JD Martinez returned from an ankle injury and hit a game winning three-run homerun on Friday night, as the Boston Red Sox pounded out 20 hits en route to a 14-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Tropicana Field.
Boston got off to a great start after being shutout in the Game 1 loss Thursday. Kyle Schwarber led off with a walk, and then Kike Hernandez doubled off Tampa Bay rookie starter Shane Baz. With one out, Xander Bogaerts singled in Schwarber and then Alex Verdugo singled in Bogaerts for a quick 2-0 lead. Martinez followed with another single to load the bases, but the Rays escaped when Hunter Renfroe grounded into a doubleplay. Chris Sale had a much worse first inning in the bottom half. Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco led off the frame with singles, and with one out Nelson Cruz walked to load them up. Yandy Diaz singled in Arozarena, and then Jordan Luplow hit an 0-2 into the seats in left for a grandslam and a 5-2 Tampa lead. Bogaerts cut it to 5-3 with a solo homer in the third with one out, ending the night for Baz. Colin McHugh came in for relief and Verdugo greeted him with a solo shot of his own to get Boston within a run. Hernandez led off the fifth with a solo homerun to even the game 5-5, and then Rafael Devers walked and Bogaerts singled. With one out, Martinez took reliever Matt Wisler out of the park to centerfield that turned out to be the game winner and an 8-5 Sox advantage.
After Tampa cut it to 8-6 on a solo homer by Ji-Man Choi in the home half of the sixth, the guests continued to add on to put it out of reach. Christian Vazquez had a two out RBI single in the seventh, before Devers cranked a two-run homerun in the eighth and Hernandez capped off his record setting night with a two-run single in the ninth.
Sale was charged with five earned runs on four hits in just the 1.0 inning of work. Tanner Houck (1-0) was fantastic and kept Boston in the game after the disastrous first inning, picking up the win in relief only allowing one run on two hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Hernandez became just the 10th player in history with five hits in a postseason game, the first since Albert Pujols did so for the Cardinals in 2011. Martinez had four hits, while Bogaerts, Verdugo, and Vazquez had three each. McHugh (0-1) took the loss in relief of Baz for Tampa Bay, and Franco and Choi had two hits each. Game 3 is at Fenway Park on Sunday evening at 4:07 p.m., as the Sox take home field advantage as this is now a best of three series with the next two to be played in Boston. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.69 ERA so far in 2021 postseason) is the announced starter for Sunday, while the Rays haven’t announced theirs as of yet.
