Boston Red Sox: J.D. Martinez clutch HR powers Sox in dramatic fashion

If you don’t know how good Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez has been at the plate in 2021, you better ask somebody.

Better yet, use Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays for a prime example of how clutch this man has been.

With his team down 7-6 and down to the last out in the top of the ninth, Martinez was exactly the man the Red Sox wanted at the plate with a runner on base and exactly the man the Blue Jays didn’t want to see.

In a big situation for his team, Martinez unleashed on a 0-1 slider from Jays reliever Rafael Dolis for a go-ahead, two-run homer that resulted in the team’s dramatic 8-7 victory over the team challenging them at the moment for first place in the American League East.

How big was the moment J.D.?

"“It was just a big at-bat,” Martinez said following the game, via MLB.com.  “Big situation against that team, a team we’re going to be battling with all year.  To kind of steal one like that is big for us.  They’re on our heels in the standings.  I know it’s early, but any time we play them, these are the games you kind of gain those gaps on.  So, it was a big one.”"

A big one indeed and also a milestone moment for Martinez, who dinged his 250th career homerun, one that he will surely remember in an MVP type season at the plate.

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Boston Red Sox, J.D. Martinez finding ways to get it done

After surrendering an early 5-2 lead, the Boston Red Sox continue to show their resiliency as a team.

Nick Pivetta, who has been dominant all season on the mound, didn’t have his best stuff Thursday night and the offense did pick up the team.  Key hits from young players like Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec set up the clutch moment for a veteran hitter like J.D. Martinez to work his magic at the plate like he has been doing all season long.

A .331 batting average with 12 homers and 37 RBI in 43 games played tells the tale of a hitter who has not only been hot at the plate, but a master craftsman with the bat.

"“He just works so hard at his craft, even on nights when quote-unquote he struggles he’s one at-bat away from changing the game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following the game.  “He was very upset with the strikeout the last [at-bat].  He thought the pitch was outside, and at the end it was a perfect pitch.  After that, he went to the cage and kept working and got a pitch up in the zone, close to him, and he put a great swing.”"

Entering the season, J.D. Martinez was a player who had to have a big season for the Boston Red Sox to compete.  He has done that and a lot more as his team now stands 27-18 on top of the AL East and the entire MLB.

If one at-bat has defined the season so far, it was that at-bat that symbolized how the Red Sox have battled their way as much more than just a playoff contender.