Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Red Sox Smack Down 'Jaws Of Defeat', Comeback 10-8

(AP Photo)
The Red Sox were down 5-0, 6-1 and 8-7 last night to the increasingly surly Baltimore Orioles and their Captain Queeg-like manager. They had played like Little Leaguers against The Empire and suddenly they were pumped to play The Carmine Hose. It didn't matter. The Red Sox erupted for six runs in the fifth to take a 7-6 lead—paced by three RBIs in the inning by Mookie Betts. A see-saw battle ensued, until Andrew Benintendi laced a two-out single to right in the 11th inning that gave Boston the winning 10-8 edge. Doug Fister was awful, morphing back into the guy we thought we got—going just two innings and giving up five earned runs. Nine other Boston pitchers did the job—with Carson Smith getting his first Red Sox save. This was another in a long line of "character-building" wins—keeping Boston three full games up on The Bronx Embalmers.