The Boston Red Sox weren't in a must-win situation as dire as the New York Yankees' were on Wednesday night, but it was incredibly close. On Monday, manager Alex Cora revealed Lucas Giolito would miss the Wild Card Series, which put a potential Game 3 against New York in flux.
So after they ripped the Yankees' hearts out on Tuesday night and had Brayan Bello on the mound for Game 2 (he had a 2.35 ERA vs New York for his career coming into this one), the momentum was there for the Sox to avoid a perilous do-or-die matchup.