J.D.Martinez hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and closer Craig Kimbrel got the final four outs as the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 5-4, on Friday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Game 2 is Saturday night at Fenway Park.
Below are updates and analysis as posted during the game.
Here is the box score .
Ninth inning
Top: Aaron Judge led off with a solo home run to right field to trim the Red Sox’ lead to 5-4. Then Craig Kimbrel struck out Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, and Luke Voit to end the game.
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Kimbrel blows 98 mph past Voit to close out a 5-4 win for the Red Sox. 22 pitches, 14 strikes, and four swinging strikes on his fastball, which was overpowering. (Judge HR came on a curve - and not a bad one, either.) Red Sox go up, 1-0.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
Eighth inning
Bottom: David Robertson entered the game to pitch for New York, and he struck out Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler before getting Sandy Leon to pop out to left field.
Top: Rick Porcello, slated to be Boston’s Game 3 starter on Monday, entered to pitch. He was able to get Miguel Andujar to ground out before Gary Sanchez lined out to third. With two outs, Gleyber Torres reached on a slow-hit ball down the third base line. Red Sox manager Alex Cora, taking no chances, responded by summoning closer Craig Kimbrel from the bullpen. Andrew McCutcheon worked the count full before flying out to end the inning.
Porcello threw a scoreless inning of relief in ALDS Game 1 a year ago. Otherwise, he hadn't come into a game from the bullpen since 2014.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
When brought into the eighth inning of a save situation this year, Kimbrel converted 3/5 opportunities, and allowed four earned runs in six innings.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
Seventh inning: Red Sox 5, Yankees 3
Bottom: The Yankees brought in reliever Zach Britton, and he proceeded to get Andrew Benintendi to ground out before striking out Steve Pearce on three pitches. J.D. Martinez singled to right field, but Britton got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to end the inning.
Top: Andrew McCutchen and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning against Brandon Workman. Matt Barnes was brought in to replace Workman. A walk to Brett Gardner loaded the bases with Giancarlo Stanton coming up. Barnes was able to strike out Stanton on a breaking ball, but Luke Voit drove in another Yankee run on a fielder’s choice. With runners on the corners, Barnes induced an inning-ending groundout from Didi Gregorius.
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Sixth inning: Red Sox 5, Yankees 2
Bottom: Lance Lynn continued on the mound for New York, retiring Ian Kinsler and Sandy Leon before Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a four-pitch walk. But Lynn responded, catching Mookie Betts looking for an inning-ending strikeout.
Top: After allowing two runners, Chris Sale was relieved by Ryan Brasier. Both runners scored.
Aaron Judge hit a line drive single to lead off the inning, followed by Brett Gardner’s fielder’s choice groundout. Giancarlo Stanton singled to left field, triggering Chris Sale’s exit from the game. Boston reliever Ryan Brasier entered, immediately surrendering an RBI single to Luke Voit. With the score 5-1, Didi Gregorius’ fielder’s choice brought home another run for New York. Miguel Andujar walked, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to bring in another reliever, Brandon Workman. The right-handed reliever promptly walked Gary Sanchez, but struck out Gleyber Torres on a bases-loaded, full count curveball to end the threat.
Sale is the first Red Sox starter to record an out in the 6th inning since John Lackey in G6 of the 2013 World Series. He's done after 5 1/3 innings, 93 pitches of shutout ball, though he does leave a couple runners on for Brasier.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
Fifth inning: Red Sox 5, Yankees 0
Bottom: Lance Lynn entered the game to pitch for New York, and he retired Steve Pearce on a ground ball to third base. J.D. Martinez lined out to first base before Xander Bogaerts reached on an infield single. Eduardo Nunez grounded out to end the inning.
Top: Chris Sale retired the side in order. Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres both grounded out, and Andrew McCutchen popped out to right field.
9-pitch 5th inning for Sale. He's at 83. Sox wanted 100 so another inning seems like a good bet.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) October 6, 2018
So far: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K.
Most K's for a Sox pitcher in the postseason since Lester and Lackey had 8 in starts in 13
Fourth inning: Red Sox 5, Yankees 0
Bottom: With Chad Green still pitching for the Yankees, Ian Kinsler hit a leadoff single to right field. Sandy Leon put down a sacrifice bunt to move Kinsler over to second. After Mookie Betts was intentionally walked with two outs, Andrew Benintendi grounded out to end the inning.
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Here's a photo from Stan Grossfeld of a Red Sox fan at the game tonight. pic.twitter.com/6rbBktoVrb
— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) October 6, 2018
Top: After a lengthy leadoff at-bat, Aaron Hicks singled to right field for the Yankees. However, Hicks was pulled from the game due to an injury while at first base. He was replaced by Brett Gardner. Chris Sale then struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Luke Voit. Didi Grigorius hit an infield single before Sale struck out Miguel Andujar to end the threat.
That's 8 Ks for Sale, tied for the most by a Red Sox in the postseason since 2008. Last Red Sox to surpass that was (surprise!) Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 2008 ALCS (Game 1).
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
Pretty significant development, as Hicks leaves with what looked like a hamstring injury. Hicks was NY's positional leader in WAR (4.9), and was their most consistent contributor this year.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
Third inning: Red Sox 5, Yankees 0
Bottom: Mookie Betts led off with a double to deep left-center field. Andrew Benintendi bunted down the first base line for a base hit, advancing Betts to third. With that, Yankees manager Aaron Boone removed starter J.A. Happ from the game, going to his bullpen early. Righthander Chad Green replaced Happ, and promptly gave up an RBI single to Steve Pearce to make it 4-0 Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0.
Happ through each time facing an opposing lineup:
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
1st time: .203 avg, .652 OPS, 30.8% K rate
2nd time: .222 avg, .648 OPS, 24.7% K rate
3rd time: .258 avg, .759 OPS, 21.8% K rate
Top: Chris Sale struck out Gary Sanchez before walking Gleyber Torres. Mookie Betts made an impressive running catch on Andrew McCutchen’s shot to right field, nearly doubling up Torres with a quick throw back to first base. Aaron Judge grounded into a fielder’s choice to retire the side.
Second inning: Red sox 3, Yankees 0
Bottom: Yankees starter J.A. Happ retired the side in order.
Top: After a surrendering a leadoff single, Chris Sale struck out Didi Gregorius before inducing an inning-ending double play.
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Sale is through two scoreless innings in 34 pitches. No Red Sox starter has pitched more than 5 innings in a playoff start in the last two years.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 6, 2018
First inning: Red Sox 3, Yankees 0
Bottom: With one out, Andrew Benintendi reached on an opposite field single, then immediately stole second base to move into scoring position. Steve Pearce drew a walk before J.D. Martinez hit a line-drive home run into the Green Monster seats to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.
Top: Chris Sale struck out the side, stranding a two-out walk to Aaron Hicks.
The scoreboard had Chris Sale’s first pitch at 96, harder than he threw any pitch in his last outing vs Baltimore.
Sale: Average 95.2 mph, topped out 96.6, more sliders (10) than 4-seamers (9) in the first. 4 changeups, 1 two-seamer.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 5, 2018
How to watch
All games will be broadcast on TBS. Brian Anderson will call the games, with Ron Darling as the color analyst and Lauren Shehadi as the reporter.
Game 1 by the numbers
From Alex Speier: The importance of G1: 34 of 47 home teams that won Game 1 of the Division Series (72 percent) have advanced to the LCS; in the 2-2-1 LDS format, 27 of 36 teams that won Game 1 (75 percent) won the series.
Just 13 of 45 home teams that lost Game 1 of the Division Series (29 percent) have advanced to the LCS; in the 2-2-1 format, 12 of 40 home teams (30 percent) that won Game 1 of the Division Series advanced to the LCS.
Lineups
| RED SOX (108-54) | YANKEES (100-62) |
|---|---|
| Betts RF | McCutchen LF |
| Benintendi LF | Judge RF |
| Pearce 1B | Hicks CF |
| Martinez DH | Stanton DH |
| Bogaerts SS | Voit 1B |
| Núñez 3B | Gregorius SS |
| Kinsler 2B | Andujar 3B |
| León C | Sanchez C |
| Bradley Jr. CF | Torres 2B |
Pitching: LHP Chris Sale (12-4, 2.11). | Pitching: LHP J.A. Happ (17-6, 3.65). |
Details about tonight’s game:
■ Red Sox lefthander Chris Sale (12-4, 2.11) and Yankees lefthander J.A. Happ (17-6, 3.65) are the Game 1 starting pitchers. Here are the lineups and notes, including each pitcher’s history against the opposing hitters, what to watch for, and other nuggets.
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■ The Sox announced their 25-man roster this morning. It is:
Pitchers (11): RHP Matt Barnes, RHP Ryan Brasier, RHP Nathan Eovaldi, RHP Joe Kelly, RHP Craig Kimbrel, RHP Rick Porcello, LHP David Price, LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP Chris Sale, RHP Brandon Workman, RHP Steven Wright.
Catchers (3): Sandy Leon, Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez.
Infielders (7): SS Xander Bogaerts, 3B Rafael Devers, UTIL Brock Holt, 2B Ian Kinsler, 1B Mitch Moreland, 3B-2B Eduardo Nunez, 1B Steve Pearce.
Outfielders (4): LF Andrew Benintendi, RF-CF Mookie Betts, CF Jackie Bradley Jr., RF-LF-DH J.D. Martinez.
Peter Abraham has more on how things shook out.
■ The differences between the two offensive juggernauts also seem razor-thin. Nick Cafardo looked at how the Red Sox and Yankees match up, position by position.
■ No one knows how hard Sale will throw tonight. Given that uncertainty, it’s worth asking: What kind of velocity does he need to dominate? Alex Speier examined what the numbers say.
■ Peter Abraham: It’s easy to focus on Betts, Martinez, and Sale as the playoffs get started. The Sox won 108 games because they were a team loaded with stars. But postseason series are so often is decided by the players we overlook. With that in mind, here some Red Sox players who could have a bigger impact on the postseason that you might expect.
■ Still have lingering questions about this series? Chad Finn answers them all in this Q&A.
■ Check out more of our Red Sox-Yankees coverage here.
Follow Matt Pepin on Twitter at @mattpep15.
Hayden Bird can be reached at hayden.bird@globe.com. Follow him on twitter at @haydenhbird.