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| (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) |
In a matter of minutes this one went from the worst loss of the year to one of the most satisfying wins. The Red Sox blew a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning, only to tie it 8-8 in the ninth against
Mariano Rivera and win it in the tenth against
Joba 'The Mutt' Chamberlain. A two-out single by
Mike Napoli got it started in the ninth—and new pinch-runner
Quintin Berry did his best
Dave Roberts imitation by stealing second and winding up on third.
Stephen Drew (doing his best
Bill Mueller imitation) brought him home.
Shane Victorino sliced a base hit to right with two outs in the tenth plating
Jacoby Ellsbury with the winning tally in
a nerve-wracking 9-8 win at The Concrete Bunker On 161st Street. The big lead was built up early with key contributions by Victorino (HR) and
Will Middlebrooks (HR). Multiple hit games came from
David Ortiz, Middlebrooks, Napoli and
Ryan Lavarnway.
Matt Thornton and
Junichi Tazawa frittered away the big lead in the seventh, but
Craig Breslow stemmed the tide. Rivera has now blown 15 saves against Boston in his career—the most against any team. The Carmine Hose have now won 10 of their last 12 and have just 20 games left in the season. This was a
big one.
