Red Sox Stun Tigers After Big Papi’s Historic Grand Slam
It was quite a night for sports in Boston.
The Boston Red Sox were down 4-0 in the bottom of the eight against the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the ALCS. With two outs and the bases loaded, it looked all but certain the home team was about to go down 0-2 with the series heading back to Detroit.
Although, with the game—if not the series—on the line, there is nobody fans in Boston would want to see walk up to the plate but David Ortiz. I can only speak for myself, but when Big Papi stepped up right before TBS cut to commercial, it felt like the game was about to change.
[Seriously, I tweeted about it]
In Game 1 the Tigers’ Anibal Sanchez and four relievers were able to carry a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Daniel Nava was able to manage a single. Nothing came of it and Detroit won at Fenway 1-0 to take the lead in the series.
In Game 2 Max Scherzer gave up just two hits through seven innings, before inexplicably being pulled by Jim Leyland. To that point he had struck out 13 and showed now signs of struggling.
Enter reliever Joaquin Benoit.
Ouch. Not his finest moment.
Exit a Tigers victory.
Big Papi was in a very unenvious position late in the game, with absolutely everything on the line. A home run and the Red Sox tie it up and the momentum likely propels them to a win. Anything else and the Tigers go back to Detroit up 0-2 and the series doesn’t even return to Boston.
On any other day Ortiz may have struck out or hit a pop-up fly, but after the last minute heroics of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots against the New Orleans Saints at home, it just seemed like Boston’s night. And it was, in fact, Boston’s night.
The Red Sox had a league-leading offense going into the playoffs, which had suddenly turned dormant when it counts. But Papi came through in the clutch and Detroit’s Torii Hunter literally went head-over-heels trying to prevent his game-tying homer.
Ouch. Literally—his head was bloody!
Ortiz’s grand slam was the first in postseason history to come in the eight inning or later. Not only did he forever etch a place in MLB history, he may have very well saved the Red Sox from an extremely disappointing end to an extremely impressive regular season.
When the Tigers did nothing at the top of the ninth, a victory for the Sox felt inevitable. After Prince Fielder gave up a pop up foul to a fan—in what was definitely not fan interference—it didn’t take long for Jarrod Saltalamacchia to single to left and clinch the win.
The series may be 1-1 heading back to Detroit, but Boston has sucked every last bit of momentum from the Tigers. We’ll see if they can come back, but right now it feels like these Red Sox are World Series bound.
