MLB – Biggest Boston Sox games on 11 playoff wins

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Combined with a regular season of 108 wins, this makes the 2018 Red Sox one of the best teams of recent decades. Let's look at the most important game of each of their 11 playoff wins, using a statistic called wWPA – Winning Team – Added Victory Probability via Baseball-Reference.com. WPA gives us an estimate of the extent of a team's chances of winning after a given game. (Detailed explanation here.)

Game ALDS 1: Red Sox 5, Yankees 4

The game: J.D. Martinez strikes home at three points from J.A. Passes in first run (20 percent wwpa).

It is normal that the Boston playoff series started as planned in the league series of the American League, thanks to a great success of the leader of the Major League in points produced during the regular season. Martinez's home run was a 107 mph laser just above the green monster. Craig Kimbrel made the discussion interesting – it would be a recurring theme in October – when Aaron Judge was accepted in the ninth, but Kimbrel recovered to eliminate the next three batters.

Game ALDS 3: Red Sox 16, Yankees 1

The game: Andrew Benintendi single left field at the third inning (10 percent wWPA).

Can you have a big game in a 16-1 game? Maybe not. With the Red Sox already leading 1-0 against Yankees starter Luis Severino, Mookie Betts led the third goal with a shot. Then Benintendi threw a ball into the left field line – he spent the whole month of October hitting with small soft chunkers and balls on the ground. He hit .268 in the playoffs, although slugged only .339. Whatever the case may be, Andrew McCutchen had a slow jump in the game and Betts had a good read and easily rushed to third place, but McCutchen tried to kick him out, allowing Benintendi to qualify for second place. Both marked and the rout was launched.

The game, however, was deemed so insignificant that it was not even prolonged by the MLB's high time of 3 minutes and 48 seconds. That's why this game is the Brock Holt cycle game rather than the Andrew Benintendi Bloop hitting game.

ALDS 4 Game: Red Sox 4, Yankees 3

The game: Craig Kimbrel forces Gleyber Torres to end the game (18% of the WWPA total).

You remember this one: It was 4-1 to go to the bottom of the ninth when Kimbrel collapsed with two goals, a base shot and a batter-hitter. Before Torres, Gary Sanchez had just missed a grand slam with a flying ball leading to the warning lane in the left field. Imagine how different this playoff might have been if this ball crossed the fence. Finally, on a 1-2 score, Torres hit a slow roll on third base, Eduardo Núñez had a nice turnaround on first base and Steve Pearce stretched. After a rereading, Torres was confirmed and the Red Sox are gone.

Sam Miller then asked: What if Núñez played a deeper foot?

ALCS 2 game: Red Sox 7, Astros 5

The game: Jackie Bradley Jr. hits a Gerrit Cole base double in round three (29 percent from WWPA).

Bradley had been 1-for-17 without an extra base with the basics charged in the regular season when, in the AL Championship series, he went against Cole with two outs and the Astros 4-2. Cole threw a 2-1, 98mph fastball and Bradley struck him in the left lane. With an exit speed of 95.7 mph and a launch angle of 36 degrees, the bullet traveled approximately 330 feet. According to Statcast data, the probability of success was 14%. In most parks, it's an outlet. At Fenway, he left the green monster and rolled along the padding along the line, clearing the bases.

ALCS 3 game: Red Sox 8, Astros 2

The game: Steve Pearce scored Joe Smith's sixth goal to break the 2-2 draw (17% of the EU average).

Bradley's grand slam in the eighth round of Roberto Osuna was a memorable one, but the Red Sox were 4-2 at the time. Instead, Pearce's homerunner marks the main strike of the game. Alex Bregman was tied with a double in the bottom of the fifth and AJ Hinch led playmaker Smith to face right-handers Xander Bogaerts and Pearce. Alex Cora could have used Mitch Moreland to hit him, but the Red Sox manager kept Pearce and he crashed the score 1-0 on the left field.

ALCS 4 game: Red Sox 8, Astros 6

The game: Jackie Bradley Jr. scored a two-run homer against Josh James in the sixth inning (31% of the WWPA total).

This is actually the biggest success of Boston's post-season. The Astros were 5-4 when Christian Vázquez doubled in the middle with two outs. The ball peeked at George Springer's glove – another reminder of the thumbs here and there. (Do not call it luck, call it baseball, or call it luck, it depends on which side your root is.)

Of course, the game that everyone remembers is the capture of the end of Benintendi's match on Bregman's support with loaded bases. The score reaches 17 percent for the WWPA, but the computer sees only one F7 with the bases loaded. He can not record the nature of making or dying from Benintendi's dive. If the ball passes in front of him, the three riders score and the Astros win, and god knows what will happen if this series is tied. The capture of Benintendi is therefore our strong point:

ALCS 5 game: Red Sox 4, Astros 1

The game: Rafael Devers defeated Justin Verlander in three sets (12 points).

The first round of Martinez in the first run is also 12%, but we will give the advantage to the explosion of three sets of Devers who raised the score to 4-0. Well, it was not really an explosion. It's a 358-foot flying ball that has sneaked into the Crawford Boxes in the left field. With neutral weather conditions, this ball is a home run in a single park in the majors: Minute Maid Field.

World Series 1: Red Sox 8, Dodgers 4

The game: Eduardo Núñez scored Alex Wood in seventh place (19 percent of the APW).

The Red Sox were already 5-4, but Núñez's two defeats on three points were decisive. It was also Vladimir Guerrero's type, while Núñez was playing on high ground and he was doing something good. This is another of Cora's long list of moves in October that made him the October Einstein – and a move by Dave Roberts that did not work. Pedro Baez had eliminated two of the three batters that he had faced (sandwiched around an intentional ride), but Roberts brought Wood to face Devers, only to see Cora counter with Núñez.

World Series 2: Red Sox 4, Dodgers 2

The game: J.D. Martinez breaks a 2-2 tie in fifth with a two-point single against Ryan Madson (22% of the WWPA total).

If there is another lesson we learned in October, it's not always how bad you were hit. This round started with the Dodgers 2-1 and Hyun-Jin Ryu eliminating the first two batters. Then came a base goal in the right field, a ground ball in the middle and Benintendi making an eight-step alley in a six-minute grimy appearance. Roberts brought Madson. Pearce walked to force in a race, then Martinez removed a fast bullet from his fists and sent a shot into the right field. Output speed: 80 mph.

World Series 4: Red Sox 9, Dodgers 6

The game: Rafael Devers picked ninth place in the middle of the match to break the 4-4 tie (29% wWPA).

The Dodgers led 4-0 in six rounds behind Rich Hill's hit gem and Yasiel Puig's Tony Award winning home race. They had not dug a four-point lead all season. Then came the unlikely comeback of Boston, with the Red Sox scoring nine points in the final three rounds – eight off LA – Mitch Moreland's three-point streak was 17% and Pearce's eighth was eighth. at 26%. However, they both rank behind Dewan Floro, Devers' ninth success.

Again, it's not how badly you hit it sometimes. Brock Holt hit a doubler over third for a double and Devers, who hit for Sandy Leon, hit a center in the center. The valves were open and Pearce then cleaned the bases with a two-run double.

World Series 5: Red Sox 5, Dodgers 1

The game: Steve Pearce compares Clayton Kershaw for a two-point homer in the first game (18% of the average New Brunswick population average).

We did not know that the match – and the baseball season – was essentially over when the first-scoring mate continued his unlikely run as the hero of the month of October on the sixth pitch of the night.

Of course, most of these pieces are tubes – that's sort of the way WPA works. Hits and runs are "rewarded" more than outs. It could be argued that the Red Sox's true playoff MVP was his pitching staff who limited the Dodgers to 16 points in five games and posted a total of 3.29 for all series, including 2.71. thanks to a combination of relievers and starters. the bullpen.

In fact, I think back to the first game of ALDS against the Yankees. The bullpen did not have its best match that day, walking three batters and allowing two points. However, two of the playoff team's biggest throws appeared in Game 1: Brandon Workman eliminated Gleyber Torres with goals to finish the sixth and Matt Barnes eliminated Giancarlo Stanton with goals loaded and no out in seven help prevent a big round.

The next day, the pen walked seven batters in a 6-2 loss to the Yankees.

The Red Sox went 10-2 the rest of the post-season.