Price, Hanley star in Red Sox Game 3 win

When the Red Sox drew up their plan to have David Price pitch in relief this postseason, it was for a game exactly like Sunday.

The Red Sox had a struggling starter lifted early, but by the fourth inning, they also had taken the lead.Enter Price, exit the Houston Astros.

Enter Price, exit the Houston Astros.

Price gave the Red Sox four innings of four-hit shutout relief, bridging the gap from the early innings until the eighth, when set-up man Addison Reed took over.

“David Price,’’ said manager John Farrell, “took over from the mound today.’’

Indeed he did.  To the surprise of nearly everyone, Price told Farrell that he had 80 pitches in him for an outing. The most he had thrown since shifting to the bullpen was a 40-pitch effort in Cincinnati on the next-to-last weekend of the season.

“But after the second inning (he worked),’’ said Farrell, “he came back in and said, ‘I’ve got it, I feel great.’ After the third inning, same thing; after the fourth, same thing.’’

By then, however, the Sox had erupted for six more runs against the Houston bullpen, and there was no need to push Price further.

“It feels good to put up zeros in the playoffs,’’ said Price.

“It doesn’t surprise me,’’ said Hanley Ramirez of Price’s effort. “I know David. He’s a machine. He’s a competitor and when he’s on the mound, he’s going to give you everything he has. That’s him. That’s his attitude and that’s why he’s here. And it was good to keep (the Astros from scoring) and keep us in the game.’’

The appearance marked the fourth time in Red Sox post-season history that a reliever had thrown as many as four scoreless innings of relief. Ray Collins did in the 1912 World Series and Tex Hughson did in the 1946 Series. The last to do it, of course, was Pedro Martinez in Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS against the Indians.

Asked if the afternoon constituted his best moment in a Red Sox uniform, Price didn’t hesitate with his response: “Yup. By far.’’

When he was asked if he would like to transition back to the rotation if the Sox move on to the ALCS, Price said: “I would love to.’’ He later added that there have been no discussions about such a move yet.
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If Price was the game’s pitching star, then Ramirez was the offensive hero. He collected four hits, including a bases-loaded, two-run double in the six-run seventh. He also knocked in another run with a single, giving him three RBI on the day.

“That’s one of the better days Hanley has in quite some time,’’ said Farrell. “He’s had big career numbers in the post-season. Today it was not only a big day for him, but when he’s been in the middle of our offense, we’re a completely different offensive team when he’s swinging the bat as he did today.’’

Ramirez was held out of the Game 1 lineup in favor of Eduardo Nunez. But when Nunez went down with an aggravation of the knee injury he’s been battling for weeks, Ramirez was plugged into the DH spot and had two hits in the first game, followed by four in Game 3.

The four-hit performance was the 15th in Red Sox post-season history and the first since Jacoby Ellsbury had a four-hit game in Game 4 of the 2013 ALCS. In 14 career Division Series games, Ramirez has 13 RBI. He also has the best Division Series batting average in history (.442; 23-for-52) among all hitters with at least 50 at-bats.

He’s had shoulder issues for much of the season, but said yesterday, he feels as good physically as he has all season.

“But it’s the mindset (that’s most important),’’ said Ramirez. “It’s the playoffs. I’ve been saying from the first day, when the first (playoff) game comes, nothing hurts. You just got to go out there and find a way to perform. I think that’s my job, find a way to come through in big situations.’’

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The 10 runs by the Red Sox were their most in a post-season game since they scored 12 against Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the 2013 ALDS…The 15 hits collected were the most for the franchise since they had 15 in Game 3 of the 2007 World Series against Colorado…The win was the third in post-season history for the Sox in which their starter didn’t finish the second inning. The other two came in consecutive games in the 1999 ALDS against Cleveland…Rafael Devers became the sixth player in baseball history to homer before he turned 21. The others: Mickey Mantle, Andruw Jones, Miguel Cabrera, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.