Boston Red Sox: Top 10 moments of the 2018 regular season

In a season in which the Red Sox set the franchise record for wins, there were countless great moments. But these ten moments stand out as some of the best.

After dishing out $110 million to free agent J.D. Martinez and bringing in a whole new coaching staff that included new manager Alex Cora, the Boston Red Sox came into this season with very high expectations.

Right away in Spring Training, you could already sense a different energy in the Red Sox that they didn’t have in past seasons. They were having fun, getting along, and bonding before the season even started. Joe Kelly’s ‘Jim Buchanan’ skit is a perfect example of how loose the team was.

Then on March 29, the 2018 season was underway. The Red Sox had an unbelievable start, winning 15 of their first 17 games, including three sweeps. Plus, one of their biggest weaknesses from last season, home runs, was already much improved. The Red Sox hit 19 HRs in their first 16 games this season. At that point in 2017, they only had 7 home runs.

By the All-Star break, they were 68-30 — the best record going into the All-Star break since the 1969 Orioles. They got their 100th win for 1st time since 1946 on September 12 and clinched the division a week later.

So obviously a season like this was filled with exciting moments. Walk-offs and grand slams, amazing comebacks and big hits, incredible catches and clutch strikeouts, brilliant pitching performances, and crazy blowouts, and much, much more. But let’s get into the 10 moments that stand out as some of the best:

Number 8:  Mookie Betts hits for the cycle

Mookie Betts was putting together an MVP résumé with the Red Sox all season long, and he added on with one of the rarest feats in baseball – hitting for the cycle. Betts seems like the perfect kind of player to hit for the cycle as he’s got the speed and power to get all 4 hits, and he did just that getting his first career cycle and the first cycle in the MLB this season against the Blue Jays:

Number 7:  Rick Porcello‘s double off Max Scherzer

Every time the Red Sox play in the National League, it’s always fun to see what the pitchers can do on the offensive side for a change. Most end up hopelessly flailing at pitches at the plate, but Rick Porcello isn’t most. He stepped up to the plate against one of the best pitchers in the game and maybe ever, Max Scherzer, and lifted a double in the left-center gap off his former teammate.

And that double came with 3 runners on, so Rick quickly got himself 3 runs of support. Those 3 runs were , in fact,the only runs the Red Sox scored in that game, so Porcello basically single-handedly won that game.

Number 6:  Brandon Phillips‘ go-ahead homer to cap huge comeback versus Braves

Back in June, the Red Sox signed veteran infielder Brandon Phillips to a minor league deal. He had multiple opportunities to opt out of that deal, but he chose to stick it out in AAA. Then in September, he made it back to the MLB for the expanded rosters. He gets his first start with the Red Sox on September 5 and he certainly didn’t disappoint.

After the Red Sox came back from down 6 runs only to give up a run to blow that new lead, it seemed their largest comeback of the season was all for naught. But then Dat Dude stepped up to plate in the 9th with a runner on and came through with a go-ahead homer and an awesome lean-back:

Number 5:  Rick Porcello’s complete game 1-hitter versus Yankees

After winning the Cy Young in 2016 with the Red Sox, Porcello had a pretty disappointing 2017 season. Then he came back this year and had some huge starts, but none of them were bigger than his start on August 3 against the Yankees.

In his 297th career start, Porcello may have turned in the best pitching performance of his whole career. A 1-hit complete game in which he retired 21 straight batters and only threw 86 pitches in 9 innings. Additionally, he struck out 9 and walked zero in this outstanding outing.

Number 4:  Xander Bogaerts‘ walk-off grand slam

The Red Sox hit 10 grand slams this year after hitting 0 in 2017. Three of the grand slams this year came off the bat of Xander Bogaerts, and none of them were better than this one.

Tied in the bottom of the 10th inning, bases loaded, and Bogaerts sends it over the centerfield wall to win the game! There aren’t many better ways to win a baseball game than a walk-off grand slam, and Xander’s electric emotion after hitting it showed that.

Number 3:  Walk-off to sweep the Yankees

With their new managers and offseason acquisitions, the Red Sox and Yankees were expected to be battling it out for the AL East all season long. And it was a close battle for most of the year, until the Red Sox really pulled ahead in the 4-game series in early August.

The Red Sox already won the first 3 games of the series and led for most of the 4th game. But then after the Yankees scored 4 runs in the 7th, the Sox needed to mount a comeback against the Yankees’ deadly bullpen. In the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs against flamethrower Aroldis Chapman, the Red Sox scored 3 runs to tie the game. Then in the 10th, Andrew Benintendi delivered a walk-off single to complete the 4-game sweep of the Yankees:

https://twitter.com/redsox/status/1026619484298084353?s=21

Before this series, the Red Sox were up 5 games on the Yankees in the division. After the sweep, they were up 9 games – a lead they never gave up.

Number 2:  Red Sox / Yankees brawl

This year, the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees was back in the sense that both teams were considered two of the best teams in the MLB and competing for the division. It began when the Yankees acquired MVP Giancarlo Stanton and the Red Sox signed J.D. Martinez, that’s when you knew both teams were serious World Series contenders.

But the classic rivalry was truly reborn when Tyler Austin slammed his bat down after being hit by a fastball from Joe Kelly and charged the mound. Benches cleared, fists started flying, and the 2003/2004-like rivalry was back.

Number 1:  Mookie Betts’ grand slam after a 13-pitch at bat

And now, the best moment of the 2018 Red Sox season…

Right when this happened, Red Sox fans pretty much already knew it was one of the best moments of the season if not the best. An epic battle between MVP candidate Mookie Betts and All-Star pitcher J.A. Happ resulting in a grand slam to give the Sox the lead. You could feel the energy in the park as the at-bat went on, and when the ball came off his bat everyone knew “it was time to party” as Eck said.

This grand slam may seem like just 4 RBIs in the 4th inning against the Blue Jays in the middle of July, but it really meant a lot more than that. It further showed how special this team is and how this season is like a “party”. It represented how much fun this team is having under new manager Alex Cora, a huge difference from last year. Teams that have fun together, go far together.