Well, there you have it folks. The Red Sox bested the Yankees three games to one to advance onto the American League Championship Series to face the red-hot Houston Astros. The Astros are fresh off of a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians, as their pitching and timely offense carried them to the semifinals. But, the real story lies within the most storied rivalry in sports: the Yankees vs. the Red Sox.
This was the first postseason matchup between the arch-rivals since 2004, when the Sox had that historic “backwards” sweep of the Yankees, climbing back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to win the series 4-3 and ultimately bring home their first World Series title in nearly a century, breaking “the Curse of the Bambino.”
After the very lopsided 16-1 victory in game three, the Sox were looking to run with their momentum to capture the series in New York in game four. J.D. Martinez drew first blood by plating Andrew Benintendi via a sacrifice fly in the pivotal third inning against veteran southpaw CC Sabathia.
Next, Ian Kinsler lined a double to left field which scored Sox firstbaseman Steve Pearce to make it 2-0. Soon after, utility man Eduardo Nunez smoked a single to left which drove in Ian Kinsler to make it 3-0. The deciding run ended up being Christian Vazquez’s solo shot to right field to make it 4-0. However, the Yanks didn’t go down without a fight.
Brett Gardner scored Gary Sanchez on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 4-1. Then, the ninth inning happened. The usual shut-down closer in Craig Kimbrel did not have his best stuff. He loaded the bases, then hit Neil Walker to score Aaron Judge to make it 4-2; then Gary Sanchez hits a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.
But, the Yankees’ rally came up just short, and they were eliminated by a score of 4-3 advancing the Red Sox to their 11th appearance in the ALCS in franchise history.
The Yankees’ season-long struggle of hitting with runners in scoring position ended up costing them their season. Giancarlo Stanton, who was batting .222 during the postseason, came up with nobody out, runners on second and first, and struck out swinging.
The Yankees scored two runs in the inning, both on no hits. In game one of the series, the Yankees squandered away countless opportunities to put the game away, but could not execute in the clutch as the Sox secured their first of two one-run victories.
Here are some stats: the Yankees were 4-26 hitting with runners in scoring position, which amounts to a .154 batting average; the Red Sox were 9-20 in game three alone, which is a .450 batting average. Simply, the Red Sox took advantage of their opportunities and the Yankees did not.
The ALCS match-up between the Sox and ‘Stros features Cy Young caliber pitchers, batting title contenders, and gold-glove award winners. Baseball fans shouldn’t be disappointed.