Boston Red Sox
“Scrappy, man. We have now alternative ways to win as an offense.”
The Crimson Sox’s efforts to bolster their roster this previous offseason paid dividends on Tuesday evening.
Boston’s 3-1 victory over the Yankees in Sport 1 of the Wild Card was headlined by the dominant outing from Garrett Crochet — acquired from the White Sox in a blockbuster deal final December.
Alex Bregman — who Boston reeled in throughout the early days of spring coaching with a three-year, $120 million contract — delivered some much-needed insurance coverage within the high of the ninth with a two-out, RBI double.
And free-agent pickup Aroldis Chapman — regardless of testing the cardiac fortitude of Crimson Sox followers — secured a save on Tuesday by navigating out of a bases-loaded jam within the ninth inning.
However in a season the place a number of unheralded contributors have additionally pulled on the rope for Alex Cora’s membership, it was becoming that Boston’s seventh-inning rally was orchestrated by the likes of Nick Sogard and Mastaka Yoshida — a duo that few anticipated would the catalyst for successful performs within the postseason.
“Scrappy, man,” Trevor Story stated of Boston’s method on Tuesday. “We have now alternative ways to win as an offense. I feel generally we will slug, generally we play small ball. Generally, walks are massive for us, and stealing bases and simply doing little issues like that. … So [it’s] enjoyable to see these guys do it on this stage, man.”
After failing to money in on a number of probabilities with runners in scoring place on Tuesday, the tail finish of Boston’s lineup wakened in opposition to Luke Weaver and the Yankees’ shaky bullpen within the seventh inning.
Looking at a 1-0 deficit coming into the body, Ceddanne Rafaela put the wheels in movement for a rally by working an 11-pitch stroll — a powerful end result for a free-swinging outfielder who opened the at-bat in an 0-2 gap.
Sogard — who spent a majority of the 2025 season with Triple-A Worcester — capitalized within the subsequent at-bat. The 28-year-old utility man knocked an providing from Weaver into right-center, legging out a double because the ball dribbled between Aaron Choose and Trent Grisham.
With Choose — his throwing power sapped after coming back from forearm/elbow damage — fielding the ball, Sogard took benefit and pushed for additional bases.
“Sogie was freaking wonderful. … “That’s preparation,” Cora stated of Sogard attending to second base. “We discuss their outfielders and what we will or what we can not do, and he noticed it immediately and took benefit of it.”
With runners on second and third, Cora known as upon Yoshida to pinch-hit for Rob Refsnyder, given the previous’s knack for placing the ball in play.
It didn’t take lengthy for Yoshida to hold out Cora’s needs. The primary pitch he acquired from Weaver was punched out into proper discipline for a two-run single — giving Boston a lead it didn’t cough up for the remainder of the evening.
As famous by former Red Sox stats guru J.P. Long, Yoshida is the primary pinch hitter in Crimson Sox postseason historical past to show a deficit right into a lead.
“That’s type of the way it’s been all 12 months,” Story stated. “The fellows know their roles, and we all know what’s anticipated of us, and I feel that’s communicated very clearly, and it has been all 12 months. It’s enjoyable to see Masa come up there able to hit, first pitch after which get it executed. That’s a particular factor to do. The second wasn’t too massive, and he put an important swing on the ball.”
It was a gratifying end result for a number of gamers on Boston’s roster — be it a minor-leaguer with 5 MLB call-ups already this 12 months in Sogard or a participant in Yoshida who handled each accidents and a large dip in manufacturing for a majority of this 12 months.
And if the Crimson Sox intend on forging a protracted playoff run in October, it’s going to need to depend on extra contributors additional down the depth chart to step up when their quantity is named.
“I feel it’s a next-pitch mentality,” Bregman stated of Boston’s method going into Sport 2 on Wednesday. “I feel you are taking it one sport at a time, one pitch at a time, and when the clock strikes midnight tonight, it’s on to the subsequent day and you are worried in regards to the subsequent pitch and proceed to remain centered on execution.”
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