Red Sox - 330 104 000 - 11 14 1 Padres - 000 000 000 - 0 5 2J.D. Martinez drove in a career-best seven runs with a pair of home runs, a single, and a sac fly.
Eduardo Rodriguez (7-5-0-1-6, 93) had everything working and enjoyed an embarrassment of riches, having four double plays turned behind him. RdRo also reached base on an error in the sixth inning and scored the first run of his major league career.
After Martinez's three-run dong with one out in the first (after Mookie Betts's double and Rafael Devers's single), the Red Sox never looked back. They scored three more runs in the second, as Mitch Moreland walked, Brock Holt singled, Betts had a sac fly, and Devers and Xander Bogaerts hit back-to-back doubles into the right-field corner. Martinez's sac fly made it 7-0 in the fourth and his 30th home run of the year, in the sixth, upped the score to 11-0.
Rodriguez was economical (11-15-11 18-11-18 9) and pitched to only one batter with more than one baserunner, and that batter - Manny "Last WS Out" Machado, in the fourth - hit into a double play. Josh Smith worked the last two innings, retiring five straight until an infield error gave the Padres a man on first. But a force at second ended the game minutes later.
Martinez has a 1.215 OPS in August (.392/.472/.743), with seven homers and 19 RBIs. ... Devers scored three runs and hit his 48th double of the year.
The last two Red Sox players with two homers and at least seven RBI in a game were Mookie Betts (4-for-6, 2 homers, 8 RBI, on July 2, 2017, in a 15-1 win over Blue Jays) and Mookie Betts (4-for-6, 3 homers, 8 RBI, on August 14, 2016, in a 16-2 win over the Diamondbacks).
Tonight was the 33rd instance in team history. ... David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley both did it in 2015. ... Walt Dropo and Bobby Doerr both did it in a 29-4 rout of the Browns on June 8, 1950.
P.S. The Red Sox's black uniforms were dull and boring, but the Padres' white get-ups were fucking ugly.
AL Wild Card: TBR/OAK/CLE –, BOS 6.5.
Betts, CF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, RF
Benintendi, LF
Vázquez, C
Moreland, 1B
Holt, 2B
Rodriguez, P
The lefty is 6-2 with a 3.61 ERA in 13 career starts against National League teams.Noting Rodriguez's past performances against the Padres would be ignorant. ... I assume the only reason that "stat" is not included is that EdRo has never pitched against San Diego.
Noting Rodriguez's past performances against the National League West would be idiotic. ... He has faced the Rockies and Dodgers earlier this year (and the Dodgers back in 2016), but maybe mlb.com considers three starts over four seasons a small sample size. (Remember in April 2018 when Dave O'Brien wondered why Chris Sale's stats against the NL East were so much worse than his numbers against the NL Central and West?)
Noting Rodriguez's past performances against the entire National League is Trump-level moronic. ... In addition to two starts against the Dodgers, Rodriguez has faced the Cardinals twice (both in 2017). He has seen nine other teams exactly once (Cubs, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, Phillies, Pirates, Nationals, and Atlanta). It's 13 starts over five seasons.
I suppose fans are supposed to be encouraged by Rodriguez's solid record and ERA, but in what way does his 2015 start against the Phillies offer optimism for tonight? Sure, he allowed only one run in seven innings, but he was pitching against Jeff Francoeur (retired after 2016), Darin Ruf (last played in the majors in 2016, now in Korea), Cody Asche (who last played in 2017, now hitting .208 with the Portland Red Sox), Darnell Sweeney (who has four major league plate appearances since 2015 and is currently with the Kansas City T-Bones), and Aaron Altherr (who has suited up for three teams this year, none of them the Padres).
I think I'll listen to Padres announcer Don Orsillo tonight.
AL Wild Card: OAK/TBR –, CLE 0.5, BOS 7.0.
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