Red Sox vs Astros ALCS Game 4 voted best game of 2018

MLB Network has named Game 4 of the ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros as the best game of 2018. Let’s relive this classic postseason match.

It’s only fitting that the best team in baseball be involved in the Game of the Year. There were plenty of highlights from a 2018 season in which the Boston Red Sox won a franchise record 108 games followed by 11 playoff wins to capture a World Series title. Only one of those victories can go down as the year’s best.

MLB Network has voted Game 4 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Houston Astros as the best major league game played in 2018. Boston prevailed in an 8-6 slugfest that had no shortage of drama.

A controversial first inning ignited an explosive postseason matchup when Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was robbed of a game-tying two-run homer by fan interference. The ball may or may not have cleared the fence before a fan pushed the glove of Mookie Betts out of the way as he reached for the souvenir.  It’s a tough call because Betts undoubtedly makes an incredible home run-robbing catch if the fan doesn’t get in the way yet fans are entitled to grab a ball that flies into the stands. It’s up to the umpire to determine if the ball was still in play at the time and in this case, it proved too close to overturn.

Houston would rally back with each side overtaking the lead from the other throughout the middle innings. It wasn’t until ALCS MVP Jackie Bradley Jr. belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning that Boston would pull ahead for good.

The Red Sox would hang on to win but not without Craig Kimbrel tying our stomachs in knots with a near meltdown. Boston’s closer entered in the eighth inning for a six-out save with a three-run lead to protect. He immediately allowed the first three batters he faced to reach on a single, a hit by pitch, and a double. Thankfully, Matt Kemp‘s leadoff single was wiped out when he tried to stretch the base hit into a double. That ultimately kept the damage to only one run in the frame.

It didn’t get any easier for Kimbrel during the ninth inning. The flame-throwing right-hander lost control as his arm began to tire, resulting in Kimbrel walking three of the first five batters to load the bases with MVP candidate Alex Bregman coming to the plate. Bregman lined a shot to left field that was caught by a diving Andrew Benintendi, a highlight worthy of Play of the Year consideration.

If Benny plays that ball on a hop, the Astros score a run and keep the bases loaded with the winning run in scoring position. If he dives and misses, the ball gets by him and at least two runs would have scored. Possibly even three runs for a walk-off win. It was a gutsy split-second decision that panned out as Benintendi’s amazing catch sealed the victory that put Boston one win away from the World Series.

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Astros fans may not remember this game as fondly considering they came out on the losing end. The fan interference call will haunt the franchise for years and go down as one of their biggest “What If” moments.

As euphoric as it was as a Red Sox fan to celebrate that victory, the path to get there was as nerve-wracking as any game in recent memory. It was a roller coaster of emotions that included more than one moment in which we were convinced Kimbrel was going to blow it.

Through the perspective of a baseball fan with no allegiance to either side, you can certainly see why this was voted as the best game of the year. It had everything! A back-and-forth high scoring battle, a controversial call, a game-winning homer by an unlikely hero. Then wrap it up with a spectacular defensive play that snatches victory from the jaws of defeat.

Winning Game 4 put the Red Sox on the verge of clinching the ALCS on their path to an eventual World Series title. A loss would instead have evened the series at two games apiece. The Red Sox probably still win the ALCS with two chances to close it out at home if the series were extended long enough to return to Boston but we don’t know that for sure. Not only was Game 4 a worthy contender for Game of the Year, but a case can also be made that the Red Sox wouldn’t have been World Champions without that game playing out as it did.