Boston Red Sox: If J.D. Martinez gets hot, watch out baseball world

If J.D. Martinez gets hot, the Boston Red Sox offense could carry this team a very long way just like his clutch three-run homer Saturday night that led his team to a 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians in extra innings.

That is just how good Martinez is when he is on at the plate, which showed at the beginning of the season when he was driving the cover off the ball and looking like he was going to add the initials M-V-P to his name.  The second half of the season, however, Martinez has been kind of blah and so has his team.

Hopefully, that all shifted back into the momentum that once upon a time had the Red Sox on top of the AL East and sporting the best record in baseball.

Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez picks the right time to get his swing back

Entering the game in a 0-for-20 slump, Martinez picked the perfect time to break out of the slump.  With the Red Sox and Indians tied 2-2 in the 10th inning.  The Red Sox slugger stepped to the plate with two runners on and let his patience at the plate take control.

On a 2-1 count, Martinez sat back as Indians reliever Nick Wittgren tossed a cutter and homeboy let it rip.  A 395-foot homer into the stands was all she wrote on this night.  Yeah, there was a little drama in the bottom of the inning as Martin Perez added some stress by loading the bases, but they got out of it to win their third consecutive game.

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"“I went up there, chases the first pitch, and then I told myself to just relax and do what I always do and look for the ball up, and just try to put the ball up in the air and try to get the run in, really,” Martinez said, as transcribed by MLB.com.  “I was just fortunate enough to flush it and get it out.”"

It was more than luck for Martinez who took what was given to him instead of going up there and chasing anything.  The pressure has been on this Boston Red Sox offense the past few weeks, especially with the pitching struggling when anyone but Chris Sale is on the mound.

Again, the win came against a sub .500 team like the Indians, but beating up these teams is the difference between holding onto a 3 ½ game lead for the second Wild Card spot and not making the postseason at all.

Boston Red Sox bats are starting to boom again

Who said the Red Sox completely struck out at the MLB Trade Deadline?

Man, Kyle Schwarber took a while to play a game due to a hamstring injury, but he is really starting to heat up at the right time.  On Saturday night, the big man went 3-for-5 with a homer to get the scoring started in the top of the first inning.  He was on base when J.D. Martinez launched his three-run homer.

Over the last few games, it seems Schwarber has been right in the middle of the scoring, whether launching homers or getting on base, he is becoming a catalyst, which is why if this team gets Martinez going, along with Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo, the Red Sox will be alright.  Martinez knows it as does every batter stepping to the plate.

"“The offense, we’ve been kind of off, on, off, on,” Martinez said.  “We were able to put some runs up today.  If I get hot, it would be nice for us going into this last month of the season.  It would definitely help us.”"

A good, potent, consistent offense also helps the pitching as it takes a bit of pressure off the starters when they know their hitters can put a bunch of runs on the board at any given time.