Are you kidding me? What a crazy game last night at Fenway
Park. A miracle comeback to sweep the
Mariners, as the Sox score 6 in the 9th to walk-off with another
win. It was their Major League leading
11th walk-off victory and one that didn’t seem practical.
Down 7-1 after 7 innings, this
was the first time the Sox won a game they trailed by 6 or more this late in
the 8th inning since 1940 against the Philadelphia Athletics. Before that, it hadn’t been done since 1911.
Felix Hernandez was brilliant in
his 7 innings of work scattering 6 hits and allowing only 1 run while striking
out 8. But after he came out the bullpen
completely blew up.
It started in the bottom of the 8th,
when Shane Victorino went deep to cut the lead to 7-2. The comeback still seemed impossible as the
Sox would not score anyone else in the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th
however, Daniel Nava led off with a walk and Ryan Lavarnway singled him over to
2nd. Brock Holt then doubled to
left to score Nava and the lead was down to 4.
After a Jacoby Ellsbury walk, Victorino struck again, this time with a
2-RBI single to right. Score down to 2
runs. Dustin Pedroia followed with a
single to left scoring Ellsbury and the deficit was only 1 with 1 out.
David Ortiz would strike out
swinging for the 1st out and it looked like the rally may
falter. Jonny Gomes then came up and
worked the count to 3-2 on a questionable 2-2 pitch. From the pitch zone they show on NESN, it
looked like it touched the outside corner but on the first called strike, it
was out of the zone so maybe it was a make-up call. Either way, it was called a ball and Gomes
hit the next pitch into centerfield to score the tying run.
After a walk by Stephen Drew,
Daniel Nava came to the plate again with the bases loaded and only 1 out. He just had to hit it far and boy did
he. He lined a single to center to plate
the winning run and start the frenzy at Fenway.
Another walk-off win and another great story for the Sox.
The Sox banged out a total of 13
hits and Shane Victorino went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Jacoby Ellsbury went 2 for 4 with 2 runs
scored and a walk while Daniel Nava went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a walk. Ryan Lavarnway went 2 for 4 and looks more
confident at the plate as of late. Brock
Holt, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz each had a hit and RBI. Jonny Gomes had only 1 at-bat but it was a big
one as he singled in a run taking over for Mike Carp. Carp was the only Sox player without a hit on
the night.
The offense needed to be hot because
Ryan Dempster was not. Dempster went 6
innings giving up 7 runs on 9 hits while walking 5 and striking out 6. The only thing I will give him credit for is
that he gritted his way through 6 innings to give the bullpen some rest. After the 15 inning marathon game the night
before, Dempster needed to go deep into the game to give them a rest. Even though he didn’t have it, he still
gritted his way through and got through 6 innings. They weren’t the best but the bullpen bailed
him out and sometimes, that’s how it goes.
There have been many times this year that the offense didn’t show up
when he pitched and he did well so it’s nice to have it balance out for a
change.
Steven Wright pitched the final 3
innings of the ballgame and was again fantastic out of the pen. He scattered 2 hits while walking 1 and
striking out 2. Minimizing the damage is
becoming a norm for Wright and he got his 2nd win of the year in the
outing.
This Red Sox team is just plain
and fun to watch! They are resilient and
you can just never count them out. The
team has a feel they didn’t have the last 2 years and that’s a good thing.
They welcome in the Arizona
Diamondbacks tonight to start a 3 game series.
Jon Lester (10-6, 4.27) will take the hill tonight coming off his best
start since the beginning of the year.
He went 7 strong innings giving up 0 runs and struck out 8. His game before that vs. the Rays was also
really good so hopefully he’ll continue his new trend.
The D-backs will send Randall
Delgado (3-3, 2.85) to the mound.
Delgado is coming off a shut-out of the Padres in his last start and
hasn’t allowed an earned run in 2 straight starts. He’s young and the Sox need to get to get to
him early. He’s not a big strikeout guy
so that bodes well for the Sox.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE – GAME
MVP
Shane Victorino. Everyone is praising Daniel Nava for the
walk-off but they wouldn’t have been that close if not for the Flying Hawaiian. He went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI including his 6th
homer of the year. He also scored 2
runs.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Mike Carp. Carp went 0 for 3 and was the only Sox player
without a hit on the night. He struck
out twice in those at bats. He’s been
good all year so one bad game isn’t the end of the world.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Jonny Gomes huge at bat in the
bottom of the 9th that eventually resulted in a game tying RBI
single. He worked the count nicely to
3-2 before delivering the clutch hit.
NEXT
Friday, August 2nd, at home vs.
the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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