Sports

Holt 1st With Postseason Cycle, Red Sox Rout Yankees 16-1

Maine Public | By Mike Fitzpatrick - Associated Press

Published October 9, 2018 at 6:17 AM EDT

Boston Red Sox's Brock Holt connects for a two-run triple against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, in New York.

NEW YORK - Brock Holt became the first player to hit for the cycle in a postseason game and the Boston Red Sox routed the New York Yankees 16-1 on Monday night to grab a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five AL Division Series.Andrew Benintendi lined a three-run double and Holt tripled home two more in a seven-run fourth inning that quickly turned the latest playoff matchup between these longtime rivals into a laugher. Handed a big early lead, Nathan Eovaldi shut down his former team during New York's most lopsided defeat in 396 postseason games.

Boston battered an ineffective Luis Severino and silenced a charged-up Yankee Stadium crowd that emptied out fast on a night when Red Sox rookie manager Alex Cora made all the right moves. By the ninth, backup catcher Austin Romine was on the mound for New York _ he gave up a two-run homer to Holt that completed his cycle.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in the Bronx, where the 108-win Red Sox can put away the wild-card Yankees for good and advance to the AL Championship Series against Houston. Rick Porcello is scheduled to pitch for Boston against CC Sabathia.