ON THIS DATE (May 13, 2007)
...
The
cheers were still echoing after the 6-5 comeback victory from the
36,379 enjoying Mother's Day and a walkoff at Fenway Park. A dropped
popup and, the next thing you know, a combination of some magic here
and some really good players that don't quit.
The
Orioles had gotten to seven-game winner Josh Beckett for two first-inning runs,
then saw the Sox ace leave with what first would be called an avulsion of the
right middle finger. The Orioles' starter had mastered the Sox over 8 1/3
innings, until things turned suddenly and dramatically.
After 91
pitches from Jeremy Guthrie that dazzled Sox batters, the right-hander was
pulled after that popup squirted out of catcher Ramon Hernandez's glove,
allowing Coco Crisp to reach. The succession of successful at-bats quickly
became Red Sox lore.
After
Hernandez's error, David Ortiz doubled to left-center off Danys Baez, scoring
Crisp. Wily Mo Pena, batting in place of Manny Ramirez, who was removed with a
tight hamstring before the top half of the inning, singled to left. Chris Ray
came on and walked J.D. Drew. Suddenly, the tying run was at the plate, with the
bases loaded. Kevin Youkilis walked, scoring Ortiz and making it 5-2.
Varitek
doubled to right-center, scoring Pena and Drew to make it 5.-4. Eric Hinske was
walked intentionally, loading them up again. Alex Cora then bounced into a
fielder's choice, with second baseman Brian Roberts electing to go home with a
ball that did not appear to have a chance to be converted into a double play.
That
gave Lugo, up for the second time in the inning, his chance, and he hit a ball
that rolled toward first baseman Millar. Ray was late off the mound and, as Lugo
went into a slide, the ball glanced off Ray's glove and bounced away, Varitek
and Hinske coming around to score. Sox win, 6-5, and there was chaos.
|