Sox stay in hunt, beat Nationals
Rally in ninth behind Vazquez triple, on brink of playoffs
With the way things have gone, it seems as though the Red Sox have already been competing in playoff games for the better part of the last month, with plenty of drama and stress to fill an October.
On Saturday, they took a giant step closer to the real thing.
They certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves — what else is new? — but the Red Sox will enter the final day of the regular season with their destiny in their own hands. Christian Vazquez hit an RBI triple in the ninth to open the floodgates after the Red Sox had just lost their lead in the eighth, and they went on to complete a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Nationals, ensuring that their season will live beyond Sunday.
“It wasn’t easy,” a tired but satisfied Alex Cora said. “(Expletive), it hasn’t been easy the whole season. The fact that we know that (Sunday) counts, it’s gratifying.”
The formula is now simple for the Red Sox: With the Yankees losing to the Rays, they pulled into a tie for the American League’s first Wild Card spot. A win in Sunday’s finale, with Chris Sale on the mound, means the Sox would host the Wild Card game on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. A loss ensures more chaos.
The Red Sox certainly hope it won’t get to that point after yet another heart-pounding win.
They didn’t do themselves any favors, clinging to a 1-0 lead after Rafael Devers’ solo homer in the fourth and continuing to teeter on disaster. Tanner Houck threw five perfect innings, but was pulled as his turn to bat came up. The offense couldn’t add on, leading to many stressful innings for the bullpen.
Despite an electric inningending strikeout of Jordy Mercer with the bases loaded in the seventh, they ultimately couldn’t hang on to it. Adam Ottavino walked the bases loaded in the eighth and Austin Davis, in an unenviable situation with one out against Juan Soto, surrendered a game-tying sac fly to the Nats superstar. But they escaped a dangerous situation without further damage.
“It was scary,” Vazquez said of Soto’s deep sac fly. “Thank God it stayed in the ballpark.”
Then, like a switch, the offense finally came through. It hasn’t been the best offensive season for Vazquez, who has lost playing time to backup catcher Kevin Plawecki, but with a man on and two outs, he drove a first-pitch fastball to right that sailed over Soto’s head for a go-ahead RBI triple, a hit that he compared to his home run against the Yankees in the 2018 A.L. Division Series.
The moment had that kind of playoff feel to it.
“He’s a gamer,” Cora said of Vazquez. “It’s been tough for him the past few weeks losing playing time and I understand that. I know how it works. He wants to play every day but at the same time, he understands Plaw is doing a good job. One thing about Christian, he hits good pitching late in games. He’s really good. He’s been here a while. He’s a World Series champ.”
The big hit was contagious. Travis Shaw followed with an RBI single before Kiké Hernandez’s two-run homer gave them muchneeded insurance as the offense suddenly appeared again late.
“This roster is really good,” Cora said. “We’ve got a complete one. One more day, show up (Sunday), be ready and play a good game and see where it takes us.”
Davis, who stayed in the game as a hitter and walked on four pitches, returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and walked the leadoff hitter, then gave up a two-run homer to Andrew Stevenson. But Cora turned to Hansel Robles again, and he held it down for the save.
Now in control of their own fate heading into the final day of the series — which seemed unlikely after an embarrassing series loss to the Orioles this week — the Red Sox know they have another huge opportunity that they can’t let slip.
“It feels great,” Cora said. “Obviously it wasn’t a great week but we’re in this position right now. We’ve got the right guy and we’ve got to show up (Sunday) and win. Do that, hop on that plane, go home, back to our families and be ready for whatever happens this week.”