Yankees - 000 020 002 - 4 9 0 Red Sox - 200 102 20x - 7 12 0Clay Buchholz's pitching line might look all right - 6-7-2-2-2, 93 - but he was on the high-wire all night. He dealt with Yankee baserunners in every inning and the game threatened to go out of control numerous times. But Buchholz prevailed, notching a "quality start".
Hanley Ramirez hit another home run - a solo shot in the fourth - and Sandy Leon contributed a bloop ground-rule double in the sixth and Jackie Bradley homered in the seventh. The eventual five-run cushion was necessary, as Fernando Abad lived up to his last name, pitching horribly and forcing Craig Kimbrel to secure the last two outs.
Boston might have put the game out of reach in the first inning if not for a couple of outs on the base paths. Dustin Pedroia hit a rope off the Wall and was thrown out trying for a double. Xander Bogaerts was plunked on the ass with a pitch. David Ortiz lined a run-scoring hit to left-center and he also - for reasons only he can know - tried for a double. Papi was thrown out easily, as Bogaerts motored to third. Betts reached on an infield hit (and wisely held at first). Betts stole second (he was initially called out, but the call was correctly overturned on replay) and scored on Ramirez's single.
As soon as Ramirez gave Boston a 3-0 lead with his dong, Buchholz gave two runs back. He had been helped by double plays in both the first and third inning, both off the bat of Gary Sanchez. Buchholz also wriggled out of a 2nd-and-3rd-none-out jam in the second, by getting a pop-up to shallow center and a fly to right. Buchholz's luck ran out in the fifth. He gave up first-pitch singles to the 8th and 9th hitters (Mark Teixeira and Mason Williams), then got two outs, but Sanchez tagged a double off the Wall for two runs.
Boston widened its lead in the sixth. Facing James Pazos, Ortiz doubled off the centerfield wall. That was Pazos's only batter as Jonathan Holder came in. Betts followed with a sharp grounder to right and Ortiz took third. Ramirez walked, loading the bases with none out. Travis Shaw lofted a sacrifice fly to center, but Chris Young struck out. Sandy Leon then hit a pop fly that landed just fair near the left field line and hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double. Chasen Shreve came in to face Jackie Bradley. His 2-2 pitch got away from Sanchez and Ramirez dashed for home, but he was out catcher-to-pitcher.
Bradley must have gotten a good read on Shreve because he led off the seventh by blasting his first offering for a home run. Kirby Yates was the next reliever out of New York's pen and he promptly loaded the bases with none out (Pedroia singled, Bogaerts doubled, and Ortiz was intentionally walked). Betts grounded into a double play, scoring one run. Ramirez flied to center.
Meanwhile, the Yankees stranded a man at second in the sixth and a runner at third in the seventh. In the ninth, facing Abad, Teixeira worked an 11-pitch walk with one out. Billy Butler then cracked a pinch-hit, two-run homer, cutting Boston's lead to 7-4. After Abad hit Brett Gardner, manager John Farrell called on Kimbrel. Jacoby Ellsbury struck out swinging and Sanchez struck out looking - and the water was dirty.
The loss dropped the Yankees six games behind the Red Sox in the East. ... The Orioles beat the Rays and stayed 2 GB.
Pedroia, 2BTwo notes from Elias:
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Betts, RF
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Young, LF
Leon, C
Bradley, CF
Hanley Ramirez is the fourth player in Red Sox history to hit a walkoff homer against the Yankees that turned a deficit into a win. Joe Cronin hit one off Johnny Broaca in the first game of a doubleheader in 1935, Sammy White off Allie Reynolds in 1953 and Bill Mueller off Mariano Rivera in 2004.Quotes Of The (Last) Night: Hanley Ramirez, on his objective in last at-bat: "I was trying to go to the moon." ... Bang, zoom!
The Red Sox trailed the Yankees, 5-2, with two outs in the ninth inning before erupting for five runs and the win. It's only the second time in team history that Red Sox beat the Yankees in a game they trailed by three or more runs with two outs in the ninth inning. The other such game came on June 2, 1908.
And: John Sterling: "It is, by FAR, the worst loss of the year, by FAR. ... The Yankees will never forget this loss. I know I'll never forget this loss."
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) September 16, 2016The Red Sox now have three wins this season when trailing by three or more runs with two outs in the ninth inning. The other 29 MLB teams have six such games, combined.
Here is an interesting list:
Most Home Runs, Ages 27 To 40
1. Barry Bonds 566
2. Babe Ruth 552
3. Hank Aaron 514
4. Rafael Palmeiro 496
5. David Ortiz 479
6. Sammy Sosa 478
7. Jim Thome 471
8. Willie Mays 459
9. Mark McGwire 427
10. Mike Schmidt 417
Boston's magic number for winning the AL East is 15 with 16 games to play. ... In the East: Rays/Orioles and Blue Jays/Angels.BOS --- BAL 2.0 TOR 2.0 MFY 5.0
1 comment:
Girardi screwed up again.
ESPN: Joe Girardi on why he took starter Luis Cessa after five innings and 64 pitches. "We just thought we would start mixing and matching at that point and we thought his fastball was starting to leak a little bit." It didn't work, as the bullpen gave up four runs in a 7-4 loss to the Red Sox.
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