MLB – Boston Red Sox bets on their heroes in the incredible victory of Match 4

HOUSTON – After Andrew Benintendi achieved his remarkable late strike that left a skid mark on grass turf in the outside field of Minute Maid Park, and after Mookie Betts launched his career, and after Jackie Bradley Jr. had taken the lead again, and after Ryan Brasier pulled out Alex Bregman, and more than four hours after the fan interference controversy in the first run, a few scattered Red Sox players sat in the club as team president, Dave Dombrowski. moved to congratulate them on their 8-0 win over the Astros in the fourth game of the AHL series on Wednesday night.

He tapped Betts on the shoulder and the AHL MVP smiled and said, "Thank you, sir."

It was a fitting match of congratulations and thanks – nine crazy rounds that allowed the Red Sox to win a victory before reaching the World Series and the defending champions to fight to stay alive. Here are six key moments and points to remember about this amazing game:

The catch

Everything was found at the bottom of the ninth with one of those ultimate clashes you dreamed of: loaded bases, two outs, winning points on the base and Craig Kimbrel, one of the best markers of the match history, facing Bregman, the hardest in the playoffs. ONE J. Hinch brought Bregman to the top spot, partly to earn him an added bonus. And of course, this extra asset was very present.

Kimbrel had gone through the busy bases, but Bregman had jumped on the first field, a fastball at 97 mph located inside the plate and sent a lining sinking to the left field. Benintendi, shady in the center-left, reacted, ran, dipped and climbed into the ball for a spectacular take.

"Making this capture in this situation is as good as it goes," said Holt. "I was pretty excited for him." I gave him a kiss after the match and I said, "Thank you. "… When I got here and I could breathe again, I thought to myself:" If he does not catch it, they'll all score and we'll go home 2-2 . "

It was a game to make or to die. In the middle of the field, Bradley was not sure Benintendi was going to get there. "The first thing I think is that it's not going to fall," Bradley said. "Then I think," Blocks it, blocks it. "

Benintendi, with his soft voice, said that he had made a good leap, that he knew that it was not as hard and that he thought that it would happen to him. ball. "I'm glad I did," he said in the underestimation of the season. This was not hard hit, but it was not an easy problem: Statcast data gave the lining a 79% probability of success.

"Obviously, it was an incredible catch," said Martinez. "And at an incredible time."

How incredible? Using this Statcast data and shifting the percentage to a 21% capture probability, we get this: it was Benintendi's lowest capture probability for the season. In other words, in the fourth game of the ALCS, with the game in play, it was undoubtedly his best game of the season.

To throw it

The Red Sox had scored in the top of the eighth end to score at 8-5 – Betts scored a goal on a goal from Lance McCullers Jr., progressed on a wild course, and Martinez hit it with a goal with two goals. Alex Cora turned to Kimbrel for the backup of six releases. The longest stop of his career in the major leagues so far was four outs. He had also dropped points in each of his three appearances in the playoffs so far.

Indeed, Houston speed skier Tony Kemp has launched a straight-line attack. It looked like a double safe. Kemp burned around first base and steamed to second base, but Betts was quick to the point and shot a perfect laser towards second base, and Xander Bogaerts slapped the tag on Kemp's front helmet to arrive in the bag. Kemp made a serious mistake by decreasing by three points. Kimbrel then hit Bregman with a throw and George Springer doubled. The Astros found themselves with only one point instead of a big potential round.

It's easy to criticize Kemp, but it's easier to applaud Betts. There is a reason he will win his third consecutive Golden Glove.

"He's fast," said Bradley of Kemp. "A few times a fast guy will hit him on the line and not get a double."

Major League pitcher Brandon McCarthy aptly described the play on Twitter: "This is one of the most perfect pieces a defensive player I've ever seen, everyone knew it was a doubled from the start, stop playing completely. "

Yes, it's fair to say that Kemp is a high-risk, low-paying effort. You do not want to throw yourself into this situation when you are falling behind by three points. But Betts has rewarded us with one of the best throws of the season – and most importantly.

"It's surely in the top three of my throws, that's certain," Betts said. "I knew from the outset that he was going to be second – it was one of those pieces that I practiced during spring training and that just came out of my head." enter the match. "

The home run

Once again, the big Boston explosion did not come from Betts or Martinez, but from the No. 9 hitter. Bradley changed the first pitch of the Astros thrower Josh James for a two-point homer in the sixth round that gave the Red Sox a 6-4 lead.

That's nine points produced in Bradley's last three games – all with two outs. James threw 13 shots at 100mph or more on his way out, including three in 102. But Bradley had it running in the fourth inning and in the sixth inning, while Hinch was trying to sneak a bit further ahead James, his fastball was under 100 and he started to mix more sliders and changes. With two outs, Christian Vazquez doubled the center of Springer's glove – a game he plays often – and then Bradley did not miss the change. His exit speed: 104.2 mph … a little faster than James's fastest pitch.

Controversy

The replica of José Altuve's ball in the first inning that could have been a home run will be played over and over again and played several times, then replayed again. This series is not without controversy.

We have more reactions about this here and it's easy to blame the referee Joe West and the replay team, but Hinch has not been slow in saying that the game – which was rejected – was rejected because it was determined that a fan had interfered with Betts' ability to catch the ball – was not the difference in the match.

"It's convenient to think that way," he said. "But there is still a lot of play. There has been a lot of action in this game. No, I will go there."

The bullpen

OK, Kimbrel's difficulties are a cause for concern – enough for Cora to heat David Price. "I've made things very exciting in the last two games," said Kimbrel after the game. He acknowledged the stress that he had added to the lives of Red Sox supporters by stating that at least "I'm happy that they can go to bed happily."

• 

  Jose Altuve, of the Astros, was declared the winner by two referees, who said that a defender had interfered with the attempt to take Mookie Betts.

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  Chris Sale will not be pitching for the Red Sox in the fifth game of the AHL championship series, but the team is waiting for him to participate in the sixth game, if necessary.

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  From the Wild Cards round to the World Series, we'll be covering the 2018 playoffs.

2 related

Brazier and Matt Barnes, however, were excellent once again. Brasier got five outs and Barnes one, allowing the team to qualify for the sixth and seventh innings after a shaky Rick Porcello lasted only four frames. Both players played in all four games and combined for 12 scoreless innings in the playoffs. Brasier is becoming a personal kryptonite for Bregman, who made him fly sixth when the score was 6-5. It was a great moment as Brasier got Bregman, Springer and Altuve after Eduardo Rodriguez walked Kemp to start the inning.

"He was great for us," said Cora about Brasier, which was called in July. "He was our closest to the spring training at one point.I remember when he first came out, his first game this year, it was a 4-0 match, and he comes in and I tell guys, "Hey, man, this guy is good.

"They did not even know who he was. [The starters] leave early for the spring training [games]. "

Now, Cora has to turn to the fifth game. Brasier and Barnes played all four games and Kimbrel needed 35 shots to finish both of his runs, leaving Cora with hard choices to handle his game on Thursday. It is certainly unlikely that any of the three will appear if the Red Sox are behind and Cora confirmed that there was no chance Chris Sale, who was pushed to match 6, is in relief. That brings us to …

The game 5 starter

Although Price was preparing in the fourth game, Cora said that he would have used it in the ninth if the Red Sox had scored a few points because he did not want to send Kimbrel back after a long break between the sleeves. he gets the ball to start match 5 on three days off.

Really, Cora has no other logical choice: Sale is still recovering from her stomach condition. He could go with Rodriguez, but he has thrown in relief the last two games (although he has thrown only 23 shots). It makes sense to align it as price, sales and Nathan Eovaldi will play in his seventh match, with Porcello becoming another backup option if the series returns to Boston.

So, it will be Price who will try to launch the Red Sox in the World Series. After the win in Game 4, he snuggled up against the media to hold his one – year – old son Xavier, who had well past bedtime and was tense gently toward the microphones. After initially denying that he knew that he was going to start, Price was informed that Cora had just announced that he would begin.

"I knew it," he laughs. "I'm starting tomorrow, we know we have to be ready to play and try to finish here, we're at a win from there."