28th
September 28th, 2011
How do I start?
What a tremendous night of baseball, and what a magical way to end the 2011 regular season. When the day started we had 4 teams battling for two spots, with ties atop the NL and AL Wild Card standings. There were a few different scenarios, but no one could have predicted how it unfolded…
It started in Atlanta, where the Braves were facing the NL East champions Phillies. The Braves had an 8 1/2 game lead to start the month and most people figured the Wild Card was a sure thing. But the Braves struggled and the Cardinals got hot, which lead to this final game and the potential of game 163. The Braves took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd, and things were looking bright in Atlanta. Meanwhile the Cardinals did not want to leave anything in doubt putting up 5 runs in the top of the first against the worst team in baseball, the Houston Astros.
The Rays and the Red Sox were also playing, and early it looked like the stars were aligning for Boston. The Rays fell behind early, as normally clutch David Price was lit up for 5 earned runs in 4 innings. Tampa Bay was down 7-0 for most of the game, while Boston was up 3-2 heading into the 7th….then the skies opened up in Baltimore and little did the Red Sox know their playoff hopes would soon wash away.
The Braves bullpen has struggled down the stretch, and rookie reliever Craig Kimbrel blew his 8th save of the year to give the Phillies the tying run and eventually send this game into extra innings. At this point the Cardinals had finished putting away the Astros and this became a must win for the Braves.
While the rain came down in Baltimore, the Rays surged with 6 runs in the eighth inning and pulled to within a run. Boston got back onto the field and looked to the bullpen to hold onto the lead to at least gain a share of the wild card lead. The Rays went down to 2 outs quickly in the 9th, but down to their last out Dan Johnson lined a lazer down the right field line and it barely stayed fair and went over the fence to keep the Rays season alive. It was as clutch as a moment as one could be involved in, and all of a sudden the Red Sox were not a shoe in.
The Braves and Phillies exchanged scoreless innings, but in the 13th inning the Phillies squeeked a run through. Hunter Pence hit a weak ball into shallow right field, and all of a sudden the team with a huge lead in the race to start September was down to their final 3 outs of the season. The Phillies shut down the Braves, and just like that the season was over in Atlanta. St Louis stuck around in the clubhouse in Houston, and they would now be heading to Philadelphia to take on the same Phillies team that just helped them get in the playoffs.
At this point the focus was in Baltimore, where Papelbon was onto to close it out for the Red Sox. He struck out Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds, and things looked great for Boston. The Yankees had runners on the corners with no outs, but yet could not take the lead in Tampa while this was going on. Then Papelbon fell apart.
It started with a double by Chris Davis, then another ground rule double by Nolan Reimold tied the game. The Rays were scoreboard watching while they were at bat in the bottom of the 12th, and the fans were reacting as well. Robert Andino got a fastball on a 1-1 count, and managed to drop it in front of Carl Crawford who could not make the catch. Just like that, the Red Sox lost 4-3 in a shocker and it was time for Red Sox nation to cheer for the Yankees. It was just 3 minutes later that Evan Longoria hit his second home run of the game, and the Rays had done the impossible.
The Braves and Red Sox seasons ended about 25 minutes apart from each other, which seemed impossible just 3 short weeks ago. It was by far the most exciting night of baseball I have ever seen, and the guys at the MLB Network did an amazing job covering it. The Rays story alone today was magical, and I guarantee you try to give the script of today to someone in Hollywood they would laugh at you. They want a semi-believable story, and what we saw tonight was nothing but.
September 28th 2011 is a day baseball fans will remember for a long time.
