BSJ Game Report, ALDS GM 2: Red Sox 14, Rays 6 - 20-hit attack (Hernandez, 5) bails out Chris Sale

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' wins over the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Red Sox bats bust out: Alex Cora was happy with the way his team swung the bats in Game 1, despite being shutout 5-0. As always, Cora was right. In Game 2, the Red Sox pounded out 20 hits and got at least three from five players — five by Kiké Hernandez (homer, three doubles) — to overcome a 5-2 Rays lead after 1, and win the game 14-6 to take home-field advantage back to Fenway for two games starting Sunday.

"It was a 3-0 game, so we've been behind 3-0 plenty of times, so we put a good inning in the first one," said Cora. "I mean, we hit the ball hard yesterday. So offensively we're getting to who we are, and it was just a 3-0 game in the second inning. That's the way we saw it. Obviously, you know, we had to make adjustments ... offensively it was like, 'Hey, don't panic.' ... They did an amazing job the whole night."

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Red Sox became the first team in MLB postseason history with 20 hits and 5 HR in a playoff game, and to have 6 players with multiple RBI in a playoff game since RBI became official in 1920.

J.D. Martinez, who broke a 5-5 tie in the 5th inning with a three-run homer to center, Xander Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers also homered. It was the first time in team postseason history that five players homered, and they were the fifth team in MLB history with 15 hits and 5 HRs in a game.

Chris Sale falls flat: Despite being handed a 2-0 lead, the ace lefthander barely lasted an inning as he allowed five runs on four hits, including a grand slam by Jordan Luplow. 

"I think command. That's it," Cora said when asked what has happened to Sale in his last two starts. "(Randy) Arozarena hunts a first pitch, and (Wander) Franco stays inside. He gets the strikeout. He walked Nelson (Cruz), and the 0-2 fastball was above the zone, and he caught up to it. But I don't think ... hey, man, we count on this guy. He is going to be a big part of what we're trying to accomplish, and we'll get him right. We'll get him right."

Tanner Houck to the rescue: With eight innings to fill after Sale exited the game, the Sox needed to come up huge out of the pen. Enter the rookie righthander. He allowed one run and two hits over five innings, retiring his first 11 batters before yielding a two-out single to Franco in the fifth. 

"What happened I think was Tanner Houck, he was really tough," said Rays manager Kevin Cash when asked why the offense went silent after five in the first. "I know he had all of his stuff working. He looked like he had a great breaking ball. Just kept us off balance, but he was tough. We had seen him, I think, one other time early and was good that time as well, but he came in and did a tremendous job for them."

TURNING POINT 

Pretty easy on this one. Sox were probably a bit deflated after the Sale start, but when Bogaerts and Verdugo went deep back-to-back in the third inning to make it 5-4, the game completely flipped.

FOUR UP

Kiké Hernandez: Joined Hideki Matsui (2004, ALCS Game 3) as the only players in postseason history with 5 hits, including 4 XBH in a game.

J.D. Martinez: Was iffy to play with his left ankle sprain right up until about an hour before first pitch. Good decision all around. He was 4 for 5 with a huge 3-run homer.

Tanner Houck: At one point, dating back to the regular season, Houck had retired the last 30 batters he faced — that's a 10-inning perfect game.

Alex Verdugo: Not only was he 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, 2 runs and a homer, but he also did this:

ONE DOWN

Chris Sale: With Eduardo Rodriguez going 1.2 in Game 1, the Red Sox are the first team in MLB history to have their starters go fewer than 2 inning in the first two games of a series. They're lucky to be tied 1-1.

QUOTE OF NOTE

"It feels great. Now we know that at least we play two games in Boston. Monday we'll decide if we wear different uniforms, I guess, and we'll go from there." — said Cora. Monday will be Game 4 ... and Marathon Monday, so...

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 

* Tanner Houck became the third Red Sox pitcher in history to record a relief appearance of five innings or more in a playoff game in the last 100 years.

* Chris Sale became the fourth pitcher in club history to allow five or more runs in a start of an inning or less.

* The 14 runs were the third-most in a playoff game in Red Sox history.

UP NEXT

Game 3 is 4:07 p.m. Sunday at Fenway Park. RHP Nate Eovaldi (11-9, 3.75 ERA regular season) will oppose TBA.

It looked RHP Drew Rasmussen (4-0, 2.44) but Kevin Cash said after the game that he could go 3 or 4.