Wow. I really don't know what to say. The entire evening was just...unbelievable. I truly could not believe what was happening, and how it was happening. Let's take it game by game for some thoughts...
Game #1: New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays trailed 7-0 in this one, and the circumstances certainly looked grim when a large portion of the hometown fans headed for the exits. I wonder what those idiots -- I mean, people -- are thinking right about now.
But, as the case has been all along, the Rays weren't about to roll over and die. Far from it, in fact.
After a feverish rally, Joe Maddon's relentless Rays cut the deficit to one. Let's fast forward to the juicy stuff...
Bottom of the 9th. Yankees 7, Rays 6. Two outs. Bases empty. Yankees' right-handed reliever Cory Wade on the hill. Maddon looks to his bench for someone who could tie it with one powerful swing, and calls upon lefty-swinging Dan Johnson.
Knowing Wade's stuff -- 88-91 MPH fastball, slow curve and boring change-up -- I really liked this match-up for Maddon and Johnson.
And then, with two strikes and the (potential) last pitch of the season on the way, just like a movie...
Johnson roped a game-tying homer down the right field line. The true fans left in attendance went absolutely bonkers, and deservedly so.
The game proceeded into extra innings where Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Proctor did a nice job for their respective teams -- until the bottom of the 12th.
After a couple of innings of work, Proctor was still in (because Joe Girardi was mixing and matching throughout the game) to face the Rays' franchise player, third baseman Evan Longoria.
And the movie continued.
Longoria responded under the immense pressure when he laced a shot towards the left field corner. Did it have the distance? Would it stay fair?
You could answer both questions with a single word..."Yes!"
Longoria won it for the Rays in dramatic fashion, with a laser beam of a walk-off homer. But the Rays' spot in the postseason was far from secure...
Game #2: Boston Red Sox @ Baltimore Orioles
Dustin Pedroia gave the Sox a 3-2 lead with an impressive homer off big, right-hander Alfredo Simon, but Boston didn't necessarily have to stop there. They had a few more excellent opportunities as the game progressed.
Manager Terry Francona, understandably so, developed an emotional attachment to rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway after his storybook two-homer performance the other night. Unfortunately, that attachment caused him to leave Lavarnway at the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th.
The Red Sox needed a hitter up there with the speed to stay out of a double play. With the expanded 40-man roster, there were a handful of viable options. But Tito stuck with Lavarnway, and the big fella ended up grounding into a rally-killing, inning-ending double play. Ouch.
Nonetheless, the Red Sox had the Orioles where they wanted them, holding a one-run lead in the 9th with their proven closer Jonathan Papelbon on the bump.
Bump is probably a good word choice because, well, it got more than a little bumpy out there. It was downright rocky.
Papelbon fell in love with his fastball to the point where he had Nolan Reimold and the Orioles down to their last strike, and he simply reached back and threw another hittable fastball that lacked precise location. Reimold smashed it into the right center gap, a shot that scored the tying run from second.
Cue utility man Robert Andino.
Before the completion of his at bat I tweeted, "Andino is a sneaky good fastball hitter."
And he proved me right when he stroked a shot into left field...
Carl Crawford, the $142 million man, approached the ball...
It was clearly within his comfortable reach...and, as he's been doing all year...
He failed.
Crawford was unable to come up with the clutch catch and Reimold scored the winning run from second. And just like that, Red Sox Nation's World Series hopes were annihilated. A season that once had so much promise, was left with only one:
There will be no playoff baseball in Boston this season.
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