Boston Red Sox: Top 5 performances from a victorious ALDS series

No. 1: Kike Hernandez’s performance during the entire series

Kike Hernandez chose the right time to become the hottest hitter in all of baseball, and he powered Boston’s offense to their four game victory over the Rays. Whether it was his five hit outing in Game 2, or when he got a hit in seven straight at-bats, or his walk-off sacrifice fly in Game 4, Hernandez was at the center of the action throughout the entire series, and was easily the Red Sox most important player throughout.

Hernandez finished the series with a .450 batting average to go along with two home runs and six runs batted in. He got more than half of those hits in Game 2, when he went 5-6 at the plate, and helped jumpstart the offense after they were shutout in Game 1. Of those five hits, one was a home run, and three were doubles. Simply put, Hernandez was on fire.

Hernandez followed that up with a 3-6 line in Game 3, which was equally important. He had a clutch RBI single in the third inning that helped tie the game at two, and then hit a solo home run in the fifth that ended up being massively important due to Tampa rallying to tie the game later on.

And then Hernandez found himself with a chance to end the series last night in Game 4. As he had done the entire series, he got the job done. Hernandez hit a fly ball into left that was deep enough to allow Danny Santana to tag up and score, sending Boston to the ALCS.

Hernandez was the biggest piece of the offense’s success, which says a lot about his performance. Despite Xander Bogaerts‘ consistent hitting, J.D. Martinez’s return to the lineup, or Rafael Devers‘ penchant for timely hits, it was Hernandez who stood out among the rest. Without Hernandez, Boston wouldn’t be moving onto the next round, and they are certainly going to need him to continue hitting if they intend on making it out of the Championship round.