Red Sox: Cleveland gave Alex Verdugo extra motivation for walk-off

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo took Cleveland’s strategy personally

It doesn’t take much to get Alex Verdugo fired up and the Cleveland Indians found that out the hard way. They poked the bear and he made them pay in a thrilling walk-off win for the Boston Red Sox.

Cleveland rallied when temporary closer Adam Ottavino failed to protect a three-run lead, setting the stage for a dramatic bottom of the ninth.

Lefty Alex Young was summoned from the bullpen to retire Kyle Schwarber for the second out with a runner on base but then he walked Rafael Devers on five pitches. J.D. Martinez was intentionally walked to load the bases, allowing their southpaw to face the left-handed hitting Verdugo with the game on the line.

The strategy made sense. Verdugo hasn’t historically had wide splits but it’s been fairly extreme this season. He’s batting a meager .208 with a .525 OPS against lefties. Young hasn’t fared well against anyone but he’s been slightly better against left-handed hitters. Skipping over Martinez, who is currently slumping but has always mashed against lefties, to avoid giving the Red Sox the platoon advantage was the right call on paper.

Verdugo took offense to Cleveland challenging his ability to hit a lefty.

“I took it personal, you know?” Verdugo admitted after the game to NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “That’s the biggest thing. Obviously I know my numbers against lefties haven’t been there this year but you know I just needed that extra fire right there. They walked him, I used it as extra motivation.”

The sign of disrespect that Cleveland showed him inspired Verdugo to get his revenge. He quickly fell behind in the count 0-2 before taking a ball outside and fouling off a sinker to stay alive. Young left a cutter over the plate that Verdugo lined into right field just out of the reach of Daniel Johnson’s outstretched glove, driving in the winning run for a dramatic walk-off at Fenway Park.

Boston has been forced to reshuffle their lineup on a daily basis as the COVID-19 cases continue to increase. That led to Verdugo batting in the cleanup spot for the first time this season. He typically wouldn’t have been the one at the plate in this situation but the Red Sox were certainly glad to see one of their best clutch hitters getting the opportunity to be the hero.

Verdugo is hitting .326 with two outs and runners in scoring position, .336 in tie games and .338 when the score is within one run.

The Red Sox entered the game leading the majors in two-strike RBI and runs scored with two outs. Verdugo’s walk-off expanded their lead in both categories.

Boston is now riding a four-game winning streak that has pulled them to within half a game of the New York Yankees for the top Wild Card spot. They hold a fairly comfortable four-game lead over the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s for the second Wild Card. This team hit a dreadful slump in August but they appear to be turning things around and getting hot just in time for the stretch run.