BBOSTON — So much for the angst that swept through Red Sox fans in the days leading the start of the ALDS against the hated Yankees on Friday night.
The area of concern was Chris Sale’s left shoulder that required two stints on the disabled list and caused an alarming drop in velocity when he returned from the second break.
“If I take the mound I expect to win. I don’t care what I have on a given day. I should be able to find a way with whatever I have,’’ Sale said Thursday when asked about possibly having to deal without having his best fastball.
Sale didn’t display a heater that flirted with triple digits before inflammation invaded the left shoulder, but he was more than effective against a Yankees lineup that set an MLB record with 267 home runs.
Sale’s effort combined with J.D. Martinez’s three-run homer off J.A. Happ in the first inning led the Red Sox to a 5-4 victory in Game 1 in front of 39,059 customers at Fenway Park on a delightful 54-degree evening when the first pitch was thrown.
The Red Sox had to sweat the win because their questionable bullpen gave up two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Starter Rick Porcello started the eighth inning and was replaced by closer Craig Kimbrel with two outs and Gleyber Torres on first. Kimbrel went to a full count on Andrew McCutchen, who lofted a harmless fly ball to right for the third out.
Kimbrel gave up a leadoff homer to Aaron Judge in the ninth that cut the Red Sox lead to a run, but recovered to strike out Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton (4 Ks) and Luke Voit to end it.
Game 2 is Saturday evening in New England’s living room with the Red Sox looking for a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five affair.
David Price, he of the 2-8 record and 5.03 ERA in 17 postseason games (nine starts), goes for the Red Sox. Masahiro Tanaka, who beat the Indians, 1-0, in Game 3 of last year’s ALDS with the Yankees down, 0-2, and is 2-2 with a 1.44 ERA in four postseason starts, goes for the Yankees.
On a night when the Yankees needed Happ to keep them close to Sale, the veteran lefty wasn’t up to the task. In two-plus innings, Happ gave up five runs and four hits including Martinez’s blast.
With runners on first and second and one out in the sixth, Sale was replaced by right-hander Ryan Brasier. He gave up an RBI single to Voit, traded an out for run by getting Didi Gregorius on a fielders’ choice to make it 5-2 and walked Miguel Andujar.
Brandon Workman fell behind Gleyber Torres, 3-1, with the bases loaded and came back to strike out Torres with a 79-mph curveball.
The faulty Red Sox bullpen led Sale’s line to be two runs, five hits and eight strikeouts in 5 ¹/₃ innings.
Workman gave up singles to McCutchen and Judge at the start of the seventh and was replaced by Matt Barnes with Brett Gardner — who replaced Hicks (tight hamstring) in the fourth inning — coming to the plate. Gardner walked to load the bases without an out, but the Yankees only scored a run that cut the deficit to 5-3.
Stanton whiffed, Luke Voit drove in Andrew McCutchen with a force out at second and Gregorius grounded out to the right side.
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