What a year of baseball we have been treated to thus far. There have been so many exciting games that it doesn’t seem smart to turn any game off at any point in time, especially when the Red Sox are the team trailing. They have racked up eleven walk-off wins already two short of a franchise record. Let’s recap them.
Goosebump warning...
4/13 Red Sox 2 - Rays 1 (10inn)
Their first came just two weeks into the season in the 10th inning against the Rays. A pitching duel between Jon Lester and David Price pushed the 1-1 game into extra innings. With one out Jacoby Ellsbury singled to center then stole second. When the throw from Rays catcher Jose Lobaton sailed off the glove of Yunel Escobar, Ellsbury took third. The Rays then put five men in the infield for a potential play at the plate before Victorino threaded the needle and scored Ellsbury with an infield single.
4/15 Red Sox 3 - Rays 2
Two days later they struck again. Andrew Bailey blew a 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th in his first save attempt of the season but was able to keep it tied heading into the bottom of the 9th. Dustin Pedroia drew a walk and with one out Mike Napoli hit a double off the monster scoring Pedroia. Unfortunately it only took about an hour for this one to become an afterthought since this was the game played the morning of the Boston Marathon.
5/6 Red Sox 6 - Twins 5 (11inn)
Another exciting game that shows how much heart this team has. Stephen Drew connected with one of his four hits tying the game in the 7th with a solo home run. Then in the 8th Pedroia hit a home run of his own to take the lead. However Joel Hanrahan blew the save in the top of the 9th sending the game to extra innings. With two outs Jarrod Saltalamacchia legged out an infield single then was moved into scoring position with a single from Will Middlebrooks before Stephen Drew stepped back into the batters box. He belted a ball that barely got over the left fielder's head and off the wall allowing Salty to score to win the game.
5/26 Red Sox 6 - Indians 5
In Terry Francona’s first series back in
Boston with his new club, the Indians held a 5-1 lead in the 8th
and a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th. Then more magic came from
the Sox. The rally started with, of course, Dustin Pedroia drawing
a walk. Then David Ortiz blasted a double pushing Pedroia to third
before he scored on a groundout to short by Napoli. Ortiz then
stole third for the second time in a week (not a joke) and scored
on a Saltalamacchia groundout to first. With two outs trailing by
just one run now Jonny Gomes drew a walk and was sent to third base
after a Stephen Drew single. Drew then stole second before Jose
Iglesias drew a walk on a 3-2 count loading the bases and setting
the stage for Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury worked a 2-1 count before
Chris Perez was pulled due to injury. In came Joe Smith and on his
first pitch Ellsbury ripped a double into left-center scoring two
and sending the Fenway faithful into a
frenzy.
6/6 Red Sox 6 - Rangers 3
After the Sox had tied the game in the 7th inning the game sat tied
at three heading into the final frame. Gomes led off the bottom of
the 9th with a double. With zero outs Texas intentionally walked
Pedroia hoping for a double play ball. However that fired up David
Ortiz as he blasted a line drive into the bullpen for a three run
walk off home run. He took his time rounding the bases but wasted
no time in answering whether he was expecting them to walk Pedroia
to get to him. "Not at all," he said. "Nope. You don't wake up a
monster like that."
6/18 Red Sox 3 - Rays 1
After yet another blown save by Andrew Bailey the Sox looked to
regain the lead in the bottom of the 9th. Daniel Nava started
things off by drawing a walk. Then Jonny Gomes unloaded on the
first pitch he saw blasting it over the monster seats off the AAA
billboard. After rounding 3rd base he couldn’t control his
excitement and he punted his helmet capping off a sweep of a double
header and for those of you keeping track that’s the third walk off
win the Sox have had against the Rays. The Sox only lead the Rays
by one game in the division at the moment... just
saying.
6/30 Red Sox 5 - Blue Jays 4
Once again the Sox had the lead in the top of the 9th. Leading off
was Jose Reyes who was robbed of extra bases by a brilliant sliding
catch by Shane Victorino. However Jose Bautista blasted a pitch off
Koji Uehara in the next at bat to tie the game at four. He managed
to get out of the inning without further damage setting the scene
for the Sox offense to shine once again. With one out Brandon
Snyder singled to right before moving over to second after an
Ellsbury walk. Next up was Victorino fresh off his possibly game
saving catch. The Blue Jays opted to bring in their closer Casey
Janssen to face Victorino while the Sox ran Jonathan Diaz for
Brandon Snyder. Victorino spun one towards first that should have
been a double play ball ending the inning, but it spun off Josh
Thole’s glove into the outfield allowing Diaz to score the winning
run from second.
7/3 Red Sox 2 - Padres 1
15 days after Jonny Gomes hit a walk off home run against the Rays
he was back at it. A low scoring game continued into the bottom of
the 9th tied at one run apiece. Gomes was the first batter up and
he waited to see another slider from pitcher Luke Gregerson. He got
his wish and knocked the hanging slider over The Green Monster to
win again. This time after rounding third he pulled out the fake
punt run play as he tucked his helmet and took it to the
house.
7/21 Red Sox 8 - Yankees 7 (11inn)
The Sox jumped out to a big lead early knocking C.C. Sabathia
around for seven runs in five innings. But the Yankees battled back
sending this game into extra innings. Just before the clock struck
1:00am on the east coast Mike Napoli hit a two out bomb to
straightaway centerfield paying off the fans that stayed up for all
of it on a Sunday night.
7/31 Red Sox 5 - Mariners 4 (15inn)
In another late night at Fenway the Sox and Mariners battled into
the 15th inning. With two outs and the bases loaded Stephen “Don’t
call me J.D.” Drew singled down the right field line barely staying
fair winning the game. At the time this was the biggest win of the
year for this club. They have overachieved for the most part this
season. Had they lost this one, with it being such a long
physically demanding game, it could have taken the wind out of the
sails especially with King Felix taking the mound against them the
following day. This game almost certainly had a dirrect effect on
what happened in that one.
8/1 Red Sox 8 - Mariners 7
With King Felix on the mound the Mariners dominated for the first
eight frames. They led 7-1 through seven and after a Victorino
leadoff home run in the eighth they led 7-2 heading into the bottom
of the 9th. The only way to describe what came next... "In a word,
magical," said Sox manager John Farrell. Nava led off with a four
pitch walk. Then Ryan Lavarnway singled to center. Brock Holt then
doubled to left scoring Nava and putting two runners in scoring
position for Jacoby Ellsbury and the top of the order. After he
drew a five pitch walk, loading the bases, the Mariners made the
call to the bullpen to change pitchers. In came Oliver Perez and up
came Victorino. He singled to right scoring two cutting the lead to
7-5. Pedroia came up singled to left which scored Ellsbury and
pushed Victorino to second before David Ortiz struck out swinging.
After another pitching change up came the unbelievably clutch Jonny
Gomes who singled to center tying the game. Stephen Drew walked on
six pitches loading the bases for Daniel Nava. When he hit the hard
line drive to center Fenway and Sox fans around the world exploded
with joy. That had done the unthinkable. The last time they won a
game in which they trailed by six or more runs as late as the
eighth inning was 1940. The time before that, 19
This Sox season has been tremendous to watch. Even if they have a far less star-studded lineup than years past you can never count them out. Their heart and grit is unfathomable. They have gotten big hits from guys you may not have even heard of, coming into the season. Don’t change the channel on this team or you may miss something miraculous.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
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