Sunday, September 25, 2016

Pedey's Electric-Slide-Boog-A-Loo Allows Sox 3-2 Win

(AP Photo)
The Red Sox pitching staff struck out 23 Rays—a record 21 in nine innings and 11 straight at one point. These days you can't even do that at SeaWorld! But it was not Boston's swing-and-miss prowess that was the real story of this game—it was the Tampa catcher's swing and miss on a botched tag of Dustin Pedroia at the plate. The Muddy Chicken should have been out by 15 feet, but he put on more moves than Walter Payton to pretzel his way around the tag. At one point it looked like a hardball version of Twister. The 10-inning run counted and Boston's 3-2 win reduced it's Magic Number to clinch the division down to just two. Pedroia had clouted a solo HR earlier to provide a 2-1 edge, but this weird game had many more oddities to come. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well for 5 1/3 innings—striking out 13 and giving up just three hits. And, of course, David Ortiz—in his final at-bat at The Trop—doubled in The Laser Show with the eventual winning run. Enough stuff for you?