Right Back At Ya by Jared Carrabis
Sox turn the tables on the O's, complete late-inning comeback


On May 13, 2007, the Red Sox hosted the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Josh Beckett was the pitcher that was on the hook when the Red Sox were trailing entering the ninth inning. Boston came all the way back, complete with Julio Lugo driving in the game-winning run, as the Sox secured a 6-5 victory.

Fast forward to July 1, 2009. Josh Beckett took the mound looking to build on his recent dominance of both the American and National League. However, the Orioles had other things in mind. The O's drew first blood, scoring in the first inning, followed by a solo shot off the bat of Luke Scott in the second to make it 2-0, Baltimore. The Sox would cut the O's lead in half in the top of the third after an RBI double by Dustin Pedroia, but the Orioles decided to add on two more runs in the bottom half.

After Ty Wigginton hammered a long ball to left, it was 5-1, O's. We were seeing shades of Philadelphia Beckett, not Atlanta Beckett. Beckett settled down and pitched scoreless frames in his final three innings of work before departing after the seventh. The Red Sox offense had been rendered helpless and unable to dig Beckett out of the whole that he had dug himself into.

The bullpen that had been beaten into a pulp the previous night was then responsible for keeping the birds at bay while the Sox worked on a comeback. Daniel Bard was very impressive in his two innings of work, striking out four batters, without allowing a hit or a walk. However, Boston had failed to score since their one run in the third, setting up a four-run mountain for them to climb in the ninth inning.

With Baltimore's Jim Johnson on the mound, Dustin Pedroia worked a five-pitch walk to put a man on for Kevin Youkilis. With a 2-1 count, Youkilis stroked a 96 MPH fastball, down and away, and drove it over the wall in right field for an opposite field two-run home run. With a save situation now in place, manager Dave Trembley went to his closer, George Sherrill, to finish the job.

Sherrill struck out the first batter he faced in Jason Bay, which was seemingly easy on Wednesday (Bay was 0-for-5 with 5 strikeouts). Sherrill then struck out David Ortiz on a nasty slider that all the lefty slugger could do was watch it hit leather. Trailing by two runs, with two outs and no men on, Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a base hit into center field to give the Red Sox hope.

Recent call-up in place of Mike Lowell, who made his way to the disabled list on Tuesday, Jeff Bailey took advantage of Sherrill's inconsistency and took a five-pitch walk to put two men on. Jason Varitek then worked the count full against the O's closer, before holding up on a slider that was out of the strike zone for ball four. Terry Francona then made two substitutions by adding some speed to the base paths; Julio Lugo took over for Varitek at first base and he swapped Nick Green to allow Rocco Baldelli to pinch-hit.

With a 1-1 count, Baldelli slapped a base hit back up the middle and into center field. Both Ellsbury and Bailey turned the jets on, as the Red Sox had plated their fourth run of the inning to tie the game.

With the game now tied, Daniel Bard turned in his second perfect inning to give the Red Sox a chance in extra innings. Boston failed to score in the tenth inning, but Ramon Ramirez was asked to preserve the tie in order to give the Red Sox a chance to score in the eleventh. Ramirez did just that, pitching a perfect bottom of the tenth and recording a strikeout to complete the inning.

In the top of the eleventh, Jacoby Ellsbury continued his trend of clutch hitting by driving his 12th double of the season down the left field line to lead off the inning. Jeff Bailey turned in a productive out by hitting a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Ellsbury to move to being within 90 feet of home plate. That brought Julio Lugo to the plate with the chance to drive in the go-ahead run. With a 1-0 count, Lugo chopped a base hit through the left side, as Ellsbury came charging home with Boston's sixth run in his back pocket.

With a one-run lead, Francona went to Jonathan Papelbon for the final three outs. The Boston closer had a perfect, 1-2-3 inning to close out his 20th save of the season and the 133d for his career. With the save, Papelbon moves in sole position of the all time saves leader in Red Sox history. So, less than 24 hours after the Orioles had overcome a nine-run deficit to embarrass the Red Sox, the boys from Boston came back and gave the O's a taste of their own medicine.

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

After getting a lead for the first time all game, with a save situation in place, in a game that needed extra innings to decide a winner, Terry Francona had no choice but to go to his closer, Jonathan Papelbon, for the third day in a row. This was the first time in all of 2009 that the Red Sox have used Papelbon in three straight days.

After an abysmal night on Tuesday, the Sox' bullpen and Josh Beckett combined to retire the last 24 batters that the Orioles sent to the plate on Wednesday. The eight perfect innings turned in by the Red Sox pitching staff will go down as this game's "unsung hero," as Kevin Youkilis, Rocco Baldelli, and Julio Lugo deserve much of the praise for this one.

Their four-run comeback on Wednesday was the largest deficit overcome to win a game since...you guessed it...the Mother's Day Miracle on May 13, 2007. Strangely, Josh Beckett was let off the hook in both games, Julio Lugo drove in the game-winning run in both games, the score was 6-5 in Boston's favor in both games and the Sox defeated the Orioles in both games.

Some exciting news on the draft front: The Red Sox have agreed to terms with their top draft pick from the first round (28th overall), Reymond Fuentes. Fuentes is the nephew of New York Mets outfielder, Carlos Beltran. Also an outfielder, Fuentes was drafted out of Fernando Callejo High School in Puerto Rico by the Boston Red Sox as an outfielder. He stands at 6'0'' tall, 160 lbs and he bats and throws from the left-hand side. Speed is his game and he's likely going to be groomed as the lead-off hitter, Jacoby Ellsbury type. Fuentes inked a $1.13 million signing bonus with the Sox and will report to Fort Myers to play in the Gulf Coast League.

Friday's pitching match-up:

The Sox are off on Thursday, but will be welcoming the Seattle Mariners to Fenway Park for the 4th of July weekend. Tim Wakefield gets the ball on Friday, and now that he has 10 wins, each start will be more important than the next leading up to the All Star break if the knuckleballer dreams of pitching in St. Louis. His 10 quality starts back his 10 victories and his perfect 6-0 record at Fenway Park pleads his case even further. Opposing Wake will be "King" Felix Hernandez. In his last start, which came against the team with the best record in baseball, Hernandez hurled an eight-inning, four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 6, Orioles 5

Published on July 01, 2009

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