108-win Red Sox still viewed as underdogs
Bob Nightengale: Boston confident going into ALCS matchup with Astros
BOSTON – The Red Sox, who returned home in the wee hours Wednesday after their party at Yankee Stadium in New York celebrating the American League Division Series championship over their storied rival Yankees, woke up and braced them- selves for the sobering news.
The preliminaries are over. If they are going to reach the World Series, winning for the fourth time in 15 years, they’re going to have to take on the heavyweight champs next.
Yep, the mighty Astros, winners of last year’s World Series, who might even be better than a year ago.
The Red Sox insist they’re confident, and, yes, might have to change their music selection. It’s silly to play Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” mock- ing the Yankees once they get to Houston. They might have to go country and change to “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” the song played at every Astros game.
No matter what song they choose, the Red Sox are strutting into the series with bravado, with their victory total at 111 games and a Texas-sized chip on their shoulders. They killed off the Yankees. Now, they’re seeking revenge on the Astros, the team that ended their season a
year ago when Houston won the AL Division Series in four games.
Few outside their clubhouse are giving them a chance to win, almost like the Yankees series when they were tied at one game apiece, and all the Red Sox heard was they were done.
“A lot of guys doubted us,” Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “I turned on the TV, and everything is, ‘Yankees in 4.’ I’m like, ‘What is going on? How can we have 108 wins and they’re like the Yankees are going to win in 4. I don’t understand.’ ”
This is a team that won more games than any other team in baseball, the most in franchise history, and some folks are treating it as if it’s no more significant than winning the Grapefruit League title in spring training.
“I think the media from the first day of spring training was pretty negative,” Red Sox co-owner John Henry said, “even though we won the division two years in a row.
“(We) just needed to be a little more aggressive in our approach because these guys are so talented, they just needed somebody to say, ‘Go get ’em.’ And they went and got them this year, all year long.”
The Red Sox, under rookie manager Alex Cora, certainly did just that, and he was a mastermind in their four-game series victory over the Yankees, making bold and daring moves that paid off every time.
Cora even took the ultimate gamble in Tuesday’s 4-3 victory when he brought in ace Chris Sale in the eighth inning. If Sale struggled, or the Red Sox lost the game, they were done. Sale was scheduled to pitch in Game 5, and after pitching only 17 innings in the final two months of the season with an inflamed shoulder, just how long could he possibly have lasted in the elimination game? “I was ready to find out,” Sale said. We’ll never have to know.
Sale, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, is now ready for his own revenge. Last year was his first postseason, and it was ugly. He started one game, pitched in relief in another, and lost them both. He went home yielding an ugly 8.38 ERA, permitting four homers in just 92⁄ innings.
“My first go at it was god-awful,” Sale said. “It was as bad as it can get. It left a bad taste in my mouth. It sucked. I look at what happened the first time around, and obviously I was trying to flip the script.
“And here we are.”
Yes, a team that won more games than anyone, with the largest payroll in the game, but somehow is being viewed nationally as the “Little Engine that Could,” with few giving them a realistic shot.
“We’re here, doesn’t matter,” Sale says. “Anybody outside of this clubhouse can say whatever they want. We know who we are, and we know what we can do. Comes with the business, you know?
“Anyone can say whatever they want, but we know who we are, we know we can do, so keep on coming with it.”
Just in case you think the Red Sox are going to go timid now, Cora is not only doubling down on his gutsy moves but also pushing all of his chips in by announcing Wednesday that David Price is staying in the rotation.
Sale is pitching Game 1 Saturday against Justin Verlander.
Price is pitching Game 2 against Ger- rit Cole.
Yes, really, the same guy who was booed off the mound in Game 2 of the Division Series, facing just 10 batters, and getting a mere five outs in the Red Sox’s 6-2 defeat against the Yankees. Price has now started 10 games in the postseason with three different teams, and his team has lost all 10 games, with Price going 0-9 with a 6.03 ERA. Only two other pitchers in history have made at least 10 postseason starts and had a higher ERA.
“I think there’s been guys around the league that they struggle their first 10 starts,” Cora said. “Like Verlander, nobody remembers that he wasn’t good early in his career in the playoffs, and now he’s kind of like the poster child of playoff baseball.
“One thing for sure, (Price is) in the same spirits today. He’s ready to roll, which is very important for us.”
Well, considering that everything he touched in the Division Series turned to gold, how can anyone question Cora now, or doubt the Red Sox’s swagger?
“From Day 1 in spring training he’s been our guy,” Red Sox infielder Bock Holt said. “From the beginning, he told us how good we can be. We obviously knew that, but we believed him.
“There’s no reason to stop believing now.”