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Walking off with the Red Sox 

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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.



mlz

Saturday, August 3, 2013



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