McAdam: In a strange season, even personal milestones are proving tough to come by

The drama was drained out of this Red Sox' season long ago, though it may hard to pinpoint exactly when. Certainly, since the team was officially eliminated from the postseason last Friday night, the games have taken on the feel of Grapefruit League games, with little context or significance.

But however briefly, it returned Tuesday night during, of all things, the fifth inning at Globe Life Park.

Wanting to give 18-game winner Eduardo Rodriguez every opportunity to win 20 games for the first time in his career -- and become the first Red Sox lefty since Mel Parnell in 1953 to do so -- the Sox lined it up so that he would pitch twice more this week: Tuesday night and again on Sunday, the final day of the season.

When the Red Sox staked him to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, it seemed as though Rodriguez was well on his way. The early offensive burst was hardly unexpected — after all, the Sox had provided him with an average of 7.63 runs of support before Tuesday. Rodriguez was accustomed to working with plenty of backing.

But in the bottom of the first, he gave the four runs right back. And when the Sox got him another in the top of the second, Rodriguez gave that back, too.

Finally, the Sox gave him more runs that he protected -- one in the third, two in the fourth and four more in the fifth. All Rodriguez needed was to get through the fifth.

That would prove difficult, as it turned out.



"Mechanically, he was off,'' acknowledged Alex Cora to reporters after the game. "Everything was cutting and his changeup wasn't there. It wasn't his best one.''

Not by a long shot. In the bottom of the fifth, needing just three more outs to qualify for the victory and in possession of a seven-run lead, Rodriguez made things interesting.

Having escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth without doing further damage, Rodriguez got himself right back in trouble in the fifth. First, he allowed a two-run homer to Rougned Odor, narrowing the lead to 12-7. Then, after getting two outs, he allowed consecutive singles, putting runners at the corners.

In the dugout, Cora paced nervously, torn between trying to give his pitcher a chance to inch close to his 20th win, while still trying to win the game.

With Elvis Andrus due, Cora marched to the mound with a message: Time was almost up.

"It was his last hitter,'' said Cora afterward. "(I told him), 'You get him out, good for you; if you don't get him out, you're coming out of the game.' I wasn't going to let it get ugly. It was kind of ugly (already), but at the same time, he's still our best pitcher.

"So I told him, 'You deserve this. I'll give you one more. But you better get him out. This is it.'"

Rodriguez didn't ultimately get Andrus out, but then, he didn't have to. Catcher Christian Vazquez threw out Delino DeShields attempting to steal second (or maybe he didn't; the Rangers were out of replay challenges and had to accept the close call on the field) and the inning was over.

Crisis averted. Goal still attainable.

From the very beginning of the night, it was clear that the team had invested a lot in getting the win for Rodriguez. The lineup Cora fielded Tuesday was closer to his regular lineup than Monday's series finale at Tropicana Field. Mookie Betts, for instance, was supposed to get the night off, but talked himself into the lineup because of what was at stake for Rodriguez.

The commitment wasn't lost on the pitcher himself.

"Everything they did out there to help me get that win ... that was really special,'' he said, the appreciation evident on his face.

"I think it was the right move,'' Cora told reporters. "If we're in the hunt or something like that, in the middle of the wild card race, he was probably going to be out in the first inning.''

So Cora did a balancing act: give Rodriguez every chance he could, while still eyeing the scoreboard and remembering the ultimate goal was to win as a team.

"In the end, what matters is that he has a shot at 200 innings and 20 wins,'' Cora said. "He's worked hard for this. We'll give him Sunday. I'm glad he's going to get a shot at it.''