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G77: Bullpen Implodes In Unbelieveable Loss, 11-10
By Administrator | June 30, 2009
The game was over and in the records books… or so you thought, right?
The Red Sox led 10-1 as the game entered the bottom of the seventh inning, and while a rain delay had caused the Olde Towne Team to lose the services of John Smoltz prematurely, uber-swingman Justin Masterson had been dominant in the fifth and sixth innings. Nine more outs.
And then it happened.
We watched in horror as the best bullpen in baseball imploded, surrendering a nine-run lead to an Orioles team that was riding an eight-game losing streak to our beloved ballclub. Afterwards, Smoltz would say: “It’s one of those games when you shake your head and can’t believe what you just saw”.
The game would soon turn into the biggest comeback in Orioles history, as Baltimore rallied for an 11-10 victory. Previously, the biggest rally in franchise history had occurred on September 2, 1956 (the O’s overcame an eight-run deficit in Boston).
Tonight, the Orioles sent twenty men to the plate in the seventh and eighth innings. They got thirteen of their sixteen hits in those two innings… thirteen hits, a walk and six outs.
Masterson suddenly couldn’t get anyone out. He faced five batters in the seventh inning, surrendering a line drive single, a squib single that barely made it through the right side of the infield, a double off the wall in right field, a long home run to left field and a base hit up the middle.
Manny Delcarmen came in and retired the next two batters on ground balls to second base, but then surrendered an rbi-single before being pulled from the game in favor of Hideki Okajima, who allowed a single before securing the final out of the inning.
At last.
Boston-10, Baltimore-6
And then “Okaji” would replicate Masterson’s futility in the eighth inning. He faced four batters without recording an out. Takashi Saito was brought into the game with the bases loaded… he surrendered a sacrifice fly and an rbi-single.
Red Sox-10, Orioles-9.
Incredibly, in a game in which they had once had a nine-run lead, Terry Francona found himself in a position where he needed to call on Jonathan Papelbon for a FIVE-OUT save! Pappy struck out CF Felix Pie on a 94-mph fastball, but then grooved his first pitch — a fastball — to Nick Markakis. The Orioles right fielder, who had been 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against Papelbon, drove the ball into left center-field for a two-run double.
Papelbon, who had been 20-for-20 in save opportunities in his career against Baltimore, had blown his second save of the year.
O’s-11, Sox-10.
Orioles closer George Sherrill finished off the Sox in the ninth inning for his seventeenth save of the year. Papelbon, regretably, would NOT need to get five outs.
Afterwards, Pappy said: “Give the other team credit. They put pressure on our bullpen tonight and we pretty much imploded. I can’t think of any other word that describes it better”.
Neither can I.
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Orioles CF Adam Jones ran into the wall trying to catch Youkilis’ first-inning home run. He stayed in the game initially, but was later replaced by Pie in the third inning.
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Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury both went 3-for-5, with a homer, in the game. Jeff Bailey, who replaced the newly-DL’d Mike Lowell at 3B, batted ninth and went 3-for-4… he scored three runs.
Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |
