NEW YORK -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 16-1 win over the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Cora the soothsayer: Manager Alex Cora remade his lineup for Game 3, inserting four new players who hadn't started in the series. He went with Rafael Devers over Eduardo Nunez and got two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. He chose Christian Vazquez over Sandy Leon and was rewarded with two hits, two more runs and an RBI. He had Steve Pearce at first, which resulted in a run-scoring single. And last but hardly least, he opted for Brock Holt at second instead of Ian Kinsler and Holt became the first player in baseball history to hit for the cycle in a postseason game. Not a bad night for the manager. "We have depth,'' said Pearce, "and when you have that many options, I'm sure it's a good feeling for Alex.''
Eovaldi comes through: Originally slated to pitch Game 4, Nathan Eovaldi was moved up a day to provide an additional day for Rick Porcello who pitched out of the bullpen in Game 1. It worked perfectly, as Eovaldi pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. In four appearances against the Yankees this season, Eovaldi has allowed one earned run in 23 innings. "He's been great against them the whole season,'' said Cora, "and that was good to see tonight.'' Eovaldi was efficient, needing more than 15 pitches in an inning just once -- in the first inning. He also finished strong, retiring the last six hitters he faced and 11 of the last 12.
Sox took crowd out early: Before Game 3, there was plenty of talk of how loud the crowd would be at Yankee Stadium, and indeed, in the minutes before the game, they made themselves heard, roundly booing every member of the Red Sox roster except David Price, whom they serenaded with a mock cheer. But when the Sox went ahead 1-0 in the second, it subdued them some. When they added two more in the third, it further took them out. And with the Yankees unable to get anything going against Eovaldi -- who faced two hitters over the minimum in the first three frames -- the ballpark was hushed with the Red Sox' big seven-run fourth. "It was huge,'' said Pearce. "That was part of the game plan -- to get the crowd silent and then obviously, you're doing good things.''
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox led 3-0 in the fourth inning, but given the power of the Yankee lineup and the Red Sox' bullpen issues, that was hardly insurmountable. But after Mookie Betts drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-0, Andrew Benintendi laced a double into the right-field corner, clearing the bases and upping the lead 7-0, putting the game effectively out of reach.
TWO UP
Mookie Betts: After a quiet Game 2, Betts hit the first pitch of the game 400 feet to the warning track, setting the tone even though the ball was caught. He later had two singles, a walk and two runs scored.
Andrew Benintendi: He reached in four straight plate appearances from the third through the seventh, highlighted by a bases-clearing double in the fourth that blew the game wide open.
ONE DOWN
Eduardo Rodriguez: On a night where everything went right, it's difficult to find anything negative. But let's go with the guy who walked a batter with two outs in the ninth of a 15-run game.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"No choice but to flush.''
β Aaron Boone on his team's lopsided loss.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- When Austin Romine entered the game in the top of the ninth, it marked only the second time in MLB history that a position player pitched in a postseason game.
- The 16 runs marked the second-most number of runs scored by the Red Sox in the franchise's postseason history. They won 23-7 in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS against Cleveland.
- This was the first postseason road win for the Red Sox since the 2013 World Series in St. Louis.
- The five RBI by Holt were the most by a Red Sox player in the postseason since Dustin Pedroia had five in Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS against Cleveland.
- The seven runs in the fourth tied a franchise record for most runs in an inning in the post-season. They had one so three times previous.