Red Sox's Quest for Glory

By KATHERINE MCDONOUGH ‘19

With the World Series beginning this week, it seems appropriate to take a look back at the historic playoff run the Boston Red Sox have made thus far.

To end the regular season, the Red Sox were ranked #1 in the American League with 108 wins, the most wins for a team in Red Sox franchise history. Because of their ranking, the Red Sox went into the postseason with a first round bye, awaiting the championship of the American League Wild Card game between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees won the game a dominant 7-2 and flew down to boston to face the Red Sox in the American League Division Series (ALDS).

The history and rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees cannot be overstated, and so both Yankees and Red Sox fans went into the series with anticipation. The last time the Yankees and Red Sox met in the postseason was in 2004 when the Red Sox pulled off a historic reverse-sweep, returning from 0-3 in the series to win 4-3.

This year, Game 1 at Fenway started strong, with a 5-0 Red Sox lead by the top of the 4th. Despite the Yankees eventually bringing the score to 5-4, the Red Sox closer, Craig Kimbrel, successfully saved the game for a final score of 5-4 Red Sox. The second game, however, went less successfully for the Red Sox. The Yankees grabbed a lead early, and with the help of 2 home runs from Gary Sanchez, won the game 6-2. Heading down to New York, the Red Sox had to win at least one of the games to stay in the series. To Red Sox fans’ relief,  the Sox won both games in New York to clinch the series. In game 3 of the ALDS, the Red Sox dominated, putting up 16 runs to the Yankees’ 1. Additionally, Brock Holt, the Red Sox’s utility man, scored the first “cycle” (when a batter scores a single, double, triple, and home run in one game) in MLB postseason history. In game 4 of the ALDS, the Red Sox faced the Yankees one last time, taking a quick 4-0 lead by the bottom of the 4th. The Yankees only scored 1 run until the bottom of the 9th inning, in which Red Sox closer Kimbrel’s shaky performance allowed for the hope of a late-game comeback for the Yankees. Kimbrel let the Yankees score 2 runs in the 9th, making the game 4-3. However, the Sox were able to pull it out with an incredible stretching catch made by first baseman Steve Pearce to win the ALDS and advance to the American League Championship Series (ALCS).

Despite the Sox’s apparent dominance, they had a challenge ahead in facing the defending World Series champions: the Houston Astros. While the Red Sox had the most wins in the American League, no one could deny the talent of the Astros’ bullpen and batters. The ALCS, a best of 7 series, began with an Astros win over the Red Sox. Verlander, the starting pitcher for the Astros, pitched 6 innings and completely out-pitched the Red Sox starting pitcher, Chris Sale. Sale seemed to be a shell of his regular season self, and after the game he was admitted to the hospital for stomach ailment. While the score was close throughout the majority of the game, Workman, pitching for the Red Sox in the 9th, let up 4 runs to give the Astros a 7-2 lead. In game 2 of the ALCS, the Red Sox scored an early 2 runs in the 1st inning and never gave up the lead for the rest of the game. The Red Sox came out on top with a 7-4 win, heading down to Houston for the next 3 games. In game 3 the Red Sox got another early 2 run lead, and kept the lead for the whole game. Going into the 8th up 3-2, the Red Sox scored an impressive 5 runs -- 4 of those runs being off of a grand slam by center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr -- and won the game 8-2. Game 4 of the ALCS was not as simple as 2 and 3, however. While the Red Sox lead early again, they couldn’t keep the lead and they into the 6th inning down 4-5. However, with a 2 RBI home run by Jackie Bradley Jr, the Sox regained the lead. The bottom of the 9th is where things got shaky. With Kimbrel at the mount, 2 outs, and bases loaded, Houston Astros 3rd Baseman Bregman, one of the Astros’ best hitters, walked up to home plate. Bregman swung and hit the ball, sending the ball to the outfield, but Red Sox left fielder Benintendi made an incredible diving catch to win game 4 for the Red Sox. Up 3-1 in the series, the Red Sox entered Game 5 in Houston determined. With an incredible pitching performance by David Price, who is known to be unreliable in the postseason, the Red Sox were able to hold the Astros to only 1 run while scoring 4 for themselves to win the game. The Red Sox, in a dominating 4-1 series, beat defending champions the Houston Astros to advance to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which begins Tuesday, October 23rd. Go Sox!