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MIKE NAPOLI |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Lawrie hits a walk-off for the Blue Jays after Napoli ties it for the Sox
August 14, 2013 ... After Brett Cecil blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning, denying Esmil Rogers of his fourth victory of the season, Brett Lawrie stroked a
single off the glove of Stephen Drew to score Rajai Davis in the 10th, as the Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox, 4-3, at Rogers Centre.
Toronto traded second baseman Emilio Bonifacio to Kansas City before the game and started two players who were called up from the minors. Esmil Rogers, a poor pitcher banished to the bullpen over the weekend, started and allowed one run in six innings.
The only reason the Red Sox had a shot to play into extra innings for the second straight night is because they got another huge hit with the game hanging in the balance. Down 3-1 with two outs in the ninth, Mike Napoli broke out of his slump with a game-tying two-run homer to right against Jays lefty Brett Cecil. Before the homer, Napoli had just
five hits in his last 40 at-bats, and none in his previous 16. The clutch knock came on a night he was moved down to the seventh spot in the batting order by manager John Farrell.
But the Blue Jays didn't get deflated. The winning rally against reliever Brandon Workman was sparked by a leadoff double into the gap in left-center by
Rajai Davis. Jose Bautista followed with a tapper to short, and the only play Drew had was to first.
With Davis on third and one out, the Red Sox issued an intentional walk to Edwin Encarnacion. That set up Lawrie to be the hero, and he slapped it just hard enough to tick off
Drew's glove. After Napoli's home run tied the game, the Sox left five runners on base.
Jon Lester's worst misfire came on a fielding play. In the third, when a grounder by Davis hit Lester off the leg, the lefty then recovered and tried to scoop the ball to first baseman
Napoli. Instead, the ball rolled down the right-field line where Shane Victorino picked it up. One of Red Sox best fielders all season, Victorino made a rare gaffe, as his throw hit
Davis, who roared all the way around to score the first run of the game. The play was ruled as an infield single, with errors on Lester and Victorino. Over 6 1/3 innings, Lester gave up six hits and three runs, two of them earned.
Encarnacion got the Jays started with a leadoff double in the fourth. He scored on a line-drive double by Mark DeRosa to make it 2-0. David Ortiz got one of the runs back when he lined home run No. 23 on the season over the wall in right-center with one out in the sixth. But with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the Jays got that run back when
J.P. Arencibia hit an RBI double off the base of the wall in left. Lester made a fielding error to open the seventh, but that one wound up being inconsequential.
Toronto pitchers had retired nine in a row before Gomes drew a one-out walk in the ninth inning against Brett Cecil. Drew struck out, bringing Napoli up. Cecil's second pitch was a sinker that stayed up and Napoli hit a long home run the other way to
right field, his 15th of the season. The Sox had a chance to take the lead after the home run. Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled, Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch, and Ellsbury singled. But Victorino, who drove in two runs in the 11th inning to win the game
Tuesday night, popped to left. |
