Post by Fish Troll on May 13, 2007 17:53:46 GMT -5
Boston stuns Baltimore in finale
By Alex McPhillips / MLB.com
BOSTON -- On Mother's Day at Fenway, birds streaked across a bright-blue sky. A paid attendance of 36,379 -- the park's 323rd sellout in a row -- settled in to watch the first-place Red Sox take on Baltimore. And then the home team, bedecked in its dazzling home whites, overcame a set of impossibly sour circumstances to take a thrilling, 6-5 victory.
What began with all the elements of an idyllic Sunday afternoon quickly turned bad for Red Sox fans, as Josh Beckett, seeking his eighth straight win to start the season, left the game before he could technically earn one. The diagnosis, announced during the fifth inning: an avulsion on the right middle finger, leading to "irritation of the skin."
Beckett left the game after four innings in which he allowed two runs, both of them earned, and struck out seven.
Somehow, someway, the Red Sox scored six runs in the ninth off Baltimore relievers Danys Baez and Chris Ray to win. Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie had shut down Boston's bats for 8 1/3 innings before being lifted after just 91 pitches.
That's when Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez made an error that allowed Coco Crisp to reach. Seven batters and two pitchers later, Julio Lugo sent home the tying and winning runs on a messy play at first, which was initially ruled an error on the pitcher but was soon after ruled an RBI single.
Baltimore had gone ahead off Beckett in the first, after Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis reached base with no outs. Roberts scored after an errant throw by catcher Jason Varitek while stealing third, and Markakis scored on an Aubrey Huff single two batters later.
Alex McPhillips is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
By Alex McPhillips / MLB.com
BOSTON -- On Mother's Day at Fenway, birds streaked across a bright-blue sky. A paid attendance of 36,379 -- the park's 323rd sellout in a row -- settled in to watch the first-place Red Sox take on Baltimore. And then the home team, bedecked in its dazzling home whites, overcame a set of impossibly sour circumstances to take a thrilling, 6-5 victory.
What began with all the elements of an idyllic Sunday afternoon quickly turned bad for Red Sox fans, as Josh Beckett, seeking his eighth straight win to start the season, left the game before he could technically earn one. The diagnosis, announced during the fifth inning: an avulsion on the right middle finger, leading to "irritation of the skin."
Beckett left the game after four innings in which he allowed two runs, both of them earned, and struck out seven.
Somehow, someway, the Red Sox scored six runs in the ninth off Baltimore relievers Danys Baez and Chris Ray to win. Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie had shut down Boston's bats for 8 1/3 innings before being lifted after just 91 pitches.
That's when Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez made an error that allowed Coco Crisp to reach. Seven batters and two pitchers later, Julio Lugo sent home the tying and winning runs on a messy play at first, which was initially ruled an error on the pitcher but was soon after ruled an RBI single.
Baltimore had gone ahead off Beckett in the first, after Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis reached base with no outs. Roberts scored after an errant throw by catcher Jason Varitek while stealing third, and Markakis scored on an Aubrey Huff single two batters later.
Alex McPhillips is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070513&content_id=1962282&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
