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ONE LAST RUN FOR A
RED SOX LEGEND -
FROM SEASON CHAMPS TO PLAYOFF CHUMPS
The Red Sox
outslug the sloppy Astros, 10-9
May
15, 2016 ... After
rallying from four runs down to take the lead in the sixth inning, the Astros
gave it back in the seventh when a ball hit by Ryan Hanigan dropped between
outfielders Carlos Gomez and George Springer in right-center field, leading to a
pair of runs and a 10-9 Red Sox victory Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park. The Sox were trying to rally from a 9-8 hole with one out
and a runner on in the seventh inning, when Ryan Hanigan shot a fly ball to
right-center. It had all the looks of a routine play, especially with Gomez, a
two-time Gold Glover in center, tracking it down.
Hanigan, who already
had two hits under his belt, broke out of the batter’s box thinking it was a
routine fly ball. Watching it hang in the air, Hanigan figured someone would
camp under it.
Then, Hanigan looked
up and saw Gomez and Springer both hoping the other was going to make a play on
the ball. Neither did. The ball dropped between the two for another ugly play in
a game full of them, as Josh Rutledge raced around from first to tie the game.
Given an extra out,
Mookie Betts made the Astros pay dearly, hitting a liner to right-center, as
Hanigan hustled around from first to score the deciding run in the Sox’ victory.
Hanigan went 3 for 4
with four RBIs, Hanley Ramirez went 3 for 5 with an RBI, Xander Bogaerts went 1
for 4 with a three-run homer, Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his career-best
hitting streak to 21 games, and the Sox moved back into a tie atop the American
League East with the Orioles, who lost to the Tigers.
The Sox came into the
game as the only team in the AL without a multi-error game this season. They
managed to commit two on the same play in the second inning, when starter Sean
O’Sullivan botched a slow roller, and then Bogaerts snagged it and made an
errant throw to first. O’Sullivan gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits in
4 1/3 innings.
The Red Sox punctuated the heavy-hitting homestand by
taking three of four from the Astros, who got five RBIs from third baseman Luis
Valbuena. He hit a three-run homer in the second to put the Astros ahead, 3-2,
but Xander Bogaerts capped a
four-run second with a three-run homer off Chris
Devenski to put Boston ahead, 6-3.
Hanigan's two-run single in
the third pushed the lead to 8-4, but the Astros chipped away. Valbuena's
bases-loaded double in the fifth scored two, and a throwing error by
Rutledge in the sixth opened up a three-run inning for the Astros that gave them
a short-lived 9-8 lead. But the Sox’ offense made up for it by producing the
team’s 11th come-from-behind win of the season.
The Sox finished 6-1
on their homestand, scoring 73 runs. They’ve put up at least 10 hits in each of
their last eight games.
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