Yankee Stadium and won 4-2 behind great pitching from their starter, Curt Schilling, and then kept it rolling into Game 7 when Boston pounded NY 10-3 led by a first inning two-run home run from David Ortiz and a second inning grand slam from Johnny Damon.
*With that said, maybe Game 4 will be all about the superstars on the team like Mookie Betts and JD Martinez delivering the knockout blows.
*Chances of predicting Brock Holt would be the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit for the cycle in a postseason game? Well, as Xander Bogaerts pointed out post game, only Mookie and Brock had done it before on this roster. Holt did it on June 16th, 2015 against the Atlanta Braves. So, yeah, maybe.
*What's also crazy about Holt's cycle? He said he was trying to hit a home run. Nobody does that! He said he moved up in the box to try to hook it to the short right field. He did it.
*The genuine love for Holt as a teammate is cool. Everyone was genuinely happy for him. They all say he does a lot behind the scenes in the clubhouse. He also does a great amount of charity work. Pretty cool to see a moment like that.
*Does it tarnish the first-ever playoff cycle that the home run that completed it was thrown by a catcher?
*Here's the Sunday off-day transcript of the Q-and-A I had with Alex Cora about Nathan Eovaldi:
Q. Just a thought on Nathan making the start, a guy that's pitched here, knows this place, and just what you expect from him in Game 3.
CORA: Seven innings, two hits, one run. Just his stuff. We know he's going to be throwing hard and he's going to mix it up. He's had success against them. Seems like it's a good matchup.
Eovaldi went 7 innings, giving up just 5 hits and one run.
*Eovaldi was everything you could possibly want in his first-ever postseason appearance. He went right after the Yankee hitters with his 100 mph fastball and never let up. He's now made four starts against the Yankees since being acquired from Tampa Bay in late July and the numbers are impressive:
2-0, 0.39 ERA, 23 IP 11H 2R 1ER 3BB 18K
*I had no problem with Sox players swinging away on 3-0 counts or stealing bases in Game Three. The Yankees are at home and can score multiple runs with the long ball, so no deficit is too large. They won 100 regular season games and it's the playoffs.
*Another thing I loved about Brock Holt's Game 3? He grounded out to second with one out in the second inning to move Rafael Devers from second to thirrd. Christian Vazquez then brought Devers home with an infield RBI single to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Boston was 74-15 in the regular season when scoring first and now 2-0 in the postseason. The little things make a huge difference in the playoffs.
Read: Hurley: Cora Pushes All The Right Buttons
*Credit Cora for inserting Holt, Devers, and Vazquez into the order to try to kick-start an offense that had scored just two runs over its last 14 innings coming in. Here's what Holt, Devers and Vazquez did:
18 At-bats
8 hits
6 runs
1 double
1 triple
1 HR
7 RBI
*Rick Porcello gets the ball in Game 4 Tuesday night. It won't be easy, but it should be fun to watch as the Sox try to earn a "close out" win and a date with Houston in the ALDS.
Read: Sox Have Great Odds Of Advancing To ALCS, Based On History
Enjoy the game!
