Red Sox squeeze out series win vs. Twins

At long last, Carl Crawford took a low pitch deep, scorching it high off the wall in left center field in the bottom of the 11th inning. The hit scored everyone's favorite prospect, Jose Iglesias, who had filled The Legend's shoes as a pinch runner, and slid in just ahead of a double-relay throw.

And then all was merry tackling and whatnot.

What now feels like years earlier, Josh Beckett had spun a beauty, handing over a tidy little 1-0 shutout to the bullpen after 7. The offense would strand 11 when al was said and done, but it was the bullpen which promptly blew the admittedly miniscule lead.

Said blowing began with another balk called on Alfredo Aceves in the top of the 8th. This time, it was apparently a different kind of balk (a regular balk, rather than a step-balk), and so when Terry Francona came out to discuss with Angel Hernandez, this time he was neither ejected nor bull-rushed by Smokey Joe West. Go figure. 

This turn of events put Denard Span in scoring position. After Aceves recorded another out on a foul pop-up at third, Jonathan Papelbon was called on to get four outs. He hung a splitter after a lengthy battle with Jason Kubel, and Kubel dropped it into no-man's land in shallow center, scoring Span, blowing the save, and tying the game.

From there it would continue through three more full innings, two of them OT, before Iglesias took off for home. At a certain point, with the Red Sox stranding runners like crazy and the Twins barely able to get on base at all, the spectre of another 3 am debacle began to loom.

With one out in the bottom of the 11th, however, the Red Sox got their moment. The win also meant a series win instead of a split; it meant a winning homestand; and most importantly, it meant a continued reason to hope.

While it turned out to have a great ending, though, winning this game put the Sox at just 6-5 on this homestand, and their overall record still has yet to even out just once this season.There's still a long way to go.

Comments

[Bob]

The umpire called Tito out of the dugout to discuss the balk. Saw this from the stands. GREAT finish!

[Maxwell Horse]

Not to be forgotten is when Varitek went to throw the runner out at second and Beckett jumped up and cut the ball off. If someone else had done it, it would merely be strange. With Beckett, it was both oddly bad-ass and funny. For me, he's a combo of Eddie Vedder, Ash from the Evil Dead movies and a hillbilly. Beckett could order a soft-serve ice cream cone and it would either be instant high comedy or a Peckinpah movie.