Brock Holt’s October night at Yankee Stadium still stands alone in postseason history.
The Red Sox acquired Holt in 2013, and at the time there was no way to know he’d end up playing such a big role in Boston’s last World Series championship. After missing most of 2017 because of the injured list, Holt came back in 2018 and gave the Red Sox exactly what they needed from a versatile, productive bat. He played in 109 games, hit .277/.411/.774 and tied a career high with seven home runs.
Then the playoffs arrived, and Holt turned into a force, especially in the American League Division Series against the Yankees.
Boston and New York were tied 1-1 entering Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, with momentum hanging in the balance. Holt, who had not played in Games 1 and 2, got the start and delivered one of the loudest postseason games any Red Sox hitter has ever put together. In Boston’s 16-1 win, he went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and five RBIs.
He started building the night with a triple in the fourth inning that drove in his first two runs. Later, he added a ground-rule double in the eighth to bring home another. In the ninth, he capped it off with a 355-foot home run that plated two more.
That made Holt the first player ever to hit for the cycle in MLB postseason history.
The result was brutal for New York. The game became the worst postseason loss in Yankees history, and it also marked the start of the end of their World Series hopes. Boston carried that surge right into Game 4, winning 4-3 to close out the series and move on to the American League Championship Series.
From there, the Red Sox beat the Astros 4-1 in the ALCS. Holt managed only one hit in 11 plate appearances in that round, but his work against the Yankees had already helped set the table for the rest of the run. In the World Series against the Dodgers, he added two hits and scored a key run in Game 3 as Boston won that series as well, 4-1, with a 28-16 scoring edge over Los Angeles.
No matter what came after, Holt’s night against the Yankees is the one that lives forever. It helped push the Red Sox toward their first title since 2013 and locked his place in team history.
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Mead has been out since July 27 and, if the Red Sox decide he is ready, he would come back without a rehab assignment. There is still only a slim chance he is activated before the Wild Card round, but Boston suddenly finds itself monitoring one last infield option that could help deepen the bench at exactly the right moment. [Read more 🡒]
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Crochet went 7.2 innings, struck out 11 and did not issue a walk while allowing just four hits on 117 pitches, even retiring 17 straight batters during one dominant stretch. Boston still lost the series, but the left-handers effort stood out as one of the most memorable Red Sox performances of the season and gave fans a glimpse of what a true October starter looks like. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Ended The Season With A Glimpse Of Whats Still There
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For Boston, the broader takeaway is less about the standings and more about the occasional flashes that still show up when the pitching and situational work are there. David Peterson has been one of the steadier arms lately, and over his last four starts he has backed that up with strong results. In a season where the Red Sox have spent plenty of time searching for consistency, moments like these are part of the case that there is still something to build on. [Read more 🡒]