The Associated Press
NEW YORK–Brock Holt had one thing in mind: He was swinging for the fences.
After all, the game was decided long ago. And everything else went Boston’s way all night, so why not this?
The part-time utilityman put the finishing touch on a Red Sox blowout, becoming the first player to hit for the cycle in a post-season game as Boston routed the N.Y. Yankees 16-1 last night to seize a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five AL Division Series.
“This one I’ll remember for a long time,” said Holt, unaware of his achievement until told by a television reporter right after the final out.
“Obviously, you don’t go into the game expecting to make history or do anything like that, let alone score 16 runs,” he noted.
Andrew Benintendi lined a three-run double and Holt tripled home two more in a seven-run fourth inning that quickly turned the latest playoff matchup between these longtime rivals into a laugher.
Handed a big early lead, Nathan Eovaldi shut down his former team during New York’s most lopsided defeat in 396 post-season games.
“An embarrassing day,” shortstop Didi Gregorius said.
Game 4 goes tonight in the Bronx, where the 108-win Red Sox can put away the wild-card Yankees for good and advance to the AL Championship Series against Houston, who won 11-3 yesterday to sweep away the Cleveland Indians.
Rick Porcello is scheduled to pitch against New York lefty CC Sabathia.
Boston battered an ineffective Luis Severino and silenced a charged-up Yankee Stadium crowd that emptied out fast on a night when Red Sox rookie manager Alex Cora made all the right moves.
By the ninth, back-up catcher Austin Romine was on the mound for New York and he gave up a two-run homer to Holt that completed his cycle.
“You get a little antsy when a position player is on the mound,” Holt said. “I told everyone, ‘Get me up. I need a home run for a cycle.’
“I scooted up in the box a little bit, and I was going to be swinging at anything and try to hook anything,” he added.
“Obviously, you don’t expect to hit a home run but I was trying to. I was trying to hit a home run,” Holt stressed.
“That’s probably the first time I’ve ever tried to do that.
“I rounded the bases, and seeing everyone going nuts in the dugout was a pretty cool moment for me,” he remarked.
His teammates, too.
“He wasn’t shy about it,” Benintendi said. “Everybody was rooting for him.”
Boosted by noisy fans in their homer-friendly ballpark, the Yankees entered 7-0 at home the past two postseasons–against out-of-division opponents.
But the Red Sox, frequent visitors who clinched the AL East crown at Yankee Stadium just two-and-a-half weeks ago, hardly were intimidated.
“I think from pitch 1, we let them know that we were here,” Cora said.
Mookie Betts, in fact, hit a 405-foot fly-out to the centre-field warning track to begin the game.
Making his first playoff start this year, Holt opened the fourth with a single off Severino and capped the 26-minute outburst with a triple to right field.
The 2015 all-star also doubled home a run in the eighth and finished with five RBIs.
Holt also hit for the cycle against Atlanta back on June 6, 2015.
“He’s been swinging the bat well for a while now,” Cora said.
“We felt the matchup was good for him.”
Every starter had at least one hit for the Red Sox, who piled up 18 in all.
The only time they scored more runs in the post-season was a 23-7 win over Cleveland in 1999.
