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CHRIS DAVIS |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Chris Davis' bloop walk-off single
wins for the O's
in 13 innings
June 13, 2013 ...
Alex Wilson's day began with a long wait at the Providence, R.I., airport after the Red Sox called him up. It ended when the right-hander gave up a bloop single to Chris Davis in the bottom of the 13th inning that gave the Orioles a 5-4 victory over Boston
at Camden Yards. Alfredo Aceves was optioned back to Triple A Pawtucket after his strong six innings against the Rays. Wilson was recalled to add some depth to the bullpen.
What frustrated Wilson (1-1) a bit was how the Orioles (38-29) manufactured the winning run. Wilson gave Nick Markakis a two-out walk. Adam Jones followed with a single that moved Markakis to second. But Davis came up and just got enough of the bat on the
ball to send a bloop into left that nobody could get. Markakis raced home to give Baltimore the victory. T.J. McFarland (1-0) earned his first Major League win thanks to a scoreless 13th inning. Wilson got the loss but gave the Red Sox (41-27) a solid
effort. He allowed the one run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings.
The Red Sox got plenty of strong efforts from their bullpen arms in this game. Franklin Morales, Andrew Miller, Junichi Tazawa and Craig Breslow combined to give Farrell 5 1/3 scoreless innings before Wilson came on. They allowed only two hits, struck out six and
walked three against a strong Baltimore offense.
The Red Sox needed to rally from a few early deficits. Baltimore took a 3-0 lead against starter Felix Doubront in the third. Boston got back-to-back solo homers from David Ortiz and Mike Carp in the fourth, cutting it to 3-2. The Red Sox then forced extra
innings by scoring twice in the seventh. Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly made it 4-3, and Jacoby Ellsbury tied it on a fielder's choice by barely beating out a possible double play.
Boston's problem was that it simply couldn't come up with much offense after that. The Red Sox never got a hit after the two-run seventh.
David Ortiz said he would not participate in the Home Run Derby, even if asked by American League team captain Robinson Cano, who is a good friend. Ortiz won the Home Run Derby in 2010. He has been in the event six times. Jacoby Ellsbury has become one
of the best leadoff hitters in the game after a poor start to the season, getting on base at a high percentage and stealing bases at will. But his power has yet to reappear. Ellsbury has one home run all season, that coming on April 7. Since the start of the 2012
season, he has five homers over 566 at-bats. Ellsbury hit 32 homers over 660 at-bats in 2011.
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