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ONE LAST RUN FOR A
RED SOX LEGEND -
FROM SEASON CHAMPS TO PLAYOFF CHUMPS
The Sox walk-off
with a five run ninth
September 15, 2016 ...
When David Ortiz hit a home run in the eighth inning, it felt like a
consolation prize for the sellout crowd at Fenway Park. The Red Sox
were still trailing the Yankees by three. Ortiz, who is running out
of his career, was not in the mood for any solace. He started
shouting at his teammates when he got back to the dugout.
Hanley Ramirez didn’t let Ortiz down. His three-run homer with two outs in the
ninth gave the Red Sox a thrilling 7-5 victory against the Yankees. It was the
sixth career walk-off hit for Ramirez, who has 25 homers and 100 RBIs.
The Yankees wanted to avoid using Dellin
Betances. Tommy Layne started the inning and struck out pinch hitter Aaron Hill.
When Chris Young went up to pinch hit, Yankees manager Joe Girardi countered
with righthander Blake Parker.
Young was hit by a breaking ball that glanced off his
helmet. Girardi then turned to Betances. Young then stole second unopposed.
Dustin Pedroia than walked and the runners moved up again as the Yankees ignored
them. Xander Bogaerts tapped a ball back to the mound and the Yankees were able
to get Young caught in a rundown for the second out. Ortiz singled to center,
driving in Pedroia and sending Bogaerts to third. Mookie Betts was next and he
singled to left field to score Bogaerts. With Ramirez up, a passed ball moved
the runners to second and third. Then came his blast on a 3-and-1 pitch.
Ortiz was 3 for 4 with a double and the home
run that started the comeback. He now has 537 career home runs, putting him
alone in 17th place all time. Ortiz had been tied with Yankees legend Mickey
Mantle. Ortiz has 34 home runs this season, tying Darrell Evans of the 1987
Detroit Tigers for the most by a player 40 or older. The home run, a blast to
center field in the eighth inning off Adam Warren, roused the Sox, who had one
run in seven innings against Masahiro Tanaka
Joe Kelly left the bases loaded in the top of
the ninth, catching a line drive back up the middle off the bat of Mason
Williams.
After Eduardo Rodriguez allowed four runs
before being taken out in the third inning, the Sox bullpen kept the game close.
Heath Hembree, Junichi Tazawa, rookie Robby Scott, and Kelly allowed one
unearned run.
Rodriguez came into the game with a 1.88
earned run average in six career starts against the Yankees. In two starts
previously this season, he had allowed two runs over 14 innings. That all went
to pieces in the first inning.
Jacoby Ellsbury interrupted being booed with
a single to center. Gary Sanchez, the rookie catcher who has sparked New York’s
revival, followed with a double to center field. The ball landed at the base of
the 420-foot sign in the triangle and bounced into the stands. Ellsbury had to
stop at third but that was only temporary as Starlin Castro singled to right
field. Sanchez moved to third on the hit and scored on a sacrifice fly to center
by Billy Butler.
Rodriguez stranded two runners in the second
but could not get out of the third inning. Castro doubled off the wall in
left-center with one out and scored when Butler singled to center. Didi
Gregorius followed with a double to center field. Butler went to third and
scored when Chase Headley singled to right field.
The Sox now lead the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue
Jays by two games in the American League East with 16 to play. They also threw a
haymaker at the Yankees, who now trail by five games. New York blew a 5-1 lead.
The Sox have won six of their last nine games. |
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