Friday night at Fenway Park, an early 5-0 lead turned into a nail-biter 5-4 win (box score) for the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS. The Yankees made a charge late and had 10 plate appearances with the tying run either on base or at the plate. They never did get that one big hit to swing the game in their favor though, partly because Giancarlo Stanton struck out four times.

"We just couldn't get that really big hit to have that big inning that really jumped us back in the game in the middle innings," said Yankees manager Aaron Boone following Game 1. "And I thought we did a really good job of pecking away, a good job of giving ourselves opportunities, and just ran out of time there. We just couldn't get that back-breaking hit that allowed us to have that big inning."

Given his sketchy September, Chris Sale looked as good as the Red Sox could've reasonably hoped in Game 1, firing five scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the sixth. He put two on with one out in that sixth inning before giving way to rookie righty Ryan Brasier. Red Sox manager Alex Cora used four relievers between Sale and Craig Kimbrel, and, well ...


IPHRERBBK

Ryan Brasier

1/3

1

0

0

1

0

Brandon Workman

1/3

2

1

1

1

1

Matt Barnes

1

0

0

0

1

1

Rick Porcello

2/3

1

0

0

0

0

That is 14 batters faced and seven baserunners for a cool .500 on-base percentage. Brasier and Workman combined to allow both runners inherited from Sale to score, then Workman allowed a run of his own to cross the plate. The bridge to Kimbrel was so shaky that Cora had to go to Porcello, the scheduled Game 3 starter, to get some outs in the eighth inning.

"We knew where we were going. We had an idea Rick was going to be in the bullpen," Cora said. "And it didn't work out with Ryan. (Luke) Voit was late on a fastball and hit the ball over first base. After that he lost control of his pitches. So we had to go to Workman. He did a good job getting (Gleyber) Torres out with a 3-2 breaking ball. And we went to Barnes probably a little bit earlier than expect. That's why you saw Rick in the eighth inning."

Kimbrel threw 22 pitches in his four-out save -- it was his first appearance of more than three outs since July 27 -- but even he didn't make it through the game unscathed. Aaron Judge swatted a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to get the Yankees to within one run, giving the 3-4-5 hitters a crack at tying the game. Kimbrel did close out the win, but the Red Sox had to hang on for dear life after Sale was removed.

Boston's middle relief crew has been an issue pretty much all season, and especially lately with Joe Kelly struggling and Barnes having allowed 13 runs in his final 14 2/3 regular season innings. Part of the bullpen solution this postseason was supposed to be knuckleballer Steven Wright, but he was unavailable in ALDS Game 1 due to a knee issue. Cora confirmed Wright went for an MRI, and Ian Browne of MLB.com reports he is likely to be removed from the ALDS roster.

MLB: ALDS-New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Porcello became an emergency setup man for the Red Sox in ALDS Game 1. USATSI

Using Porcello in relief in Game 1 was Plan "C and a half" according to Cora rather than Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C. Keep in mind though Cora was the Astros bench coach last season, when the club expertly used starting pitchers Charlie Morton, Brad Peacock, Lance McCullers Jr., and even Justin Verlander out of the bullpen in the postseason. Verlander got the win in ALDS Game 4 in relief. Peacock and McCullers recorded postseason saves, and Morton got the final 12 outs of World Series Game 7.

"One thing I learned last year to win a World Series is going to take 25, 27 guys to do it, regardless of their roles," said Cora. "In a perfect world the starter goes six. You have the seventh-inning guy, eighth inning, and ninth inning and you move on. To get 27 outs at this stage right now is very difficult. And sometimes you have to go to Plan B or Plan C."

Porcello was used in Game 1 and scheduled Game 4 starter Nathan Eovaldi was said to be available in relief as well. Also, regular season starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is in the postseason bullpen. It is not difficult to envision Cora asking Rodriguez for a three- or four-inning relief appearance at some point a la McCullers and Morton last postseason. Sale started ALDS Game 1 last year and then came out of the bullpen in Game 4. Something like that can be in the cards.

This much is clear: Boston's middle relief isn't especially reliable right now. Getting the ball from the starting pitcher to Kimbrel will take some creativity. That could mean continuing to mix and match with Brasier and Workman and Barnes, or it could mean using Porcello and Eovaldi in relief, or turning Rodriguez into a multi-inning setup guy. The answer is probably all of the above. It's up to Cora and his staff to figure out a way to get those middle inning outs going forward.

"You have to make adjustments. It's a 25-man roster. It's going to get to a point that in one game, you will need all of them," Cora said. "So just be prepared to make adjustments throughout. That's the most important thing."