In truly one of the strangest game endings I’ve ever seen (or, in this case, heard), the Baltimore Orioles defeated the New York Yankees in the tenth inning, giving the Boston Red Sox, who earlier had beaten the Minnesota Twins, the championship of the American League East.
Here’s the thing.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Orioles were down 9-6, ending up with the bases loaded and two outs. Up to the plate comes Jay Payton — a former Red Sox himself — who smacks a bases-clearing triple to tie the game. All of this against Mariano Rivera.
In the top of the tenth, out on the mound for the Orioles is Chad Braford — another former Red Sox. With one out and one man on base, they walk Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Mastui alike, loading the bases. And manage to get the next two outs without the Yankees scoring.
In the bottom of the tenth, the Orioles end up with a man on second and one out. After a pitch gets past the catcher, moving the running to third, the Yankees walk the next two potentially-dangerous batters, bizarrely mimicking the very tactic employed by the Orioles in the top of the inning. Up to the plate comes Kevin Millar — yet another former Red Sox.
He strikes out.
Up to bat comes Melvin Mora. He lays down what’s been described to me as a beautiful bunt down the third base line, scoring the runner from third.
Says the Orioles radio announcer: “This will win it for the Orioles and the Red Sox!”
Granted, if Millar had done the job, it would have made the story that much more brilliant, since it would have meant that three former Red Sox — Payton, Bradford, and Millar — had been responsible for clinching the AL East for Boston.
Obviously, the above was good enough. And one of the strangest game endings I’ve ever heard.
Sure enough, the official swag already is available for order.
Addendum: Kudos to the Red Sox organization for allowing the crowd to stay at Fenway Park after Boston’s game was over, to watch the Yankees/Orioles game on the big screen in center field.
Addendum: Scads of video is available over at the NESN website.
Addendum: The opposite of kudos for whoever has provided us with this photo of Jonathan Papelbon. Egad.
Addendum: More video, this time via ESPN, and this time of the end of the Orioles game. At the end, it goes from Mora’s indeed-beautiful walk-off bunt and then cuts to the reaction of the crowd watching from Fenway.
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