'This is awesome': Red Sox tighten WC race

BALTIMORE -- Early in Wednesday night’s game against the Orioles, the Red Sox looked like a team still trying to discover its identity as an offensive unit.

Fortunately, Boston had Nathan Eovaldi on the mound, and he was determined to stop his team’s four-game skid in its tracks. Eovaldi did just that, pitching the Sox to a huge 6-0 victory at Camden Yards that improved their postseason outlook with four games left in the season.

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Eovaldi’s dominant performance bought the bats some time to break out. Which they did, riding a big night from J.D. Martinez (3-for-4, homer, three RBIs) and insurance hits by Alex Verdugo (two-run single) and Hunter Renfroe (30th homer).

By at last notching win No. 89, manager Alex Cora’s squad moved to within one game of the Yankees for the top American League Wild Card spot while increasing its lead for the second spot to one game over the Mariners (pending the outcome of their game against the A's on Wednesday) and staying one ahead of the Blue Jays.

Boston’s magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to four.

“It’s fun. This is awesome,” said Martinez. “I’m sure you guys are having fun with it, too. We’re having fun with it. Obviously there’s a little bit more pressure on us. I like to have fun with these things. This is what you play for -- to be in these situations. If they would have told us at the beginning of Spring Training we’d be in this situation, I think everyone would be excited, and we’d be looking forward to the challenge.”

While Martinez’s heroics were welcome, it was Eovaldi (six shutout innings, four hits, one walk, seven strikeouts) who set the tone.

The fireballing righty, who is having his finest all-around season, rebounded from his rare mishap last time out against the Yankees. He was sharp and efficient, throwing 90 pitches, 62 of them for strikes.

“I made the mechanical adjustments I felt like I needed to make, and I felt like I was able to command the zone tonight. I had a good feel for my curveball and splitter,” said Eovaldi. “I mixed my cutter in there a little bit more than I have recently. The only pitch I felt like wasn’t great tonight was the slider. So if I’ve got four out of five pitches working, that’s a good recipe for me.”

And Eovaldi dealing like he did? That was precisely what the Red Sox needed to emerge from their recent funk.

“Big. He’s arguably our ace, you know? You pick between him and Chris [Sale],” said Martinez. “He’s been a bulldog for us all year. Obviously he had a tough one for us last outing. But this one, for him to come back and bounce back with these guys, it’s a plus. We’re going to need him.”

The next time the Red Sox call on Eovaldi, the season could well be on the line, whether it is a tiebreaking game No. 163 on Monday or the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday.

Anyone who watched Eovaldi in the 2018 postseason knows he wouldn’t shy away from that kind of moment.

“Extremely exciting,” Eovaldi said of the possibility of pitching in a win-or-go-home game. “I love trying to be the stopper. If the team needs me in a big moment, I want to be that guy to provide for them and be able to help the team out as much as I can. Regardless of who it is, obviously I’ll be doing my homework and be ready for it if I get that opportunity.”

The Red Sox are more likely to seize that opportunity if the offense can get back to what it does best -- mashing the baseball.

After a slow start on Wednesday, the bats finally put into high gear.

Martinez gave Eovaldi a 1-0 lead when he matched his uniform number by mashing his 28th homer of the season with one out in the second. Clocked to dead center at a Statcast-projected distance of 444 feet, it was the longest homer Martinez has hit in his four seasons with the Red Sox.

For Martinez, who hasn’t performed up to his standards since the All-Star break (.269/.317/.474, 10 homers in 253 plate appearances), a hot finish to the season could mean big things for the Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts is another player who could stand to get hot over these final few games.

When the Red Sox click up and down the lineup, they get very dangerous.

“We’ve been grinding for the last four games now,” said Martinez. “Just being able to get the monkey off our back I think was a big one for us.”

While Martinez carried the day early, adding a two-run double in the sixth, his teammates eventually started chipping in. Verdugo roped a two-run single in the eighth, and Renfroe unloaded for No. 30 in the ninth.

The hope for the Red Sox is that Wednesday carries into Thursday -- and so on.

“Overall, too, it was a pretty good game,” said Cora. “Now we have to go back to the hotel, relax and be ready for tomorrow. Whatever happened today, whatever happened the last five days, it really doesn't matter. We've got to be ready for tomorrow. Our goal was to come here and win the series. and we've got a chance to do that tomorrow.”