The Sox made some very loud outs in the top of the first inning against Severino but had little to show for it. Mr. Mookie Betts drove the first pitch of the game to the centerfield wall but Brett Gardner snared it for the out. Andrew Benintendi jacked one deep out to center but Gardner ran that down as well. JD Martinez walked and then Xander Bogaerts hit a fly ball to the centerfield wall to end the inning. Eovaldi came out throwing 99 mph in the bottom of the first as Andrew McCutchen grounded out to third to start. Aaron Judge hit a ball deep to right but Mr. Mookie ran it down. Luke Voit whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning when Rafael Devers led off with a single. Steve Pearce whiffed but Devers swiped second and moved to third on the Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounder. Christian Vazquez hit a routine grounder to short but Gregorius couldn't come up with it and Devers scored to put the Sox top. Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed but it was 1-0 Sox.
Eovaldi kept the Yankees down in the bottom of the second although Giancarlo Stanton singled to left to begin. Gregorius appeared to beat out a drag bunt but the Sox challenged the call. Sure enough, the call was ovrturned and Gregorius was out. Stanton moved to third on the Gary Sanchez grounder but Miguel Andujar grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third inning as Mr. Mookie singled to start before moving to third on the Benintendi bloop to left. Betts scored on the Martinez sac fly and Benintendi took second. Bogaerts singled Benintendi to third and Andrew scored on the Devers force. Pearce then hit another ball 400 feet to center but Gardner hauled it in to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Yankee Stadium came alive briefly when Gleybar Torres was ruled out on a bang bang play at first only for the call to get overturned. The Yankees caught a break when Gardner hit a double play ball to second but Bogaerts dropped the transfer throw. McCutchen flied out to right and Judge grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox finally knocked out Severino in the top of the fourth when Holt and Vazquez struck back to back singles before JBJ walked to load the bases with nobody out. That was it for Severino as Yankees manager Aaron Boone pulled him in favor of Lance Lynn. Mr. Mookie hadnt drove in a run in his post-season career and he finally got one by walking to score Holt and re-load the bases. Benintendi cleared out the bases and the crowd with a double down the right field line to score all three runners. Martinez failed to advance Benintendi by grounding out to third but Bogaerts did with a base hit to put runners at the corners. That was it for Lynn as Chad Green came in and got a huge out when Devers popped up to second. Pearce singled home Benintendi and Holt tripled home both runners to tie the game. Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox now led 10-0
Nobody in Boston felt the lead was safe and sure enough the Yankees struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Voit led off with an infield single. Stanton ripped a bullet to center to send Voit to third. Gregorius beat out a double play ball to score Voit but Sanchez whiffed badly on a pitch in the dirt for strike three. Andujar grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 10-1 Sox.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as JBJ flied out to left on the first pitch. Mr. Mookie grounded out to third on the first pitch but Benintendi walked. Benintendi swiped second before Martinez walked as well. Bogaerts popped up to third to end the inning. Eovaldi returned for the bottom of the fifth and Torres lined out to Pearce to start. Gardner grounded out to second and McCutchen lined out to short to end the inning.
Jonathan Holder came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Devers grounded out to first to begin. Pearce whiffed and Holt grounded out to first to end the inning. Eovaldi kept up the pace in the bottom of the sixth although Judge singled to start. Eovaldi blew away Voit on a high fastball then got lucky when he threw a high inside fastball to Stanton who luckily just lined it to left. Gregorius popped up to left on the first pitch to end the inning. Eovaldi stepped up big time tonight.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh as Vazquez flied out to center to start. JBJ smacked a ground rule double into the left field stands but Mr. Mookie grounded out to short. Benintendi walked and Martinez singled home JBJ to increase the lead. Bogaerts popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 11-1.
Eovaldi returned for one final inning in the bottom of the seventh with Ian Kinsler taking over at second in Pearce's spot with Holt moving to first. Eovaldi froze Sanchez with a 100 mph fastball before Andujar whiffed on a curve. Torres grounded out to second to end the inning. Eovaldi tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball againt the vaunted Yankees, absolutely outstanding.
Stephen Tarpley came in to pitch the top of the eighth and immediately bobbled a squibber by Devers to start. Kinsler singled to left and Holt scored Devers with a ground rule double. Vazquez grounded out to first but a wild pitch scored Kinsler and sent Holt to third. JBJ walked and Mr. Mookie singled home Holt to increase the lead. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Benintendi and struck out before Martinez grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox up 14-1.
Swihart went to right with JBJ moving to left with Betts in center with Heath Hembre on the mound to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Gardner popped up to second and McCutchen popped up to second before Judge whiffed on a high fastball to end the inning.
Things got comical in the top of the ninth with Neil Walker at first with the catcher...yes catcher...Austin Romine now pitching. Bogaerts grounded out to third and Devers grounded out to second, but Kinsler walked. Holt somehow hit for the cycle with a 2 run home run to right as the remaining Yankee fans that weren't asleep groaned. Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 16-1.
Eduardo Rodriguez came in to mop up the bottom of the ninth and froze Walker to start. Stanton grounded out to third as Adeiny Hechavarria pinch hit for Gregorius and walked. Sanchez grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had showed some life and destroyed the Yankees 16-1 to move one win away from the ALCS.
We have Co-Heroes of the Night. The first is Nathan Eovaldi. Facing the Yankees on the road in a loud stadium, he shut everyone up with 7 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 5.
The other Co-Hero is Brock Holt who set a post-season record by becoming the first to hit for the cycle.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with a walk, 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 3 with a walk, stolen base, 3 rbis and 2 runs scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 rbi's.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 6 with a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 6 with a stolen base, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Ian Kinsler got a single, walked and scored two runs.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 6 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Blake Swihart struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Steve Pearce was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run and scored.
Final Thoughts:
Just when you thought the Red Sox were dead in the water facing the prospect of two games in Yankee Stadium, the Sox took a big fat dump in Yankee Stadium and made the Yankees clean it up. This was a mugging with an audience and there are grumblings that while the Yankees were leaving Fenway after Game 2 that Aaron Judge was strutting out to the bus with a boombox blasting "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra as loud as possible. The Sox were not amused and they showed some serious balls tonight. Mookie Betts finally got over the hump and got some rbi's and who would have imagined Nathan Eovaldi would have shut down the Yankees in October when the Sox traded Jalen "Twin" Beeks for him? As always the excuse machine is churning in New York as it was rumored Severino had no idea when the game started and warmed up too late. The bottom line was Severino was hittable and the Sox made him pay. The 16-1 defeat was the worst in Yankees franchise history and Brock Holt became the first guy to ever hit for the cycle in the playoffs. The attention turns to the big matchup tomorrow night because CC Sabathia has been a big game pitcher his whole career and the Sox are going to have to get to him early to put the pressure on. "Slick" Rick Porcello goes for the Sox and he's going to have to keep the ball in the yard. The Yankees offense is home run or bust and Rick has been prone to the long ball this year. If the Sox want to shut up the Yankee fans and knock the Yankees out once and for all they can do it in Game 4 tomorrow night at 8 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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