The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Red Sox finish off sweep of Nationals, will host New York
WASHINGTON — The Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff berth on the regular season’s final day and will host the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game after coming back to beat the Washington Nationals 7-5 on a tiebreaking two-run homer by Rafael Devers in the ninth inning Sunday.
Devers’ second homer of the game — and 38th of the season — came on a drive to straightaway center field off Kyle Finnegan on a 2-1 pitch with one out after Kyle Schwarber reached on an error.
It capped a four-hit, four-RBIs afternoon for Devers, brought teammates bounding out of the dugout and prompted chants of “Yankees suck!” from some of Boston’s fans who could be heard throughout much of the afternoon in a crowd of 33,986 at Nationals Park. The home team has been dragging to a last-place finish after shipping away such stars as Max Scherzer and Trea Turner at the trade deadline.
Eduardo Rodriguez (13-8), who started and won at Washington on Friday night, threw a perfect eighth to get the win Sunday. Nick Pivetta, a starter who pitched Thursday, came on for the ninth inning and collected his first save since 2019, striking out Juan Soto to end it.
Finnegan (5-9) entered in the ninth for Washington.
One bit of negative news for Boston: Slugger J.D. Martinez left in the sixth inning with a sprained left ankle.
Boston and New York will meet Tuesday to determine which of the rivals takes on the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays in a division series. The Red Sox and Yankees entered the day tied at 91-70, one game ahead of both the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. New York edged Tampa Bay on Sunday 1-0. Boston won the series series from the Yankees 10-9.
There were all sorts of possible outcomes when all four of those clubs began play at around 3 p.m. ET, but the simplest was this: If the Red Sox beat the Nationals, who entered the game last in the NL East, Fenway Park would be the site of the AL wild-card game, no matter what else happened Sunday.
That didn’t look like such a sure thing early: Boston fell behind 5-1, thanks in part to a shaky start by ace Chris Sale, who went just 2 1⁄3 innings and was pulled after walking Ryan Zimmerman with the bases full to force in a run.
Devers led off the fourth with a drive off a 1-2 fastball from Joan Adon, a 23-yearold right-hander who struck out nine batters in 51⁄3 innings in his major league debut.
Devers added an RBI single off Erick Fedde in the seventh that brought the visitors within 5-3, and Alex Verdugo’s two-run double that inning tied it at 5.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Martinez is usually a designated hitter but was playing right field in an NL park. … RHP Garrett Whitlock was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after being out with a strained right pectoral muscle; he pitched the seventh Sunday. … RHP Eduard Bazardo was optioned to Triple-A Worcester.