(originally posted 6/4/07)The Red Sox were not to be denied a win tonight. I was sure of it. With 8-0 Josh Beckett on the mound, there was no way the Sox would lose the rubber game of this three-game series. At home, against the overpaid, underperforming, injury-prone team formerly known as the "Bombers?" Not. Gonna. Happen. I was already figuring out how soon the Yankees, who would be trailing the Sox by 14.5 games after tonight's Boston win, would be eliminated from contention for the AL East crown.
The Yankees jumped to a 4-0 lead, with the four runs allowed by Beckett being the most he's allowed in a start this season. Yankee SP Andy Pettitte was pitching well, shutting out the Sox through the first four frames, but Boston got to him for five runs in the bottom of the 5th. Dustin Pedroia (.336 BA, hitting streak now at 13 games) had the big hit, a 2-run double. David Ortiz (.325) had a run-scoring single, with another run scoring when Yankee RF Bobby Abreu misplayed the ball. Kevin Youkilis (.350) hit a sacrifice fly, staking the Red Sox to a 5-4 lead. Pettitte only got one out in the inning, and all five runs were charged to him, raising his season ERA from 2.51 to 2.96. With a 5-4 lead, the only question was how Beckett and the Sox' invincible bullpen would divide up the remaining four scoreless innings they had ahead of them.
Beckett left the game in the 7th, with Javier Lopez (3.46 ERA), Brendan Donnelly (3.63 ERA), and Hideki Okajima (1.27 ERA) combining to get out of the inning with the lead intact. With a 5-4 lead in the 8th, and Okajima and Papelbon (1.77 ERA) ready to finish out the last two innings, it was just a matter of how low the opponents' batting averages against the two Sox relief aces would go. Except Okajima allowed a single to Hideki Matsui, followed by a triple to Robinson Cano, tying the game at 5. As the rain began to fall softly at Fenway, Okajima managed to retire the next three Yankee batters, without allowing the go-ahead run to score from 3rd. I guess you can't expect Okajima to never give up runs. (We only expect PAPELBON to never give up runs.) The run cost Beckett his 9th win, but it put Okajima in position to get his 2nd win, which seemed somehow deserved, considering how well the Japanese southpaw has pitched this year. Besides Beckett still has plenty of starts left, he'll get his 22 wins without too much difficulty.
The Sox should have gone ahead in the bottom of the 8th, but Yankee RF Bobby Abreu made a lucky catch in deep right-center on a blast from Dustin Pedroia. That would have plated two runs, and given Boston an unassailable 7-5 lead. No problem. Jonathan Papelbon would dominate the Yanks in the top of the 9th, and the Walk-Off Sox would win it in the bottom of the inning. Paps would pick up the win, and Mike Lowell would achieve redemption for his error earlier in the game, by knocking in the winning run. Three years from now, I'd be watching this game again on NESN, relishing the memories of another AL Championship season.
The Sox' indomitable closer stared through the now-pounding raindrops, grimacing in intense concentration as he received the sign from C Jason Varitek. Papelbon had retired the first two Yankee batters without any difficulty, as is his way. He had an 0-2 count on Yankee 3B Alex Rodriguez. Fenway Park was primed to erupt in the manner only Fenway can, as Papelbon whiffed Sox fans' least popular player, on their least popular team. Papelbon fired a 95 MPH fastball, putting an exclamation point on what was to be another scoreless inning for the Closer of the Millenium. It was just so perfectly scripted that the inning-ending strikeout would come at the expense of Rodriguez. Except Rodriguez drove the fastball back through the rain, over the short bullpen fence in right field, giving the Yankees a shocking 6-5 lead. Papelbon escaped the inning without any more damage, though his ERA was now an unsightly (for him) 2.11.
But that meaningless 9th inning run would just add a little suspense to the Sox' walk-off win. Now it would just be a come-from-behind walk-off win. Simply a matter of semantics. Still a W in the box score. Yankee closer Mariano Rivera dragged his unwieldy 5.30 ERA in from the bullpen to face the inevitable. Like the Yankees, Rivera was just a ghost of his former self. Rivera and the Yanks have only memories of past excellence to cling to, while the Red Sox are the team of the future. And, of course, the present.
The Sox let the excitement build, opting to start their rally with two outs. Leading off the inning, David Ortiz had battled Rivera in an intense eleven pitch at-bat, before driving a ball that found the glove of Abreu in deep RF. The Sox were not using the Papi script tonight. They had chosen a more exciting, more exhilarating path to victory. There would be no extra innings. There would be one single, mighty blow to secure the win over their hated rivals. A towering blast through the torrent from the skies, drowning the Yankees' hopes in a sea of utter despair. Sox fans would pour out onto the streets, their cumulative exuberance to be heard far above the thunder.
As the rain continued to pummel the players from the heavens, future All-Star Kevin Youkilis took one for the team, reaching 1st on a HBP. Youk, once again, was doing whatever it took to secure another win. Mike Lowell came to the plate as the go-ahead run. He let Rivera get to two strikes, possibly lulling the Yankees into believing that a win was still within their grasp. Making the Sox' pending victory all the more sweeter. The excitement reached a fever pitch. The stands at Fenway shook. The ESPN announcers were silent, as I had muted them long ago. The heavens poured. Red Sox Nation poised to express their jubilation. Then Lowell struck out to end the game. Yankees 6, Red Sox 5.
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