Mookie Betts, Red Sox Destroy Aaron Judge, Yankees 16-1 to Take 2-1 Lead in ALDS

The Boston Red Sox are one win away from their first postseason series victory since their 2013 World Series title.

Boston seized a 2-1 lead in the American League Division Series with a commanding 16-1 victory over the archrival New York Yankees in Monday's Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi allowed one earned run and five hits while striking out five in seven innings during a clutch performance on the road.

Brock Holt spearheaded the offensive fireworks by hitting for the first-ever postseason cycle, with his home run coming in the ninth inning off catcher Austin Romine.

Red Sox Offense Most Dominant Force in Playoffs

The Red Sox will lift the World Series trophy unless someone from the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Yankees figures out their offense.

Boston led the league in runs (876), OPS (.792), batting average (.268) and hits (1,509) as a well-oiled machine that is relentless from one through nine. Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are the anchors, but the unit proved its depth Monday with 18 hits from 10 different players.

The showing came against Yankees ace Luis Severino, underscoring how dangerous this offense can be. Severino struck out seven in four shutout innings in the American League Wild Card Game win over the Oakland Athletics, but the Red Sox tagged him for six earned runs, seven hits and two walks in a mere three innings.

Boston blew it open with a seven-run fourth, largely against Severino and Lance Lynn (three earned runs and one out recorded). Andrew Benintendi's bases-clearing double and Holt's two-RBI triple highlighted the explosion and drew raucous boos from the crowd.

The Red Sox need to beat the Bronx Bombers one more time, but it's easy to look ahead to a matchup between their offense and the Houston starters. After all, the defending champions swept the Cleveland Indians and have time to set up a rotation featuring Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Gerrit Cole.

Houston's trio allowed five earned runs in 17.1 innings against Cleveland but would face a much more daunting foe in Boston's lineup.

The Red Sox offense is the hurdle that must be cleared to win a World Series, and Severino and Co. were not up to the task.

Aaron Boone's Rookie Manager Moves Suck the Air Out of Yankee Stadium

Aaron Boone is not the most popular man in the Big Apple tonight.

Like umpires, managers often make more headlines with mistakes than effective performances. Boone learned that the hard way in Game 3 of his first-career division series as a manager.

Boston's formidable offense teed off on Severino with hard contact throughout the game, even when it didn't score in the first inning. A pitching implosion seemed inevitable to everyone except apparently Boone, who left his right-hander in to start the fourth frame after he allowed three runs in the previous two.

Not only did he leave Severino in too long, but his decision to turn to Lynn—who has been a starter for most of his career—with the bases loaded and nobody out also exacerbated the issue. Lynn walked Betts and allowed Benintendi's double, essentially ending the game.

Boone was vociferously booed when he emerged from the dugout, as the once boisterous New York crowd took out its frustrations on the manager as home-field advantage shifted back to Boston with each passing mistake.

Nathan Eovaldi Emerges as Much-Needed Support for Chris Sale

Chris Sale is as dominant of a starting pitcher as there is in Major League Baseball, but the rest of Boston's staff was a serious question mark entering October.

David Price provided no answers by allowing three earned runs and two homers in 1.2 innings of a Game 2 loss, continuing his postseason woes (5.28 career playoff ERA and 3.25 career regular-season ERA). 2016 AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello struggled for stretches this year on the way to a 4.28 ERA.

Enter Eovaldi, who picked up the slack following Price's dud and gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

He didn't do it against just any team either. The Bronx Bombers led the league with 267 home runs in the regular season and flashed their power in Game 2, but Aaron Judge went just 1-for-4 as most of the offense struggled in Game 3. It was the type of showing the Red Sox envisioned from Eovaldi when they acquired him via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays in July.

It was another solid performance in a Boston uniform, as his 3.33 ERA in 12 appearances would have been a career-best mark if projected across an entire season.

The Red Sox are not going to win the World Series with just one effective starter, and Eovaldi did what Price is supposed to do and provided much-needed support for Sale in the middle of a playoff series.

What's Next?

The Red Sox have the opportunity to clinch a spot in the American League Championship Series against the Astros with a win in Tuesday's Game 4 in New York.