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JACKIE BRADLEY SCORES |
Jonathan Herrera's walk-off hit
leads
the Sox to a
come from behind win
July 5, 2014 ... By the standards of being a Major League Baseball player, Jonathan Herrera fills a pretty unglamorous role
for the Red Sox. He starts roughly once a week -- and when Herrera is called into a game, it is generally with the task of moving a runner over or playing solid defense.
For a change, Herrera had a chance to soak up the spotlight on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. Though he shattered his bat at the point of contact, Herrera got enough on the ball to loop it into right-center field for a walk-off single with one out in the ninth that
gave the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Orioles in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader. Playing in his 417th Major League game, Herrera tasted his first career walk-off hit. Fittingly, it came as a pinch-hitter, as Herrera was summoned to bat for Jackie Bradley Jr. against Orioles lefty T.J. McFarland.
And the player who set Herrera up to be the walk-off hero plays a similar role. To open the bottom of the ninth, Jonny Gomes pinch-hit for
Stephen Drew and mustered a base hit deep in the shortstop hole. David Ross sacrificed Herrera to second on a bunt. As Herrera's hit dropped in, Gomes made the perfect read, roaring around from second and
sliding in safely to end the game.
The reason the Red Sox had a chance to win in the late innings was due to another marvelous performance by Jon Lester. The power lefty fired eight dominant innings, allowing five hits and two unearned runs. He
walked none and struck out seven, throwing 118 pitches. Over Lester's last two starts, he hasn't allowed an earned run over 16 innings. Lester (9-7) took a no-decision while lowering his ERA to 2.73. He has put together a good body of work heading into All-Star selections, which
are officially announced on Sunday.
Koji Uehara, another strong All-Star candidate, fired a scoreless ninth to pick up the win. There won't be any All-Star Game for Drew this season, but the shortstop showed signs that he could be ready to snap
out of his slow start at the plate.
Drew belted his first homer since Game 6 of last year's World Series in the second, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. He also started a double play in dazzling fashion in the eighth, going into a half-dive on a Nelson Cruz
grounder up the middle and making a swift flip to Dustin Pedroia.
Bradley started a rally later in the inning with a double. Brock Holt followed with an infield single to second base. When first baseman Steve
Pearce dropped the throw, Bradley alertly motored around third and scored to make it 2-0.
In the third, it was the Red Sox who played sloppy defense. Delmon Young reached on a throwing error by Pedroia. Caleb Joseph followed
with a single. With two outs, it looked like Lester was going to get out of the inning when Pearce hit a grounder to third. But it went off the glove of Xander Bogaerts for an error, and the Orioles scored two runs
on the play to tie the game at 2.
By the end of the afternoon, it was Herrera who untied it. Now, he just needs to find a new bat. |
