by Jerry Remy
The Sox rebounded in Game 4 behind Peavy, who went 5⅔ innings for Boston in what was a scoreless game until David DeJesus doubled in the go-ahead run. The Rays used nine pitchers, which was a postseason record at the time. The Sox scored in the seventh thanks to Ellsbury’s legs. We really saw the great ability Ellsbury had. He stole his fourth base of the series and got to third on a wild pitch, which also scored Xander Bogaerts. Shane Victorino legged out an infield hit, which scored another run. And then in the top of the ninth, Fernando Rodney walked two of the first three batters and hit Victorino with two strikes. With the bases loaded, Dustin Pedroia’s sacrifice fly added some cushion. Uehara didn’t fail this time and got the four-out save. The Sox had made it to the ALCS.
The Tigers were one of those teams that should have won a World Series and it wasn’t that Dave Dombrowski, then the Tigers’ GM, didn’t try. He put together an excellent roster and pitching staff, just as he has with Boston.
Anibal Sanchez, who was the other guy traded with Hanley Ramirez for Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett in 2006, surfaced with the Tigers and struck out 12 batters in a dominant game, beating the Red Sox 1–0. Lester allowed just one run, a Jhonny Peralta RBI single.
In Game 2, Max Scherzer, who has remained one of the top pitchers in the game, held the Red Sox hitless for five innings and Boston trailed 1–0. Clay Buchholz allowed homers to Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila in the top of the sixth. The Tigers led by five runs. But the Sox came roaring back. Big Papi blasted a two-out grand slam tying the score 5–5.
The highlight reel here was watching Torii Hunter diving over the right-field wall trying to catch Ortiz’s drive. Koji stopped Detroit in the ninth in a tie game. Jonny Gomes started the winning rally in the bottom of the ninth with a single. The Tigers then were loose on defense. Rick Porcello tossed a wild pitch that sent Gomes to third, and he scored on Saltalamacchia’s walkoff base hit.
Game 3 was such a great game. Justin Verlander allowed a solo homer to Mike Napoli in the seventh inning and that was all the scoring. John Lackey was superb, and the Sox used a threesome of Breslow, Tazawa, and Uehara to finish off the 1–0 shutout. There was an electrical issue in the second inning at Comerica which halted play for 17 minutes.
The Sox had one of those bad games in Game 4 as Peavy was blistered for five runs in the second inning and the Tigers took a 7–3 win.
The Sox took Game 5, 4–3, when Napoli hit a 445-foot blast off Sanchez in the second inning that spearheaded a three-run inning. The important run came in the third inning when Napoli scored on a wild pitch by Sanchez. Koji again was big at the end in preserving the lead.
In the clinching Game 6, Shane Victorino hit a one-out grand slam against Jose Veras in the seventh that gave Boston a 5–2 lead and the win.
The World Series began and once again the opponent was the St. Louis Cardinals, who had beaten the Pirates and Dodgers to get to the World Series after a 97-win regular season. The Red Sox pummeled them in Game 1, 8–1, behind Lester’s 7⅔ shutout innings. A three-run double by Napoli and a two-run homer by Ortiz were the big blasts.
Then in Game 2, the Red Sox suffered their first World Series loss since Game 7 of 1986. The Red Sox actually led 2–1 in this one after Ortiz’s two-run homer in the sixth. But a sloppy Sox defense cost them in the seventh. It was a weird play. The bases were loaded. Breslow was pitching to Matt Carpenter, who hit a fly ball to left field. The runner at third beat the throw home but Saltalamacchia botched the throw. The ball was picked up by Breslow, who made a poor throw to third base which allowed Jon Jay to score, giving the Cards a 3–2 lead. Trevor Rosenthal ended it by striking out the side in the ninth.
The Cardinals continued their momentum with a 5–4 win in Game 3. Peavy allowed two runs in the first inning, and while he got better and squirmed out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the fourth, the Sox weren’t able to fully recover. Bogaerts tripled to lead off the fifth inning and scored on a fielder’s choice by Mike Carp. Daniel Nava drove in Victorino in the sixth to tie the game. The Cards scored two more but Rosenthal wasn’t able to complete a five-out save, with the Sox coming back in the eighth inning with two more runs.
But in the ninth, Koji allowed a first-pitch double to Allen Craig after Yadier Molina had singled. Molina was tagged out at home on a grounder that Pedroia made the play on. Salty threw the ball down to third to see if there was a double-play opportunity but Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks had the ball get away from him. Craig stumbled over Middlebrooks and umpire Jim Joyce ruled there was obstruction by Middlebrooks and awarded Craig the plate and a walkoff victory.
The loss didn’t distract the Red Sox. They bounced right back to beat the Cards 4–2 in Game 4 thanks mostly to Gomes’ three-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning. That’s what we mean by the flair for the dramatic that Gomes possessed. This one also ended strangely when Koji picked off pinch runner Kolten Wong to end the game.
Game 5 featured a battle of aces, Adam Wainwright vs. Lester. But this one was all Lester, who pitched 7⅔ innings, a real gem. Ortiz knocked in Boston’s first run with a double, driving in Pedroia who had also doubled. Matt Holliday tied the game with a solo homer in the fourth, but the Red Sox scored twice when Ross and Ellsbury drove in runs. The Cards got a one-out double by David Freese, but Lester was removed, and Koji came on to record the four-out save.
And we know what happened in Game 6. All Lackey.
It was a pretty special time for Lackey, who had been the whipping boy of Red Sox fans. He was a main character of the 2011 chicken-and-beer team, where pitchers would go into the clubhouse during games and drink beer and eat fried chicken. It was a huge story at the time and a source of great embarrassment to Red Sox management.
But in 2013, Lackey was playing the role of World Series hero. He pitched 62/3 innings and allowed one run in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series. He became the first pitcher to win World Series clinchers for two franchises. (Lackey won Game 7 for the Angels over the Giants when he was a 24-year-old rookie in 2002.)
The win was also the first World Series Game 6 at Fenway since the Carlton Fisk home run game of 1975. Luis Tiant, the ’75 Game 6 starter, tossed the ceremonial first pitch to Fisk.
Ellsbury, who was playing in his last game with the Red Sox before accepting a seven-year, $153 million deal with the Yankees in 2014, singled to right. After Pedroia went out on a grounder to third, Wacha intentionally walked World Series MVP Ortiz (.688). Napoli struck out and then Gomes was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Victorino, whose walkup song was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” (“Every little thing gonna be all right!”), belted a 2-1 pitch off the Covidien sign on the Green Monster, driving in three runs with the double.
In the fourth, Drew led off with a homer into the Red Sox bullpen. Wacha allowed a double to Ellsbury. Wacha, the MVP of the NLCS, was lifted after intentionally walking Ortiz. Napoli made it 5–0 with a single to center off Lance Lynn. After a walk to Gomes, Victorino struck again with a single to left and it was 6–0.
An interesting thing happened in the seventh inning, when with two outs the Cardinals started to rally with a single, a double, and Carlos Beltran’s RBI single. Farrell came out to get Lackey, but Lackey told Farrell, “This is my game!’’ Farrell went along until Lackey walked Matt Holliday to load the bases, at which point Farrell came out again and took his pitcher out.
“I think it might be the most special out of all the World Series that I have been part of, to be honest with you,” said Ortiz, who was named MVP. “This is the kind of situation where the unpredictable happens. And this year I think that people predicting third place in the division, maybe last, because of what happened last year. It helped us out. We had a little chip on our shoulder that we want to come in and put up a good run and thank God we did.”
Ortiz went 11-for-16 in the Series and reached base in 19 of his 25 plate appearances. H
e scored seven runs in the six games.
The scoreboard read: 2013 World Champions.
“It was crazy, absolutely crazy,” Pedroia said. “It was just an unbelievable feeling to do this in front of our fans. To be honest with you, it was hard to keep the emotions down.”
Koji Uehara and catcher David Ross celebrate after the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series, the team’s third championship since 2004. (AP Images)
Gomes, who was such a big part of the Boston Strong movement after the bombings, said, “We didn’t put Boston on our back. Boston put us on its back. I don’t think a win-loss record sums up how much we care.’’
Red Sox executive Dr. Charles Steinberg had a great quote afterward. He said, “Sometimes, you recognize baseball history as it’s being written. This year, we were recognizing American history as it’s being written. For the Red Sox to have the honor of playing a small role in the healing of the city is something that each of these players should really be proud of for the rest of their lives.”
Ortiz said, “This is a city that we’ve been through a lot of situations. Sometimes, bad things got to happen for us to get the message. And we got the message. Everybody stayed together. And it showed the whole world that this is the best of every place.”
The reason Ortiz thought this was the most special championship?
“I say this because this is a team that we have a lot of players with heart,” said Ortiz. “We probably don’t have the talent that we have in ’07 and ’04. But we have guys that are capable to stay focused and do the little things. And when you win with a ballclub like that, that’s special.
“When we started rolling, no one could stop this train.”
9. 2018
The Red Sox might have won 108 games, more than any team in baseball, but beating the Yankees in the playoffs, who finished in second place but won 100 games in their own right, wasn’t exactly a slam dunk.
The Yankees had a tough, tough lineup. If there was one thing the Red Sox could exploit, it would be New York’s starting pitching, and that’s what they did. The Red Sox won their first playoff series since 2013 by beating the Yankees in four games to advance to the ALCS against Houston.
The Red Sox won Game 1 at Fenway 5–4 after almost squandering a 5–0 lead. J.D. Martinez had hit a three-run homer. Chris Sale left the game with a 5–0 lead in the sixth inning, outdueling J.A. Happ. Then in Game 2, David Price’s postseason woes continued when he was knocked out in the second inning, allowing three runs. Gary Sanchez hit two homers and Aaron Judge also homered in the loss.
But that was the lowest point for Price and the Red Sox even as the ALDS shifted to Yankee Stadium.
Leave it to a Red Sox–Yankees clinching game to end with a review of a groundout! But that’s what happened. Craig Kimbrel had a tough time holding a 4–1 lead in the ninth. It was 4–3 when Gleyber Torres grounded to third. Eduardo Nunez charged the weak chopper and his throw just beat Torres, or did it? On the play Nunez hurt himself and the trainer came out to tend to him while the replay challenge occurred. When the review came back in Boston’s favor, the celebration ensued.
The Red Sox actually outscored the Yankees 20–4 over the two games at Yankee Stadium, winning Game 3 by a 16–1 score after losing Game 2 at Fenway, which at the time created a little bit of uneasiness for Red Sox fans and the media heading into New York.
It’s funny, Alex Cora’s moves really stood out in Game 3 because he benched four guys and the ones he replaced them with all came up big. That was the game Brock Holt hit for the cycle. Rafael Devers had replaced Nunez and contributed with a big hit. Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven solid innings and allowed only one run.
After the Yankees beat the Sox 6–2 in Game 2 at Fenway, Judge walked by the Red Sox clubhouse with a speaker that was playing “New York, New York.” This was not lost on the Red Sox players who used it as motivation in Game 3. It sounds like they took it really personal considering the 16–1 rout.
Then in Game 4, Rick Porcello pitched well and won his first ever playoff game. And then Cora brought on Chris Sale in relief in the eighth inning before Kimbrel came on for a shaky ninth inning. But the job got done.
“A lot of people gave up on us after Game 2,” Cora said. “We showed up last night and tonight and had our plan all mapped out. At the end he wasn’t the usual Craig Kimbrel, but he got three outs.”
One of the funnier things that happened in that series was reliever Ryan Brasier yelling at Sanchez to get into the batter’s box after Sanchez was lingering outside the box and making Brasier wait. It kind of showed the mentality the Red Sox players had in that series.
Of course, with Cora having been the bench coach in Houston when the Astros won their World Series in 2017, there was a lot of talk about what advantages Cora might have over his old team. While everyone tried to downplay it, it turns out he might have had some inside knowledge of their players as the Red Sox went on to win the series in five games, winning it on the road in Houston, a tough place to play.
Maybe the Astros weren’t as good as they had been in ’17. Jose Altuve didn’t have a full year because of injuries, nor did shortstop Carlos Correa. And the production of some of their other hitters wasn’t as great, though third baseman Alex Bregman really emerged as a superstar player.
But as much as this was probably the scariest team they had to face, I still believed the Red Sox would beat the Astros.
It started ominously in Game 1 at Fenway. Sale didn’t have his best and struggled with his location in a 7–2 loss. This was a close game, 3–2 Astros, until they broke it open with four runs in the ninth inning.
Of course, a controversy developed after that game as to whether the Astros were spying on the Red Sox. Security noticed a person in the camera well on the third-base side, facing the Red Sox dugout. It turned out to be an Astros employee. MLB investigated and said they were shooting the Sox dugout to make sure they weren’t trying to steal signs. The topic was dropped, but the Red Sox weren’t too pleased.
The Red Sox got a huge third-inning three-run double by Jackie Bradley Jr. in Game 2 against Gerrit Cole that gave the Red Sox a 5–4 lead. The big thing in this one was 3⅓ hitless and scoreless innings by the Red Sox bullpen, until Kimbrel struggled in the ninth. But they held on to even the series.
Tied up, the teams shifted to Houston for three games. Cora received all kinds of attention from the Houston media upon his return. In a nice matchup of Eovaldi vs. former AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, Eovaldi was the clear victor with six solid innings, allowing two runs in an 8–2 win in which Steve Pearce hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to give Boston a 3–2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
More controversy ensued in Game 4. In the first inning, Mookie Betts was interfered with as he leaped for a ball that was heading into the stands, only to have a fan interfere with him. That’s the way Joe West called the Jose Altuve drive that could have changed the complexion of this 8–6 Red Sox win. The interference call cost the Astros two runs. The Astros led 5–4, but the Red Sox attacked the Astros bullpen, took the lead, and won the game.
Betts was sensational in right field. He made a picture-perfect throw to nail Tony Kemp at second base in the eighth inning as Kemp foolishly tried to stretch a single into a double. It proved to be a huge break for the Red Sox, as they warded off an Astros comeback in what had been a back-and-forth game.
And let’s not forget the great defensive play by Andrew Benintendi in the ninth inning to rob Alex Bregman and end Game 4 in spectacular fashion. Benintendi ran in hard and took quite a chance when he dove and caught the ball before it hit the grass. He was able to show the ball in his glove to the umpire, who ruled it an out.
So, it wasn’t just pitching and hitting, it was great defense.
The Red Sox were really relentless. You could sense that the Astros were on the ropes and ready to go down. As much as they fought in
these games, the Red Sox always had an answer. It had to be exhausting.
Then in the clincher, Game 5 in Houston, Cora pulled a switch with his starter. He wanted to give Sale, who had been limited because of his sore shoulder, more time. Cora went to David Price on three days’ rest. Price was more than eager to take the ball against his former Tigers teammate, the great Justin Verlander.
He certainly won the Sox fans over with six shutout innings, three hits, nine strikeouts, and no walks. It was vintage Price in a 4–1 clinching win. J.D. Martinez hit a solo shot off Verlander and third baseman Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in the sixth.
“One of the most special days I’ve ever had on a baseball field,” Price said after the game as he held his infant son in his arms. “It was something special for all of us. To do what we did in New York and then beat the reigning champs…I kept telling myself to stay in the moment. I was able to do that tonight.”
Cora was so happy for Price, who had been ridiculed for his poor postseason record, 0–9 in 11 postseason starts before this win.
“What will we do now that we don’t have David Price to kick around anymore?” Cora asked.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch was impressed after the loss. He said, “They put pressure on you from the very beginning and they don’t let up. And when people doubted them, they just got better.”
We opened the World Series at Fenway with an electric crowd that was in on every pitch. There was no getting up to get a beer or a hot dog. The fans were completely in it. The Red Sox were certainly going to take advantage of their home-field advantage. I’ve always said that the Fenway crowd provides a certain 10th man that you just don’t see in too many other places. First off, the ballpark is intimidating to the opposing players and you have the feeling that the fans are right on top of you. I just had a feeling after they took care of the Astros that they’d beat the Dodgers.
