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Jeff Frye leads the Sox in a 9th inning come back July 17, 1996 ... No other game in the 1996 season may be as meaningful as this one. The pile-on after Jeff Frye's two-out, ninth-inning single off John Wetteland, the best closer in baseball, gave the Red Sox an implausible 12-11 win over the Yankees probably was the closest thing to a championship atmosphere that Fenway Park will experience this year. It was THE game of the season. The noise in the stands wasn't as inspiring as 34,082 fans watched the Sox turn a 9-2 seventh-inning lead into an 11-9 deficit in the ninth. A three-run double by Kevin Mitchell in the fifth and a three-run homer by Jose Canseco in the sixth had helped Boston shatter a 2-2 tie as the Sox victimized Yankee starter Kenny Rogers, Bob Wickman and Jeff Nelson. But Tom Gordon was lifted in the seventh after Ruben Sierra lined a three-run homer into the right-field grandstand, making it 9-5, and Bernie Williams belted a two-run homer in the eighth off Mike Stanton, bringing New York within 9-7. Heathcliff Slocumb left the bases loaded in the eighth but allowed four runs in the ninth as the Yankees grabbed the two-run lead and were poised to deal Boston its worst defeat of a terrible season. Mariano Duncan started the Yankee uprising with a double down the right-field line and came in on Williams' third RBI, a single to center. Paul O'Neill singled to center to keep things alive, and Darryl Strawberry tied it with a single. Slocumb left the game to a round of boos, but the Yankees still weren't done. Sierra smacked a long sacrifice fly to center off Vaughn Eshelman for what appeared to be some insurance. It seemed an unlikely climax as Wetteland carried his major league-record 24-save streak to the mound in the ninth. But with one out, he walked Tim Naehring and then allowed a double off the wall to Mike Stanley. He dominated Mitchell (four RBIs) by striking him out on four pitches. Down to his club's last gasp, Kennedy sent up .375-hitting Reggie Jefferson. Mindful of his recent prowess, the Yankees intentionally walked Jefferson to load the bases. Kennedy sent in O'Leary to bat for Jose Malave. Pouncing on the first pitch, O'Leary doubled off the wall. Then Frye did his damage. The Sox helped themselves to their sixth victory in seven games since the All-Star break and second in this three-game series, though they're still 15 games behind American League East leader New York. |
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