BOSTON — As fans entered Fenway Park for Game 4, many were wondering who they’d rather play in the World Series next week. The Red Sox were leading the Astros 2-1 in the ALCS and they were rolling.
As the park emptied Wednesday, maybe for the last time this year, fans were just hoping their team would make it to Game 7 on Saturday night as Boston now trails Houston 3-2, and all the momentum is with the Astros.
This postseason, with its wild swings and unpredictable results, has been a microcosm of the 2021 Red Sox experience.
When they’ve been good, they’ve been really good. The Red Sox have had stretches both this year and this week where they’ve looked good enough to beat anybody. Good enough that somebody should be plotting how to incorporate laundry cart celebrations and “Dancing On My Own” into a Duck Boat parade. They’ve been compelling, fun and their enjoyment of each other is infectious.
But when they struggle, it’s hard to watch. The lows have been really low. Anyone who watched them from July 28 to Aug. 10, when they found excruciating ways to lose 11 out of 14 games, remembers thinking this team was cooked. Games 4 and 5 have been a reminder of that as at-bat after at-bat came and went with weak contact and no timely hitting.
Every time they’ve been dominant, they crashed from the pedestal. Every time they looked finished, they’ve gotten back off the mat. The Red Sox lost the first three games of the season to a terrible Orioles team and then won nine in a row. They beat good teams and ace pitchers and lost to bad teams and struggled to hit against Triple-A call-ups. Change is always imminent with this team; it’s just a matter of how long it takes.
“We learned a lot during the season, the first three games of the season, that it wasn’t going to be easy,” Alex Cora said. “You just prepare and play the game, and then after that you prepare again for the next day, and you keep moving forward.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Cora added. “In the next 24 hours, we’ll take a look at a few things. We learn from our mistakes and we’ll be ready for the next one. ... It’s not the first time we’ve been in this situation that is a must-win. We did it in (game No.) 162, and we did it in the Wild Card game.”
The biggest cause for optimism is Nathan Eovaldi. On his best nights this season, he was the main reason the Red Sox won games, and even when he wasn’t dominant, he almost always gave them a chance. Four of his 11 regular-season wins and one of his two playoff victories came after Boston losses. He’s capable of being a one-man momentum-changer and is exactly who they’d want starting Game 6. If he can lead them to a win and a 3-3 series tie, maybe the season’s pendulum will swing one more time.
“Not in a good spot going back to Houston,” Chris Sale said. “There’s no denying that, but this team has won two games in the playoffs back-to-back before, and we think we can do it again.”
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