Red Sox Rally To Tie ALCS 1-1

A grand slam from David Ortiz sparked a 6-5 walk-off victory

By Russ Reed

Photo by AP

Just when it seemed like Boston would be heading to Detroit down 0-2 in the series, the Red Sox once again battled back to pick up the win, something that has become a hallmark for them this season.

Boston was down 5-0 after 5 ½ innings when Clay Buchholz got smacked around in the top of the sixth, once again getting dominated by the opposing pitcher.  

One night after Anibal Sanchez and a host of Tigers relievers combined to no-hit the Red Sox through 8 1/3 innings, Detroit’s Max Scherzer seemed to be doing them one better.  Scherzer, who has been picked by most people to win the AL Cy Young at the end of the year, no-hit Boston through 5 2/3 and had struck out 10 batters up until that point.

But with two outs in the top of the sixth, Shane Victorino put Boston in the hit column with a line-drive single to left field.  Then, Dustin Pedroia put the Red Sox on the board by crushing a double off the Green Monster to score Victorino.  But David Ortiz then struck out to end the inning, and the score remained 5-1 until the bottom of the eighth inning.

Those hits ended up being Scherzer’s only blemishes of the night, as he finished with 13 strikeouts through pitching seven innings.  Once again, the game was put in the hands of Detroit’s bullpen, but this time, they couldn’t finish the job.  Jose Veras came in to start the bottom of the eighth and got Stephen Drew to ground out, but Will Middlebrooks doubled down the left field line to try and get something going for Boston.

Then, manager Jim Leyland then decided to bring lefty Drew Smyly into the game to face left-handed leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury.  Smyly walked Ellsbury and was promptly replaced by right-hander Al Albuquerque.

Albuquerque was able to strike out Victorino, but Dustin Pedroia delivered a single into right field.  However, Middlebrooks was held at third, and a pressure-packed stage was set for Big Papi.  To make it even more interesting, Leyland brought in his closer, Joaquin Benoit, to try and pick up the four-out save.  The rest is history.

Ortiz took the first pitch he saw from Benoit and laced it on a high-line toward right field.  Nine-time Gold Glove Award winner Torii Hunter was in right field for the Tigers, sprinting hard to try and make a play on the ball.  Hunter timed it very well and leaped to make a play, but the ball just glanced off the very tip of his glove into the Red Sox bullpen.  Tie ballgame!

Ortiz had done it again, this time with the first postseason grand slam of his career.  Ortiz’s career is defined by his clutch play during the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, where the Red Sox became the first team in MLB history to erase a 3-0 series deficit.  This grand slam ranks right up there not only among his clutch moments in the postseason, but also all of the clutch moments in Boston’s postseason history.

However, the game was far from over.  But Red Sox closer Koji Uehara, who has virtually been unhittable this season, shut the door on any possibility of a Tigers retort in the top of the ninth.

Then, more magic ensued from Fenway.  Rick Porcello was put in the game to try and extend it to extra innings, but he surrendered a leadoff infield single to Jonny Gomes.  But former Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias, a slick fielder brought in an inning earlier to replace the more offensively-inclined Jhonny Peralta, threw the ball into the stands trying to get Gomes on a bang-bang play, so Boston’s leftfielder advanced to second on the error.

With Jarrod Saltalamacchia at the plate, Porcello threw a fastball into the dirt and it got by catcher Alex Avila, and Gomes hustled to third base.  Then, Saltalamacchia stung a single past Iglesias with the infield in and Boston walked off with the dramatic 6-5 victory.

After their league-leading offense got dominated for 16 innings, the Red Sox responded by putting up five runs in the last two innings to salvage a split before heading back to Detroit for Game 3.  This was all the more important considering they will have to face 2011 Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander.

Verlander dominated in Game 5 of the Division Series against the Athletics, pitching eight innings of shutout ball while surrendering only two hits and striking out 10.  

In addition, Verlander no-hit Oakland through 6 2/3 innings, something Tigers starting pitchers are apparently becoming accustomed to. But, Boston counters with John Lackey, who was their most consistent starter throughout the regular season.  Lackey rebounded nicely after missing all of 2012 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and helped pitch the Red Sox to the number-one seed in the American League. 

As a bonus for Boston, this won’t be Lackey’s first postseason rodeo.  As a 24-year-old rookie, he won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels and pitched in the postseason for LAA in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

I would like to apologize in advance to my family and friends, but I will be glued to the couch on Tuesday and won’t be answering any phone calls.  In a matter of two innings, this series just got a heck-of-a-lot more interesting.