Make it 9.
On exactly this day last year, I published a post entitled "100 deep, looking back at the sub-par 2012 of Bobby Valentine". In that post I reminisced on the unprofessional attitude of the Red Sox staff all sparked by a 46 and 44 win loss record that held Boston 9 and a half games out of first place in the east. 1 calendar year later, the Red Sox have played 100 games, lost just 40 games and won more match-ups than any other team in baseball.
Nevertheless, it’s a number far smaller than 100, 60, or 40 that stands out--nine. 9 out of 60 games have been won via the walk off, yet after last night: Mike Napoli's 11 inning, 3 run shot may have been the sweetest.
After seeing the Yanks break through early on, the Sox quickly fell behind 3 nothing in this game and saw starting pitcher Ryan Dempster already struggling. Nevertheless, he found his footing in the ensuing innings giving Mike Napoli all the chance he needed when he came to bat late in the 3rd frame.
With the Yankees still leading 3-1 and their pitcher CC Sabathia self admittedly struggling, Napoli came to the plate in the 3rd with 2 other runners on base and the tying run sitting 180 feet away from the plate. Long story short, the slugging 1st basemen did not simply tie the game with that lengthy at bat... he took the lead.
You see, coming into this game, Mike Napoli had notched just 10 hits in his last 50 at bats and was batting under .210 for the first time all season. His OBP was down to .333 and he had not even notched a single RBI since July 9th's game with Seattle. Going into last night, Mike Napoli was writhing under a 2 month long slump yet for him and his Red Sox, that would all change with one swing of the bat.
"The ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark to all fields is present every time he steps into the batter's box." Manager John Farrall said after Napoli exercised that ability via a 3 run shot to give Boston a 4-3 lead.
Over the next 3 innings, Napoli and company would pile on a combined total of 7 runs chasing a strangely shaken CC Sabathia from the game and forcing the Yankees to use their bullpen far earlier than they expected to. Still with 4 innings to go in regular play, an apprehensive Sabathia begrudgingly told reporters of his displeasure regarding his 5 inning collapse.
"It's embarrassing, but I have to try to work through it, figure something out, try to stop hurting this team and start helping."
Nevertheless, for the Yankees, things finally changed for the better once Sabathia was removed from the game as crucial hits by Brent Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki and Robinson Cano allowed the Yanks to put up 2 in the top of the 6th and saw them to crawl right back into this game.
With Dempster out and with the Sox bullpen, like the Yankees, already working hard, a large difference in the two team’s performance emerged. The Sox relief was faltering while New York's was not.
"Even though we [fight] back after digging ourselves a hole early" Farrell said speaking about how the Red Sox relinquished their lead and saw the game tied 7-7 late in the 7th "we give it back"
From then on though things changed for well, everybody as the Sox bullpen finally got its act together and found a way to stem the Yankee attack and bring the game into extra innings.
It took a while but in the end... after 4 hours and 46 minutes of nail biting, cheer enduing action, Napoli broke through again driving a solo shot into the center field stands and winning it all mere minutes before 1AM local time.
"Once I got to 2-0, I was looking to drive something; I swung through it but got to 2-2. Every time I'm up, I'm looking to drive the ball somewhere. I got a ball up and made good contact." He said post-game. "It's a great feeling," Napoli said. "You see us all out there, going crazy, ripping each other’s jerseys off. It's fun. It's fun to do it. It's about winning -- win a ballgame, especially a tough game like that. It was just a great feeling."
Fact is, as a fan of the Red Sox, winning in a walk-off is always jubilation enough but nevertheless, that feeling of joy is only amplified when they do it against New York.
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