Sox take first step
Holt HR helps clinch playoff spot
RED SOX BLUE JAYS 7 2
The Red Sox have much higher goals than being a wild card, so clinching a playoff berth last night for the third season in a row isn’t their ultimate goal.
It’s just one small step before a giant leap they want to take deep into October.
“We’ve got a shot now, we’re in, we have the elimination game now,”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the Red Sox secured a 7-2 victory over the Blue Jays, their 99th win of the season. “We know we’re in a great position to win the division and to accomplish other things. Credit to them. I just told them, I told the group I’m very proud of them regardless of what’s going on around us, the winning streaks, the losing streaks, we stay together. They’ve been very consistent as far as showing up every day and preparing for the game and playing the game. I’m very proud of that.”
It was fitting that Chris Sale returned to service as their “opener,” while it was somewhat surprising that Brock Holt served as their “closer.” Holt’s pinch-hit three-run home run in the seventh inning gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. They added three more runs in the eighth to secure a playoff berth for the third consecutive season, having won the AL East the last two seasons before getting eliminated in the Division Series.
“We kind of had the same mindset the whole year — come to the park expecting to win and don’t think about anything else,” said Holt. “I think that’s why we’ve been so successful this year. We have a lot of guys in there this year who care about each other and want to win baseball games. Obviously we knew if we won we would be in there so anytime you make the playoffs and get a chance to be that last team that’s pretty special. We’re excited about that but we’ve got more work to do.”
Cora originally sent up Mitch Moreland to pinchhit for Sandy Leon in the seventh but he admitted the game sped up on him, and that after seeing a lefty warming up in the bullpen and right-hander Ryan Tapera on the mound, he wanted Holt instead, and would have actually put in Brandon Phillips if the Blue Jays made their switch.
They didn’t, Tapera stayed and Holt connected.
“We joke around sometimes, the decisions I make and I don’t make, we have that trust,” said Cora. “They can get on me and make fun of me, and the same way, I make fun of them. It was just one of those that I felt it was the right move there. I don’t want to put Mitch in a bad spot against a lefty. I trust him, but I do feel if they bring in a lefty, having Brandon up was better. We went with Brock and it worked.”
The Red Sox trailed 2-0 entering their half of the seventh, when they finally figured out Blue Jays starter Ryan Borucki.
It was Holt’s second pinch-hit homer of the season (Aug. 14 at Philadelphia), the third of his career.
Andrew Benintendi doubled in Mookie Betts and Ian Kinsler singled in Benintendi for the first two insurance runs in the eighth. The third came via a wild pitch.
After a scoreless, 26-pitch first inning in which Sale struck out two and stranded two including Lourdes Gurriel Jr. who had led off with a double, the Red Sox and Blue Jays exchanged scoreless half-innings until the sixth when the visitors scored twice off Nathan Eovaldi.
Sale wanted to pitch deeper into the game, just as he also wants to clinch something more meaningful than a wild card berth.
“From the start of the year we talked about this day — well, not this day — but October since the start of spring training,” said Sale. “We’ve all been pulling from the same side of the rope and we’ve got a lot of good guys in this clubhouse, medical staff, coaching staff and players in this clubhouse, this is the first step in the right direction.”