Jun 28, 2020
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Our boy had quite the ALCS
BOS @ HOU, ALCS Game 4, 17th October (8-6, win)
Red Sox fans the world over spent about 5 hours on the verge of cardiac arrest last night. That game was flat out crazy. Overturned calls, interference (or not), crazy catches, crazy missed catches, underperforming starters, outfield assists, JBJr coming up big again, the lead going back and forth like court tennis, up and down like a yo-yo... and all in just over five hours. Oh, and Craig Kimbrel was able to inflict near-death anxiety for two innings rather than one.
I don’t even know where to start. Mookie scoring first again? The fan interference call that it looks like the Sox got away with? Kimbrel’s abandonment of control? Benny’s catch? Porcello’s disappointing start? It was like the whole of the season and postseason boiled down into one ridiculous win. We didn’t even get as many hits as the Astros, we just made ours count more. Was it ugly? I dunno, if it was, it was ugly in the most beautiful way. Exciting and terrifying rollercoaster baseball. And there were a few bright sides too:
JBJr hit another timely homer, a two-run shot in the sixth that gave the Sox back the lead. This was deep to right, a no-doubter that brought his RBI total to 9 in the last three games. I, for one, am delighted that his streaky nature has resulted in him demolishing the ball in the ALCS. Also, he’s great.
Mookie had a hit and a couple of runs, as well as a questionable interference call on what would either have been a homer or one of the great stolen homers of postseason. But most impressively, he threw out Kemp trying to grab second on a base hit in the eighth with one of the most perfect throws I’ve ever seen.
Benny had a couple of hits and scored a couple of runs and made a beautiful, beautiful catch to end the game. His look of triumph after making that grab, and ruining Bregman’s night, was a sight to behold.
Xander is quietly having a pretty excellent postseason. He went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
JD Martinez went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and a run knocked in.
Raffy Devers knocked another 2 in. I’m glad he’s playing and that he didn’t make an error.
Brock Holt \o/ had a hit and knocked in a run.
Christian Vazquez hit a double that was nearly both a homer and an out. It was pretty great.
Brasier and Barnes both did their jobs and kept the Astros off the board.
We won!
One more win and we go to the World Series!
Kind of a wild year, you know? 103 wins -- better than last year -- despite really significant injuries. Incredible pitching across the staff. The highest run differential in the league on the strength of that pitching and some pretty good hitting.
And then the postseason. Flying through against the Indians, basically. Looking so good that first game at Fenway. And then the pitching was never quite where it needed to be, never quite solid. Walks. HBPs. Wild pitches. And the Red Sox turned those things into runs, while the Astros couldn’t really string things together for run production.
I’m frustrated. I’m in love. I’m not going away, and neither is most of this team. See y’all in the spring.
(I’m also now cheering for the Brewers, much to the chagrin of my numerous Red Sox fan friends.)
Clinch night vibes
My blood pressure was very high the last few days because of this guy....but we did it!