ALDS: Boston Red Sox won Game 1 but lost the bullpen battle

Despite a pivotal Game 1 win against the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox bullpen still struggled mightily in the late innings.

For the first time since 2013, the Boston Red Sox won Game 1 of a playoff series, defeating the New York Yankees 5-4 on Friday night in the American League Division Series.

The Fenway faithful witnessed a masterful performance by Chris Sale (five and a third innings pitched with eight strikeouts), who finally looked back in full form after hip injuries sidelined him during the regular season.

It was equally as comforting to see JD Martinez hit a three-run homer in the first inning, putting the Sox up 3-0 right off the bat. The home run set the tone, and allowed Boston to obtain a 5-0 lead by the fourth.

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Sale kept dealing, and Yankees starter JA Happ kept struggling (two innings pitched, five earned runs, and only two strikeouts). It wasn’t until the sixth where things started to get dicey for the Sox. After a couple of singles, Alex Cora decided to turn to the bullpen, and bring in Ryan Brasier to replace Sale.

The Boston Red Sox bullpen recap

The second-year player (who’s been out of baseball for five years) gave up two runs (both charged to Sale) on an RBI single by Luke Voit, and a fielder’s choice by Didi Gregorius. After a walk to Miguel Andujar, Cora yanked him, and went to Brandon Workman to try to finish out this disaster in the making.

After another walk to Gary Sanchez to load the bases, Workman finally managed to strike out Gleyber Torres to end the inning. Even that at-bat was stressful, as Torres worked up to a 3-1 count, and Sandy Leon (who played phenomenal behind the plate), blocked some huge balls that could have gotten by him easily if not for his stellar reflexes.

The seventh featured even more bullpen issues, especially with Workman starting off the inning by surrendering two straight singles before being pulled for Matt Barnes. Barnes threw a wild pitch, and then walked Brett Gardner (who was in for the injured Aaron Hicks) to load the bases without an out recorded.

Luckily, Barnes managed to strike out Giancarlo Stanton (who was abysmal, striking out four times in huge situations), and escaped the inning with only one run on a fielders’ choice. It wasn’t until the eighth, where things started to settle down for the Boston bullpen, and ironically it was because of Rick Porcello, a usual starter. Despite one infield single by Torres, the righty set up a nice situation for Craig Kimbrel to finish a four-out save.

One of the best closers in baseball did not mess around, especially after a lead-off home run in the ninth by Aaron Judge, Immediately following the opposite field dinger, Kimbrel struck out the next three Yankee batters faced, all by his lethal fastball (which clocked in at 99 mph). The dominance was a sign of relief after an otherwise rocky outing by the pen.

The bigger picture

While Sox fans had to hold their breath throughout the latter part of the ballgame, New York’s bullpen shut out Boston’s hitters. The group pitched a combined six scoreless innings, acquiring five strikeouts in the process. Boston’s bullpen on the other hand surrendered all four of the Yankees’ runs (even though two of them were technically charged to Sale because of men on base) in three and two-thirds innings.

According to ESPN, the Sox have the eighth best bullpen out of the ten teams that entered the playoffs (4.91 team ERA). Meanwhile, New York’s got a team ERA of 1.64, and continue their dominance in that department from the regular season.

Sure, guys like Brasier performed well in the regular season (1.60 ERA in 34 games according to MLB.com), but a lot of them have minimal postseason experience. Brasier was clearly not ready to perform right from the beginning of his outing. Workman (who’s been a part of playoff teams) also looked like he had to shake off the nerves. Hopefully, they can settle down in their roles before Game 2 rolls around.

The good news for the Red Sox comes from their hot start hitting the ball. That in general may need to be their formula for winning this series:  jump on New York’s thin rotation early, and then have their own starter pitch great for most of the game.

Unfortunately, if these bullpen struggles continue, then the Red Sox may need to figure out a way to bridge the gap between whoever’s starting, and Kimbrel. Doing that will be difficult though, as not everyone has the talent of Sale.

Regardless, Game 2 on Saturday night should tell us a lot. David Price is set to take the mound and hopefully help ease the tensions. Price himself has had his issues in the postseason as well, which means something’s got to click before a catastrophe happens.

The Boston Red Sox won a pivotal Game 1 at home, but did so in unconvincing fashion. If Cora can fix those problems, then Saturday could be a more successful night for the 108-win team.