2008 Postseason Walk Offs
From SoSH
- 10/6 - After another dominating performance from Jon Lester, the Red Sox made it interesting in the clinching contest of the 2008 ALDS. Leading the series 2-1, the Sox needed this game to avoid a cross-country trip to Anaheim for a deciding Game 5. They had squandered numerous chances the night before in an agonizing 12 inning defeat, and it would take some good fortune to secure the victory in this affair, attempting to earn a trip to Tampa for a matchup with the Rays.
Lester worked seven peerless innings, tossing 109 pitches while scattering four hits. Hideki Okajima was then called upon to start the 8th with the Red Sox clinging to a 2-0 lead. He retired the first two batters in Chone Figgins and Garrett Anderson, but walked Mark Teixeira on four pitches and had to give way to the young Justin Masterson. His walk to Vladimir Guerrero and subsequent cross-up with catcher Jason Varitek placed runners at 2nd and 3rd with Torii Hunter at the dish.
After having started the season in Double-A Portland, Masterson was becoming Terry Francona's go to right-hander out of the Pen. The mix of unfamiliarity and unorthodoxy had been a good combination so far for Justin, but Hunter got the best of him on this night, slashing a single to right, plating the tying runs. It got worse for Masterson in the 9th when pinch-hitter Kendry Morales hit a leadoff double and was then relieved by Manny Delcarmen after pinch-runner Reggie Willits was sacrificed to 3rd by Howie Kendrick.
What transpired next was a great stroke of luck for the Boston ballclub. Anticipating a suicide squeeze by Erick Aybar, Delcarmen was pounding the ball inside. After a couple of balls taken, Willits came streaking towards the plate during the 3rd pitch. Aybar made a half-hearted attempt to lay the ball down, and Willits was soon being chased to 3rd by Jason Varitek. Nearing the bag, Tek lunged to apply the tag to Reggie and succeeded in doing so shortly before crashing to the ground, jarring the ball from his mitt. It did not matter as the ball was secure during the tag, and the potential go-ahead run was erased. Manny recorded the third out dutifully and Fenway was rejuvenated for the bottom of the 9th.
J.D. Drew struck out to start the final frame, but then Jason Bay lofted a medium range fly towards the right field corner. Willits, now in the outfield made a diving effort as the ball bounded off the warning track and into the right field bleachers for a ground-rule double. Defensive standout in his newly acquired first base position, Mark Kotsay, then quickly laced a ball near first that Mark Teixeira dove for and collected at the last moment. Though it seemed the Angels might have been spared, Jed Lowrie had other ideas. Swinging at the first pitch curveball, Lowrie drove the ball between first and second on the turf, sending Bay homeward with the series clinching run.
The win sent the Sox to their 4th ALCS appearance in six years, giving them 8 playoff series victories in that span.
