Red Sox pull off incredible ninth inning comeback against Angels
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
The Boston Red Sox had no business winning Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, but sometimes good teams find a way.
In this instance, “finding a way” might be an understatement. The club entered the ninth inning down 3-0. The Angels called upon their close Huston Street in order to wrap things up.
The start of the inning was promising for Boston. Both Jackie Bradley Jr. and Aaron Hill managed to reach base to kick things off. That, however, was followed by two straight strikeouts. Ryan Hanigan and Brock Holt were the victims.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]
After Holt’s strikeout, the club only had a three percent chance to comeback to pull off the victory. They needed to find a way to score at least three runs without making another out.
Mookie Betts would kick-start the comeback, singling in Bradley to make it 3-1. That brought second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the plate. Up until that point, Pedroia was hitless in four at-bats during the contest. He had struck out three times.
That didn’t stop him from coming through, though. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Pedroia smashed an 84 mph slider to center for the three-run homer. His hit gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.
But the team wasn’t done just yet. Xander Bogaerts followed that up with a solo shot of his own, extending the lead to 5-3.
Brad Ziegler was called upon to close things out in the ninth, and was able to do so with a perfect frame. After being down 3-0 in the ninth, the Red Sox pulled off an incredible 5-3 comeback win. With the victory, the club is just a game and half out of first place in the American League East.
TOP PERFORMERS
Yasmani Grandal: Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal ended his torrid July on a hot note. During the month, the 27-year-old hit .297/.416/.625, with seven home runs in 77 plate appearances. He made sure to add one more big fly before the calendar turned. In the bottom of the sixth, Grandal smacked an 82 mph slider out to center for a three-run shot. That wasn’t all, though, Grandal also managed a single, a double and walk during the contest. He finished 3-for-4, with three runs scored and three RBI in the 14-3 victory.
Corey Kluber: Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber looked like himself during Sunday’s 8-0 win over the Oakland Athletics. Kluber threw seven shutout innings, giving up just five hits and two walks. He struck out seven. With the victory, Kluber improved to 10-8 on the year.
Miguel Cabrera: The Detroit Tigers slugger was in vintage shape during Sunday’s 11-0 win over the Houston Astros. Cabrera hit two home runs during the contest, including a solo shot in the fifth and a two-run homer in the seventh. On top of that, Cabrera also singled in a run in the first inning. He finished 3-for-4, with three runs scored and four RBI.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Sunday wasn’t the best day for the Houston Astros. The team was absolutely destroyed by the Detroit Tigers, losing 11-0. But if there was a silver lining, it’s that rookie Alex Bregman picked up his first major-league hit during the blowout.
In the top of the third inning, Bregman laced a 93 mph from Mike Pelfrey to center for a single. Prior to that point, Bregman had started his major-league career 0-for-18, so the hit broke a pretty significant slump. It was Bregman’s only hit of the contest. He finished 1-for-5, leaving four runners on base. Though the overall performance was poor, Bregman got a pretty significant hurdle out of the way.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Rangers 5, Royals 3: The Rangers pulled out to an early lead after a Mitch Moreland home run. Kansas City nearly came back, but a Hanser Alberto double gave the Rangers an insurance run.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 2: The Orioles came through in extras. With the game tied 2-2, Jonathan Schoop singled to give the club a 3-2 lead. Adam Jones then smashed a three-run shot, putting the final nail in Toronto’s coffin.
Mets 6, Rockies 4: Neil Walker’s three-run homer in the seventh inning gave the Mets the lead. He also tripled in a run earlier in the contest.
Marlins 5, Cardinals 4: The Marlins pulled off the walk-off victory in the ninth inning. Derek Dietrich lost his shirt in the celebration.
Rays 5, Yankees 3: Carlos Beltran cut the Yankees lead with a home run in the sixth, but Luke Maile put the game out of reach with a two-run single in the bottom of the frame.
Braves 2, Phillies 1: Jeff Francoeur’s two-run shot in the seventh inning was all the Braves needed to pull off the win.
Brewers 4, Pirates 2: The Brewers tagged Francisco Liriano for four earned runs over five innings. Both Keon Broxton and Chris Carter homered for Milwaukee.
Twins 6, White Sox 4: The Twins won despite making four errors. Brian Dozier was a big part of the win, hitting two home runs.
Giants 3, Nationals 1: Matt Cain didn’t give up a hit over five innings, but was pulled due to a high pitch count. The Giants bullpen kept the Nationals from mounting a comeback.
Reds 3, Padres 2: Homer Bailey picked up his first win of the season, giving up two runs over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Cubs 7, Mariners 6: With the game tied in extras, pitcher Jon Lester bunted in the game-winning run for Chicago.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
