Sox 16, Tampa Bay 10
WP: Corey (1-0)
LP: Switzer (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Ellsbury (3), Papi (29), Pedroia (7), Drew (8); TB-Pena (39), Harris (11)
"What kind of name is Dioner, anyway? Get the fuck out of my way!"
SUMMARY
Boston established another franchise first tonight when it became the first Sox team in history to win a game by six or more runs when it had trailed in the game by at least seven runs.
I know, it's a crazy fucking stat. Let's just call it a monster come-from-behind win and leave it at that.
#1 STUNNER Boston offense 16 runs, 20 hits, 4 walks
One night after getting stymied for no runs on five hits the Sox offense exploded on the hapless Rays pitching staff. Every member of the Boston lineup had at least one hit, and only Mike Lowell, who had four base knocks on the night, failed to record an RBI.
PAN's FAUN Tim Wakefield 3IP, 10H, 7ER, 0BB, 4K
For the second consecutive start Wakefield pitched like shit, and whether it's the back injury or another dead spell for his dancing knuckler, 19 hits and 13 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings ain't gonna cut it.
RECAP
And to think I nearly threw in the towel on this one.
Right after Carlos Pena hammered another "remember me" post-it note into the seats in center field for a three-run bomb that made the score 8-1 Devil Rays in the top of the fourth, I said "that's it" and turned the station to a car appraisal show on Discovery HD.
But then a funny thing happened. The show ended and I had already seen the episode of "Rides" that came on next, so I hit the last channel button just to see if the Sox had made a dent in the gigantic deficit.
I was somewhat shocked to see Julio Lugo barrelling over Rays catcher Dioner Navarro as the ball bounced away from home plate and the umpire signalling Lugo safe at home with Boston's fifth run, so much so that I ran to the back office where I had the game on the conventional TV and backed up the DVR to see what the hell I had missed.
Turns out Boston put together a nice rally after looking like leftover hamburger meat for most of the first few innings, but little did I or anyone else know that little four-run uprising would mark the beginning of an historic comeback.
A comeback seemed out of the question when Tampa Bay, winners of 13 of its last 17 contests, tuned up troubled Sox starter Tim Wakefield like Kid Rock on Tommy Lee, scoring four runs in the second inning on five hits including a Monster home run by Brendan Harris and RBI hits from Navarro (4-4, 3R, 2BI) and Aki Iwamura.
Birthday boy Jacoby Ellsbury got the Sox off the schneid of not scoring on the Rays in 17 innings when he launched a rocket into the Sox pen with one out in the third off Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine (3.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 1BB, 3K) to cut the deficit to 4-1, but that glimmer of hope seemed all for naught when Tampa Bay scored four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Pena's mammoth blast to straightaway center off Kyle Snyder, his 39 longball of the season.
Did I mention the Sox had this guy last season and let him walk? Anyone see any Big Papi/Minnesota comparisons here? No? Okay.
Anyway, it was right about here that I clicked over to DHD and learned about the value of a restored 1965 Oldsmobile JetStar while the Boston lineup, despite a large number of Fenway no-shows due to the wet weather and woeful opponent, kept plugging away at Sonnanstine until they could get to the soft underbelly of the Rays pen.
Luckily for me the show ended, a repeat came on, and I got the chance to see the Sox make history for like the 45th time this season.
Cool.
The comeback started when Mike Lowell (4-5, 3R) and J.D. Drew led off the fourth with consecutive singles, and after Youk popped out, Coco followed with a single to right center to load the bases for Lugo with one out.
One day after I ripped Tito for using him in the leadoff spot Lugo (2-5, R, 2BI) proved he belongs in the rear when he laced a solid single to left to score Lowell, and when Kevin Cash, subbing as Wake's caddy due to Mirabelli's tweaked hammy, shot a single past Harris at second to plate two more runs, the score was suddenly 8-4 and early enough that a comeback no longer seemed out of the question.
Rays manager Joe Maddon removed Sonnanstine after that and brought in Scott Dohman, who promptly walked Ellsbury (2-5, R, 2BI) walked to reload the bases, and then Dustin Pedroia skied an 0-1 offering into center field where B.J. Upton camped under it and came up firing, and it looked like Lugo would be a dead duck at the plate.
And he would have been had the ball not bounced off Navarro's mask and squirted harmlessly away, and just for good measure Lugo plowed into the portly backstop as if to say "we must protect this house."
Or something like that.
Even though Papi flied out to end the inning the damage was done, both scoreboardical and psychological, and despite an RBI double by Iwamura (3-6, R, 3BI)off Javier Lopez ran the score to 9-5 in the fifth, the best of the Boston comeback was yet to come.
The fifth inning rally began exactly like the fourth, with Lowell and Drew (3-4, 4R, BI) leading off with singles and just waiting to get driven in by the other salivating Sox sluggers. This time Youk walked to load the bases, and the bottom of the lineup proceeded to deliver three consecutive run-scoring at bats: a sac fly by Coco(2-4, 2R, 2BI), an RBI double by Lugo, and a sac fly by Cash that was shallow enough for Delmon Young to nab Youk but his throw went up the line instead.
It was that kind of night for the Rays.
The score was now 9-8 Rays with four innings to go, but it would only take one more frame for Boston to put this one out of reach.
After Pena (3-5, R, 3RBI) singled to lead off the sixth, Tito brought in Bryan Corey to pitch to Upton. It took nine pitches for Corey to get Upton to strike out swinging, then only one pitch to induce Delmon Young to ground into an inning-ending double play, a feat that surely inspired the offense to do what came next.
The Sox would send 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, and six of those hitters would score as the Sox battered three Tampa Bay pitchers and officially turned a near-disastrous loss into an enjoyable, kick you heels off and relax type win.
Dustin Pedroia (2-5, R, 2BI) got the festivities started when he rocketed a solo shot into the Monster seats to tie the game at nine off Jon Switzer, and when Papi (2-4, 2R, BI) followed with a single to left, Switzer was gone and it was Grant Balfour's turn to get spanked.
Balfour allowed a single off the Wall to Lowell, then walked Drew to load the bases again for Boston, and that bought the struggling Youkilis (2-4, 2R, 3BI) to the plate with a chance to win the game at his sweaty, meaty fingertips.
Youk's second-half troubles have been well-documented(.239 since the break), and his recent 4-18 stretch had started the "should they get rid of Youk" talk radio crap all over again.
And then the chrome-domed overachiever crushed a 1-0 pitch from Switzer high and deep off the triangular seam of the Wall, a ball hit so hard it ricocheted all the way to right field, and by the time Youk pulled into third with his second triple of the season, the slump was over, the love was back, and the Rays were officially dead in the water.
But just to make sure, Coco knocked in a gassed Youk with a double, and then two batters and one pitcher later the now 24-year-old Ellsbury ripped a single into left center to score Coco and make the score 14-9, and Tampa Bay fans were left wondering how the fuck their baseball team could outscore their football team and still lose!
Game over, right?
Wrong again, ass breath.
After Manny D. pitched around a pair of singles in the top of the eighth, Boston decided to add to the carnage when David Ortiz and J.D. Drew took Juan 50 game 'roid suspension Salas yard, Papi's a classic Papi job into the bully on the first pitch of the inning and Drew's a straightaway number that rattled the camera stanchion in center one out later, an impressive shot that along with his two other hits silenced the sea of bashers for at least one day.
The only thing left of any consequence by now was the reappearance of banished, errr sore shouldered reliever Eric Gagme, who made his first appearance since Aug 26th when he took the mound for the ninth inning.
With a new 'do that makes him look less like Seth Rogen and more like Sasha Baron Cohen, the rested Gagme was an exact replica of tired-shouldered Gagme, allowing a single to Harris to lead off the inning and later a single to Navvaro that would bring Harris home with Gagme's 11th run allowed in 12 appearances with Boston.
But it didn't matter. The fans who were still there were just happy to have witnessed such a historical comeback, and the Faithful who had already left or clicked off the TV set didn't even know the former Cy Young winner turned future beer league closer was on the mound.
I'm just glad I wasn't one of them.
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