One way or another, when it’s all said and done, the tombstone of the 2021 Red Sox will read: It was always something.
It was something that challenged them, something that surprised them, and something that lifted them to unexpected heights. It may eventually be something that destroys them, but for now, it’s something that still defines them. It’s keeping their season very much alive into the month of October, and it will be their legacy if they keep going.
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An emphatic 6-2 win against the Yankees in Tuesday’s wild-card game was the crowning achievement — so far — of a season that has defied expectations at every turn. As recently as one week ago it seemed the Red Sox might rip apart at the seams. They are instead holding firm and moving on to play the Rays in the division series.
“We just did something spectacular, to be honest with you,” Xander Bogaerts said.
It really felt that way, all things considered, because there have been seen startlingly few normal days at Fenway Park this year. There have been frustrating days and thrilling days and unpredictable days, but between a red-hot start and a by-skin-of-their-teeth finish, the Red Sox season has been a moving target of unexpected highs and lows. For a while, it was all they could do to field a team as COVID-19 sent half their roster into quarantine.
But they were in control of Tuesday’s game from the very beginning. Despite playing without J.D. Martinez, and despite facing Gerrit Cole and the favored Yankees, the Red Sox struck first and did not relent.
“Doesn’t matter who is playing and who is not playing,” Alex Cora said. “If we show up, we are going to play, and regardless of the result, we are going to be happy with the way we go about our business. Sometimes it looks horrible, but 93 times this year, it hasn’t looked horrible, so we’re going to keep rolling.”
A do-or-die playoff game between the Red Sox and Yankees has extra buzz under any circumstances, but the Red Sox had to play this one without Martinez, who had — of course, in a season like this — sprained his ankle stepping awkwardly on second base while jogging to right field in Washington D.C., on Sunday.
Without him, they juggled their lineup, hitting Kyle Schwarber leadoff and Kiké Hernández second for the first time this season. Second baseman Christian Arroyo, who was among those hardest hit by COVID-19, was in the lineup after only nine major league at-bats since July 18. Ace Nathan Eovaldi was on the mound, but behind him, the Red Sox had a bullpen that would have been completely unrecognizable three months ago. Roles were uncertain, as was Cora’s maneuvering until he stepped on the field and motioned for a fresh arm.
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But it worked. All of it worked.
“We’ve dealt with adversity all year long,” Hernández said. “We’ve dealt with doubts. We’ve dealt with pretty much everything. And it almost seems like, not fitting, but it’s almost like, well, that was the one thing that was going to happen for the wild-card game — we don’t have J.D.”
Bogaerts struck first. He had five hits in his last 32 at-bats this season and hadn’t homered since Sept. 21, but he lined a two-run home run to straightaway center field in the first inning. He provided the lead, and Eovaldi did his part to keep it. Eovaldi was dominant through five innings, striking out eight without allowing a run until Anthony Rizzo’s leadoff home run in the sixth.
By that point, Schwarber had chipped in to chase Cole in the third inning. Schwarber had been an unusual trade target at the deadline — the Red Sox didn’t need another designated hitter or left fielder, and he’d never played first base — but they liked his bat and his postseason experience and figured they would find a way to get him in the lineup. Without Martinez, Schwarber started at DH and homered in the third inning. Cole was lifted three batters later. The Yankees didn’t want him to face Bogaerts a second time.
“Obviously we knocked out their ace,” Bogaerts said. “That’s the best pitcher they’ve got.”
When the Yankees started to rally in the sixth, the Red Sox shut it down with a perfect defensive play: Hernández backing up in center field, Bogaerts making an on-target relay throw, and Kevin Plawecki applying a tag at the plate. Defense has been, at times, the Red Sox Achilles’ heel, but it’s always something, and the play of the game might have been a perfectly executed 8-6-2 putout.
“We played defense,” Cora said. “When we play defense, we’re good.”
Filling Martinez’s usual spot in the No. 5 hole, Alex Verdugo had 3 RBIs in his first-ever Red Sox playoff game. Having moved from the rotation to the bullpen, Tanner Houck retired all three batters he faced in the seventh. Having apparently replaced inconsistent Matt Barnes in the ninth inning, Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock closed out the win. It was Whitlock’s arms into which Christian Vázquez leaped when it was over.
None of this is necessarily the way it was supposed to be. It’s not the way the Red Sox drew it up in February, but it’s the way they’ve figured it out this season. They’ve already gotten farther than almost anyone expected. Up next, the Rays.
“Probably coming into the season, everybody talked about them being the best team in the big leagues,” Cora said. “We have a huge challenge, but we’re ready for it.”
It’s always something.
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)