Saturday, September 24, 2016

Papi Propels Red Sox To Reduce Magic Number To Four

(AP Photo)
If left unfettered, it would probably be somewhere over the New Jersey Turnpike this morning. The first-inning moonshot launched by David Ortiz in Tampa last night hit one of the fake stadium's catwalks, and thus could not enter earth orbit. It was the margin of victory in Boston's eventual 2-1 win over the hapless (and fan-less) Rays. Drew Pomeranz was just good enough to get the win—going five innings and giving up just a solo HR. Once again, the formerly mocked bullpen came through with four scoreless innings—including a 9th-inning save by Brad Ziegler. Mookie Betts had three hits and raised his average to .321. The win reduced Boston's Magic Number to clinch the AL East to four.