Fenway energy fuels Red Sox walk-off in postseason chase

BOSTON – Sometimes, less really is more.

Sage veteran Trevor Story has said it numerous times in recent days, as the Red Sox, perhaps pressing a bit, have been unable to come up with the big hit.

After another night of continued frustration with runners in scoring position (3-for-17), Boston still had a chance in extras. Up stepped utility player Nick Sogard to pinch-hit for Ceddanne Rafaela in a situation that called for some type of contact to give his recently-slumping team a moment to celebrate.

With speedy automatic runner Nate Eaton on third with one out, Sogard hit a ground ball with an exit velocity of 56.2 mph right into the drawn-in infield. Second baseman Zack Gelof picked it off on the grass and fired home, but Eaton easily beat the throw to cap a much-needed 5-4 win for the Red Sox over the Athletics in 10 innings.

Chalk it up as a walk-off RBI fielder’s choice for Sogard. Not the prettiest way to win a game, but every win for a postseason contender in September might as well be a work of art.

“I didn't think I hit it good,” said Sogard. “I knew I didn't hit it good. Might have been just soft enough to get it done. Great job by Nate on third to get a good jump. And then obviously, he's really fast, so a lot of credit to him.”

And as it turned out, a lot of credit to Red Sox third base coach Kyle Hudson.

“I mean, great job by Huddy, pushing him [after] the first foul ball,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It wasn't a good reaction. And Huddy talked to him. He was like, ‘Hey, it’s a contact play. It is what it is. You just gotta go.’ And that was a lot better.”

The 83-69 Red Sox certainly felt a little better after this one than they did following Tuesday’s somewhat listless 2-1 loss. And so, too, did the sell-out crowd.

“This stadium today, they were in it,” Cora said. “Yesterday, it was kind of dead. We were a little bit, I don't want to say flat, but it was very quiet. We didn't do much [early] today. But the urgency was there from the get-go, and it was a fun night.”

After losing four of their last five, Boston bounced back with a win that kept the club two games behind the Yankees for the top American League Wild Card spot and in a tie with Seattle for the second spot. The red-hot Guardians (10 wins in their last 11 games) are lurking, just 2 1/2 games behind the Sox and Mariners.

“A good friend of mine told me today that September is to suffer, because you’ve still got teams around you and you win and you look [at the scoreboard] and you suffer,” said Cora. “In October, it’s head-to-head. You’ve got control of whatever happens in that series. But in September, everything gets magnified. But you have to enjoy it. We're blessed to be part of this.”

For the Red Sox, this was a game that required help from all parts of the depth chart.

Zack Kelly and winning pitcher Chris Murphy, who don’t typically pitch high leverage, kept the game tied in the 10th even after the A's had runners at the corners with nobody out.

Murphy, making his 40th career appearance, came on to face AL Rookie of the Year candidate Nick Kurtz and struck him out on a 96.6 mph fastball that set off a roar of approval from the Fenway faithful. Murphy roared himself, punching his left hand into his glove with excitement.

“The kid is going to face lefties all the time,” said Cora. “And what was the last pitch? Ninety-seven, I think it was. And a lot of emotion, a lot of guys grew up today, and that's where we’re at, too. It's not like we have a bunch of veterans that know what happens in October. So that was a huge learning experience for those two guys.”

Story and Alex Bregman are the two most notable veterans on the roster. While Bregman, who struck the ball twice on Wednesday and didn’t get rewarded, continues to slump, Story keeps getting big hits.

His RBI single up the middle in the sixth tied the game.

Boston had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but fell behind 4-2 when the A’s scored three times in the fifth off Lucas Giolito, who had an off night, walking five in 4 1/3 innings.

“It was big, especially going down kind of early in the game and fighting our way back,” said Story. “Again, we had a lot of traffic out there and we were able to scrap one or two this time, and that’s the difference a lot of times in games.”