News » Gray, a right-hander who turns

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez and the Boston Red Sox made magic with two outs during the American League playoffs.With a World Series title on the line Carlos Beltran Jersey , seems they have plenty left. Martinez delivered a two-out, tiebreaking single , and Boston got all its runs with two down while beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 Series lead.Boston has done most of its scoring with two in the books: nine of its 12 runs through two World Series games have come that way, and 36 of 68 for the postseason.Martinez has been the electrifying force for much of that two-out October lightning. He entered Wednesday batting .667 with a 1.515 OPS with two outs in the postseason.Despite playing on the sore right ankle he rolled in Game 1, Boston’s free-agent pickup went the other way for a two-run single in the fifth, a two-out knock that snapped a 2-all tie.Martinez has 13 RBIs through 11 postseason games, and seven of those have come with two outs.“We just have guys that really do a really good job of grinding at-bats out and turning the lineup over,” Martinez said. “I think everybody takes pride in that.”How have they done that, exactly?“It’s about finding a way to spoil a good pitcher’s pitches,” he said.The numbers show just how masterful Boston has been at it.The Red Sox entered Wednesday batting .405 with a 1.335 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position in the postseason, getting 29 runs out of those situations. Then they went 2 for 4 in those situations Wednesday.Nothing new for Boston. The 108-win Red Sox led the majors with 329 two-out runs during the regular season.“We just play 27 outs,” Mookie Betts said. “It’s just one of those things where you can’t give them away. Fortunately http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-brian-mccann-jersey , we don’t give them away.”Rookie manager Alex Cora said he thinks their success comes from keeping an aggressive mindset at the plate, regardless of the situation.“In the playoffs, we talked about it before we started: Get the leadoff guy out, don’t give up two-out hits or runners. And we’ve been doing that to the opposition,” he said.That relentless offense has chased some of baseball’s best pitchers thanks to having threats 1 through 9 in the batting order.In Game 1, Andrew Benintendi had four hits — three off Clayton Kershaw. Eduardo Nunez then provided a pinch-hit, three-run homer late to help seal it. Of course, Nunez did it with two outs.Ian Kinsler started Wednesday’s two-out trouble, driving a single down the third-base line to score Xander Bogaerts from second on a two-out pitch from starter Hyun-Jin Ryu in the second.Ryu nursed a 2-1 lead into the fifth and got two quick outs. Then he gave up consecutive singles to Christian Vazquez and Betts before walking Benintendi.Ryan Madson relieved with the bases loaded. For the second night in a row, he began his outing by walking Steve Pearce, this time to bring in the tying run.Martinez then poked a fastball into shallow right, bringing Betts and Benintendi around to score.And just like that Josh Reddick Jersey , the World Series was two down, two to go for the Red Sox. CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Brian Cashman wants to bring CC Sabathia back for an 11th season with the New York Yankees, and he’s also holding out some hope of re-signing J.A. Happ.Eight days after the Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title in 15 seasons — compared to one in that span for New York — Cashman arrived at the annual general managers’ meetings searching for pitching.“The Red Sox winning doesn’t change the hunger level of trying to deliver a championship sooner than later for our fan base,” the Yankees GM said Monday. “I think the hunger and the effort, the passion’s there, despite the horrible outcome that took place in the World Series this year.”After paying luxury tax for 15 straight years, a total of $341 million, the Yankees dropped below the threshold for the first time in 2018, when Boston took over as baseball’s biggest spender for the first time since records began in the free-agent era. Cashman is a man with money to spend this offseason.“Yeah, we got under the tax, but we’re one of the higher payrolls in the game Tyler Clippard Jersey , as you would expect — and as it should be,” he said.Cashman made his first move last week, re-signing 35-year-old outfielder Brett Gardner to a $7.5 million, one-year deal after declining his $12.5 million option and paying a $2 million buyout.New York finished with a rotation of right-handers Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and Lance Lynn along with left-handers Sabathia and Happ.Only Severino and Tanaka are due back, and Cashman is expected to pursue a group of free-agent pitchers that also include left-handers Patrick Corbin and Dallas Keuchel.Sabathia took a cut in salary from $25 million in 2017 to $10 million this year and went 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts — missing a $500,000 bonus by two innings when he was ejected in his last regular-season start for hitting Tampa Bay’s Jesus Sucre after Rays pitcher Andrew Kittredge threw up-and-in to Austin Romine.Sabathia had surgery on his right knee last month.“He’s been a great Yankee, and he has time on the clock still,” Cashman said. “I think he’d like to stay, and I think we’d like to keep him.”Happ, 36, was 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts after the Yankees acquired him from Toronto Marwin Gonzalez Jersey , but he lost at Boston in the Division Series opener.“I would think that there’ll be a lot of interest in him,” Cashman said. “He has a great reputation throughout the game as a pro, and the performance level was exactly what we needed. So he put himself in a good position as a free agent.”Cashman already is deep in talks to trade Sonny Gray, just 15-16 since New York acquired him from Oakland in July 2017. Gray, a right-hander who turns 29 this week, was unhappy with the harsh treatment he was given by demanding Yankees fans.“The game’s evolved to the point where people can see what the real numbers are behind the numbers and the recognition that whoever winds up acquiring Sonny Gray is going to acquire someone that’s going to be the player, the pitcher he was more with Oakland,” Cashman said. “And so we’re very active in those discussions. We’re in name exchanges. It will lead us eventually to a conclusion.”Cashman sidestepped questions about infielder Manny Machado, one of the top two offensive free agents along with Bryce Harper. Because shortstop Didi Gregorius will miss much of next season after surgery to repair a torn elbow ligament, Cashman is examining infield options within and outside.“It all depends on the price point,” he said.