Fenway Park was not even half full when Adrian Gonzalez walked to the plate
in the bottom of the ninth inning. A six-run deficit against the Orioles had
sent most of the fans leaving the ballpark early to avoid some traffic.
The Sox had fallen behind, 6-0. After being shut out for five innings, they
then sent ten batters to the plate in the sixth and scored five runs against
three relievers.
This is what happened. J.D. Drew singled and took second when the ball
skipped past the left fielder. Jed Lowrie followed with an RBI double. After
Carl Crawford reached on an error, Jason Varitek lined an RBI single to
right. With two outs, Gonzalez singled in a run. Kevin Youkilis's two-run
double off the Monster scored Gonzalez and proved to be the huge blow in the
five-run, five-hit eruption. It helped the Red Sox erase nearly all of the
deficit, 6-5.
The Sox and Orioles next exchanged runs in the seventh inning. Now down 7-6,
the Sox were close enough and proceeded to make quick work of Baltimore in
the ninth.
Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk. Down 0-2, Distin Pedroia would not give in and
walked on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Gonzalez then drove the ball off
the wall in left field that easily scored Ellsbury with the tying run.
Running hard all the way, Pedey scored the winning run before the Orioles
could get the ball to the plate. It gave the Red Sox a miraculous 8-7
victory on a night when all seemed lost.
