Red Sox Renew Playoff Rivalry With Win Over Yankees

J.D. Martinez belted a three-run homer and Chris Sale struck out eight batters as the Boston Red Sox held on to beat the New York Yankees, 5-4, in the opening game of the American League Division Series on Frida

Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :J.D. Martinez belted a three-run homer and Chris Sale struck out eight batters as the Boston Red Sox held on to beat the New York Yankees, 5-4, in the opening game of the American League Division Series on Friday.

The Red Sox built an early lead, going up 3-0 in the first inning on Martinez's home run, and 5-0 after three in front of their ecstatic fans at Fenway Park. And they never looked back.

"I was just trying to get one down and I put a good swing on it," said Martinez.

Sale, who struggled in his playoff debut against the Houston Astros last year, took a four-hit shutout into the sixth inning on Friday.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-3.

The Bronx Bombers looked like they might mount a comeback when slugger Aaron Judge led off the top of the ninth with a homer off Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, cutting the lead to one.

But Kimbrel rebounded to get the final three outs, striking out red-hot Yankees batter Luke Voit to seal the victory.

It has been 14 years since the Red Sox and Yankees last met in the post-season -- in 2004, the Red Sox rallied from three games down for a stunning AL Championship Series triumph.

The second game of the best-of-five series is on Saturday, with Boston starting left-hander David price, who is 0-8 as a starter in the playoffs. He'll face Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka of Japan.

- Houston, LA, Milwaukee win - In other games Friday, the defending World Series champion Houston Astros exploded for four homers to beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-2, in the opening game of their American League divisional series.

Alex Bregman, George Springer and Jose Altuve all homered off Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber, while Martin Maldonado went deep off reliever Cody Allen as the Astros hit four homers in a post-season game for the seventh time in club history.

The explosive offense backed up a strong outing from Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander.

"Everybody did something to help this team win today," said Altuve, the 2017 AL Most Valuable Player.

Houston will try to double their lead in the best-of-five series when they host game two on Saturday.

In National League action, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-0, and the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised past the Atlanta Braves, 3-0, to give both teams commanding 2-0 leads in the best-of-five series.

The Brewers moved within one game of their first NL Championship Series appearance since 2011 as Jhoulys Chacin, starting on short rest, threw five scoreless innings and the bullpen maintained the shutout.

Hernan Perez doubled in a run in the fourth inning and Milwaukee added three more runs in the eighth.

In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw allowed just two hits over eight innings and Manny Machado hit a two-run homer as the Dodgers beat the Braves.

Kershaw struck out three and walked none to remain unbeaten all-time against Atlanta.

Los Angeles can sweep the best-of-five series in game three on Sunday in Atlanta, while Milwaukee can do the same in Colorado on Sunday.