At some point, the incendiary chatter will dissipate and most everything uttered outside of the white lines will fade into the ether, but on Tuesday, what did not go unnoticed was who delivered for the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi stifled the Houston Astros for six innings, setting the table for late-game, series-altering home runs from Steve Pearce and Jackie Bradley Jr in an 8-2 Boston victory.
Bradley’s eighth-inning grand slam capped the scoring, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Photo: AFP
Eovaldi served as the target for an off-day social media post curated by Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, with Pearce issuing the strongest rebuke from the Boston clubhouse on Monday.
Eovaldi on June 20 had surrendered back-to-back-to-back home runs against the Astros while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays, a moment Bregman highlighted with a since-deleted Instagram video.
In his first appearance in Houston since, Eovaldi allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Both run-scoring hits came with two outs, but the Astros were otherwise silenced in clutch situations, going 1-8 overall with runners in scoring position.
Eovaldi met the challenge headlong.
“Nate was outstanding,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Stuff-wise, he’s one of the best left in October. His fastball, his cutter, he didn’t throw too many breaking balls. He did to Marwin, but overall a great outing.”
Bradley unleashed the knockout blow for a second consecutive game. It was Bradley who produced a bases-clearing double that secured the lead for good in Game 2.
When he strolled to the plate with the bases loaded and the Red Sox leading 4-2 with two outs in the eighth inning on Tuesday, Bradley pounced on fading Astros closer Roberto Osuna.
Osuna, making his first appearance of the series and pitching for the first time since Oct. 6, repeatedly failed to execute with two outs.
With one on and two outs, he allowed a single to Rafael Devers on an 0-2 count before plunking consecutive batters, pinch hitters Brock Holt and Mitch Moreland, with two-strike pitches.
Four Boston relievers blanked the Astros while allowing just one hit total over the final three innings.
The Astros, riding high after a late-inning rally in Game 1, suddenly find themselves on the other end of a spectrum where a series of near misses worked in favor of their opponent.
“It’s a gamble here, it’s a dogfight,” Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel said. “Unfortunately, we were on the losing end.”
Meanwhile, the Astros might be defending more than their World Series title.
The champions are under scrutiny after Cleveland filed a complaint to the MLB about a man associated with Houston attempting to film in the Indians’ dugout during Game 3 of the league Division Series last week.
During the Astros’ series-clinching win on Oct. 8 in Cleveland, a man with a cellphone standing by the photographer’s pit was removed “several times” by security personnel, a person familiar with the situation told reporters on Tuesday night.
The man’s credential was requested by Houston, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The MLB also said it is aware of a report by Metro Boston that a man claiming to be an Astros employee was removed from a credentialed area near the Boston Red Sox dugout during the ALCS opener at Fenway Park.
In a statement, the MLB said the matter “will be handled internally” and offered no other details.
Additional reporting by AP
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