Thursday, July 16, 2015

Top 5 Most Exciting Red Sox Games Of 2015

Thuuz Sports—a Silicon Valley-based mobile sports app—has put together a list of the five most exciting Red Sox games so far this year. Not surprisingly (given how 2015 has gone), two of the five games were losses. My personal favorite (which is not on the Thuuz list) was the July 7th 4-3 win over the Marlins—which featured a two-out, 3-2 count, bases-clearing three-run single in the 8th inning by Xander Bogaerts. Of course, it might have helped that I was there to see it in person. Anyway, here is the Thuuz Sports list—which is based on "analytical data that includes social media buzz, pace, parity, novelty, momentum and context.":

Top 5 Most Exciting Red Sox Baseball Games of 2015  
Source: Thuuz Sports

1) April 25, 2015: Red Sox 4 @ Orioles 5 (F/10)  The Sox started off hot with a two-run second inning which tied the game, and in the ninth were able to add another which tied it yet again. But in the tenth, the other run they scored proved no match for the two that the Orioles drove in, and Boston lost this in heartbreaking fashion.  

2) April 10, 2015: Red Sox 6 @ Yankees 5 (F/19)  The Red Sox made it 3-2 in the ninth, but the Yankees were able to tie it up in the bottom of the inning and sent it to extras. Both teams scored a run in the 16th and the 18th, but the Sox were able to eventually win this crazy game with a Mookie Betts sac fly in the 19th.  

3) April 14, 2015: Nationals 7 @ Red Sox 8  Washington had a crazy six run fifth inning which put them ahead 7-5, but in the seventh, the Red Sox came up clutch with a Ryan Hanigan hit that resulted in several errors. This, paired with a Brock Holt single, put the Sox up 8-7, and they were able to emerge victorious.  

4) July 3, 2015: Astros 12 @ Red Sox 8 (F/10)  This was neck and neck for most of the game, as Houston scored five in the fourth, but the Sox had two in the second and three in the fifth. It all came down to the top of the tenth when it was 8-8, but a Carlos Correa single started an Astros rally, and the Sox weren’t able to recover.  

5) April 24, 2015: Red Sox 7 @ Orioles 5  Baltimore had sprinkled runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth totalling up to 5, but the Red Sox relied on two monster innings. In the fifth, the Sox scored four thanks to David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez’s home runs, and in the eighth, they scored three thanks to a Brock Holt home run that put the Orioles away for good.