Sox edge Astros in last meeting till ... October?
BOSTON -- It was just a little bloop into left, really. But the way things had been going for the Red Sox this weekend against the defending World Series champion Astros, it looked as majestic as a towering home run.With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Moreland
BOSTON -- It was just a little bloop into left, really. But the way things had been going for the Red Sox this weekend against the defending World Series champion Astros, it looked as majestic as a towering home run.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Moreland dunked a walk-off flare, and it sliced out of the reach of left fielder
For Moreland, who started the game on the bench, it was a nice reward amid a recent stretch in which a slump was compounded by his misfortune of hitting the ball right at people.
"Yeah, I mean I'll take those every time," said Moreland. "If I could, I would. Right time to do it, I guess. Hard-fought game both ways. Had a little mishap there. They scored four that one inning and tied it up. To create some opportunities and stay in the game, to get the win was nice."
The win put Boston's magic number at one for clinching a postseason berth and 11 for winning the American League East. The Red Sox improved their MLB-best record to 98-46.
"That was awesome," said righty
The victory took the sting away from the bullpen squandering a good effort by a starting pitcher -- this time Porcello -- for the second time in three nights.
"I mean, [the win was big], especially with the way the game was going and that sixth inning happened," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "That's not fun. Then we had the bases loaded and we don't score. Craig [Kimbrel] did an outstanding job to get us a chance to win the game. It's always good to win. We know what happened today throughout the league. Just another day and we won. Tomorrow is an off-day, so in two days, we get to the next series."
The Red Sox got a big swing from Martinez in the bottom of the fifth, a three-run homer over the Green Monster that gave them a 5-2 lead. It was No. 40 on the season for Martinez, who moved within one of Oakland's
"It was good to avoid the sweep," said Martinez. "They battled back. They got in the game. We battled back. I think today what you saw on display was two really good offenses, two really good pitching [staffs], two really good teams. It definitely felt like a playoff atmosphere. You know when you're playing a good team. You can just see the matchups. Every matchup is tough. I don't think there's any break in the lineup. You don't feel like there's any break from the pitchers coming in. It's just tough."
However, Martinez's shot didn't give the Red Sox the momentum they expected. The Astros came storming back in the top of the sixth.
With Porcello at 95 pitches, Cora came out to get him. That move backfired.
"I'm not going to object to any of those guys coming into the game," said Porcello. "I think our starters are throwing the ball well this year. But our bullpen has been equally important and carried us up to this point. Heath Hembree, I'll turn the ball over to him every day of the week."
The Red Sox didn't get deflated. Instead, they stayed in it, thanks to two scoreless innings from
And they stole back the momentum for good in the ninth, setting off the latest walk-off celebration at Fenway.
"We need every one of them. We're trying to win every one of them. You don't want to lose any of them. It's going to happen but we take pride in going out and trying to win and that's the way we feel about all of them," said Moreland.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
For the Red Sox, one of the keys to the win came in the top of the seventh. After a passed ball by catcher
"All the angles that we had were inconclusive so we got that one," said Cora. "When I went down there, I looked at it and I was like, that's one of those that might go the other way. The longer it took was one of those that the angles were tough and we got the call."
SOUND SMART
This is the sixth time in franchise history the Red Sox have reached 98 wins in a season and first since 2004, the magical year when Boston snapped an 86-year championship drought.
HE SAID IT
"He's been calling himself
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
In the bottom of the fifth, Benintendi hit one deep into the second-base hole and Altuve ranged over to make a terrific stop. Altuve had to rush his throw and bounced it to first, and Benintendi was originally ruled out. But the Red Sox challenged the play and it was overturned, which proved fortunate when Martinez stepped up next and belted his three-run shot.
UP NEXT
Ace Chris Sale (12-4, 1.97 ERA) will return from the disabled list Tuesday and serve as the "opener" in the first of a three-game series against the Blue Jays. Sale is expected to throw two innings and a maximum of 40 pitches. He was sidelined with mild inflammation in his left shoulder and last pitched for the Red Sox on Aug. 12. Toronto counters with lefty
Ian Browne has covered the Red Sox for MLB.com since 2002. Follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne and Facebook.