All season long, Stephan Drew has been a name constantly ridiculed by Boston media members all because of a sub-par past he cannot leave behind.
But nevertheless, through all the adversity, Drew has come back this season and has been a pretty dominant force...especially in this second half of the season. Through 11 games he has smacked in 7 RBI's on 7 hits and 2 home runs (both of which came in a 7-3 win over Baltimore) yet even with the distant magnitude of those two long balls no one of Drew's 7 second half hits carried more greatness than his most recent one: a 15 inning walk-off early this morning.
"It's just huge to get a win out of that game," Drew said. "Back and forth, their bullpen's doing well, our bullpen's doing well. We made some key plays that kept us in it."
After beginning the night with John Lackey on the bump, the Sox and Mariners made it to the 4th tired at 0-0 before a quick rally by Seattle broke up Lackey's perfect game and also his shutout as they managed to patch together a 1-0 lead and hold it through the bottom of the 5th. It was in the 5th that Dustin Pedroia crushed a 2 run homer over the Green Monster to not only tie the contest but hand Boston a 2-1 lead. The Sox would add two more runs in a 8th inning surge but the Mariners were not stifled as they managed to break through against Junichi Tazawa and tie the game with a center field home run of their own.
But nevertheless, these teams got to extra innings and for the fans devoted towards sticking around were in for one LONG game. Yet no matter how long the game was, it was all but dormant up until that stunning 15th inning.
"We somehow find some energy late in the game; It's been many different guys that have been the reason for the walk-off. I can tell you, the conversation each time we're at the plate in the extra innings; we're looking for something to draw energy from to make one last push. We were able to do that here again tonight." Said Red Sox Manager John Farrell as it was in those final innings that Boston was delivered the news that a win for their team would put them BACK into 1st place in the AL east.
Starving to exercise that opportunity, Dustin Pedroia once again kicked off a scouring rally in the 15th when he worked a crucial 1 out walk. 1 batter later, David Ortiz would use the ground out to advance Pedroia onto 2nd. But the Mariners were not done with their threatening collapse, as back to back walks to Mike Napoli and Johhny Gomes would load the bases and give Stephan Drew all the opportunity he needed to end this game.
"I knew I hit it more hands, not pulling it, not yanking it too much," said Drew after hitting that eventual walk-off single. "Kind of seeing the angle off the bat, I knew it would stay fair. I knew it was close, but I knew it would stay fair."
Fact is, it’s a rare event when one baseball game can start and end in 2 different months but as crazy as it is, the Boston Red Sox played their longest game of the season and that was just the case.
5-4 your final from Fenway and for what seems like the umpteenth time since the start of the second half, the AL East lead has changed hands and this time, the hands it has fallen into are those of our Red Sox.
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