For those of you who detest the pace at which certain American League teams who have “Red” in their name play their games, today was your worst nightmare.
Red Sox Vs. Athletics: Ejection-Filled Afternoon Ends In Boston Victory
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But if you’re interested in entertaining baseball in which the home team blew a ninth-inning lead, had both its pitcher and catcher ejected in that inning, then had to come back just to tie the game in the 11th inning when down a run and down to their final strike before winning in five hours and 17 minutes... well then, they had a game designed just for you at Fenway Park Saturday afternoon.
The Red Sox fashioned a 2-0 lead behind the solid early pitching of Josh Beckett, but Beckett was yanked in the top of the seventh after the Athletics had cut the deficit to 5-3. Boston extended that to 7-3 in the last of the eighth. Since Jonathan Papelbon was already warming up in anticipation of a save opportunity, he came into the game anyway.
That might have been a mistake. Sometimes closers don't do well in non-save situations. Papelbon gave up a single and a walk and after he got Landon Powell, Coco Crisp reached on an error and a run scored. Another run scored on a Cliff Pennington double and that's when Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek decided he'd had enough with plate umpire Tony Randazzo's strike zone. Randazzo, in turn, decided he'd had enough with Varitek and tossed him.
One batter later, Conor Jackson tied the game with a two-run single and Papelbon also was ejected. When was the last time a battery was ejected in the same inning? Don't ask the Fox-TV crew covering the Cubs/Cardinals game, because they offered up Jeremy Bonderman and Gerald Laird, last year -- but that wasn't in the same inning. Once again, Tim McCarver failed to entertain his TV audience.
But they were just getting warmed up in Boston. Two innings later, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sweeney gave the A's an 8-7 lead, but Jacoby Ellsbury hit a two-out, two-strike ground rule double to score Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who had come into the game to replace Varitek and doubled after the first two hitters of the inning struck out.
So if you’re counting, that’s three holds, one ejection of a closer in a non-closing situation and one blown save.
On they went, scoreless into the 14th, with the A's on their last bullpen pitcher, Guillermo Moscoso, who also got the first two outs easily. After a double by Carl Crawford, Moscoso gave Jed Lowrie an intentional walk. J.D. Drew ended it with a Red Sox 9-8 win with a single to center.
Again, if you’re counting, that’s 32 hits, 11 walks, a hit batter and 495 pitches thrown.
I’m guessing the paying folks at Fenway got their money’s worth Saturday afternoon. And a Red Sox win.
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