I've been fighting a cold the past 2-3 days, so I wanted to get to bed early last night, but couldn't bring myself to do that. The reason? Baseball. It was the final day of the regular season and there were four big games played last night which could have decided the wild card teams from both leagues, as the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were tied for the final playoff spot in the American League and the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals were tied for the wild card in the National League. In the first week of September, Boston led Tampa by 9 games and Atlanta led St. Louis by 8.5. For Tampa and St. Louis to tie Boston and Atlanta going into the last day of the regular season was remarkable by itself. What occurred last night was even wilder.
St. Louis had no problems with Houston, defeating the hapless Astros 8-0, to put them 0.5 game ahead of Atlanta. The Braves led for most of their game against Philadelphia, up 3-1 until fairly late and 3-2 going to the top of the 9th, when closer Craig Kimbrel allowed the game-tying run. The game went 13 innings before Philly came out the victor by the final score of 4-3.
The National League games were dull in comparison the American League games. Boston led Baltimore 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th. With nobody on for the Orioles and stud closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound, one Chris Davis had two strikes him before doubling into deep centerfield. That was followed by Nolan Reimold doubling to score pinch-runner Kyle Hudson, which tied the game at 3-3. To cap things off, Robert Andino singled to left field, which scored Davis for the game-winner, as the Orioles came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Red Sox 4-3. So, for the time, Boston was down a half game to Tampa. Well, if you thought the Boston/Baltimore game was dramatic, that was nothing compared to what happened in Tampa. The New York Yankees led the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 7-0 going to the bottom of the 8th inning, when the Rays scored 6 runs, including a 3-run homer by Evan Longoria to suddenly find themselves i the game, 7-6. Then, like in the Baltimore game, Tampa found themselves down to their last strike in the 9th inning, as pinch-hitter Dan Johnson had two strikes against him. Johnson, hitting .108 on the season and being just 1-for-45 with two strikes on him, hit a line-drive home run to right field to tie the game at 7-7. Then in the bottom of 12, Evan Longoria struck again, hitting a liner which just got over the left-field fence to vault the Rays to an 8-7 win and a playoff berth. This happened just three minutes after the Boston game had concluded.
What a great way to end the season. I don't know if I'll be able to watch the playoffs, because there's no possible way it can live up to the final night of the regular season. It will be difficult to pull against the Rays, though. Here's a team that lost some key guys in the off-season and weren't expected to do a whole lot this year. They found themselves 9 games back of Boston for the final playoff spot in the first week of September. Then, tied with Boston going into the final night of the regular season, they found themselves down 7-0 to the Yankees in the bottom of the 8th inning and came back to win in 12. Unbelievable. I may have to read the headlines, recaps and box scores again, because I'm still not certain that could have happened. In my 30 years, I'm not sure I've witnessed such a night of baseball and I doubt I'll experience it again. I'm just thankful I was able to witness it and not just hear about it the next day. Best of luck to the Cardinals and especially the Rays in the playoffs!
St. Louis had no problems with Houston, defeating the hapless Astros 8-0, to put them 0.5 game ahead of Atlanta. The Braves led for most of their game against Philadelphia, up 3-1 until fairly late and 3-2 going to the top of the 9th, when closer Craig Kimbrel allowed the game-tying run. The game went 13 innings before Philly came out the victor by the final score of 4-3.
The National League games were dull in comparison the American League games. Boston led Baltimore 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th. With nobody on for the Orioles and stud closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound, one Chris Davis had two strikes him before doubling into deep centerfield. That was followed by Nolan Reimold doubling to score pinch-runner Kyle Hudson, which tied the game at 3-3. To cap things off, Robert Andino singled to left field, which scored Davis for the game-winner, as the Orioles came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Red Sox 4-3. So, for the time, Boston was down a half game to Tampa. Well, if you thought the Boston/Baltimore game was dramatic, that was nothing compared to what happened in Tampa. The New York Yankees led the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 7-0 going to the bottom of the 8th inning, when the Rays scored 6 runs, including a 3-run homer by Evan Longoria to suddenly find themselves i the game, 7-6. Then, like in the Baltimore game, Tampa found themselves down to their last strike in the 9th inning, as pinch-hitter Dan Johnson had two strikes against him. Johnson, hitting .108 on the season and being just 1-for-45 with two strikes on him, hit a line-drive home run to right field to tie the game at 7-7. Then in the bottom of 12, Evan Longoria struck again, hitting a liner which just got over the left-field fence to vault the Rays to an 8-7 win and a playoff berth. This happened just three minutes after the Boston game had concluded.
What a great way to end the season. I don't know if I'll be able to watch the playoffs, because there's no possible way it can live up to the final night of the regular season. It will be difficult to pull against the Rays, though. Here's a team that lost some key guys in the off-season and weren't expected to do a whole lot this year. They found themselves 9 games back of Boston for the final playoff spot in the first week of September. Then, tied with Boston going into the final night of the regular season, they found themselves down 7-0 to the Yankees in the bottom of the 8th inning and came back to win in 12. Unbelievable. I may have to read the headlines, recaps and box scores again, because I'm still not certain that could have happened. In my 30 years, I'm not sure I've witnessed such a night of baseball and I doubt I'll experience it again. I'm just thankful I was able to witness it and not just hear about it the next day. Best of luck to the Cardinals and especially the Rays in the playoffs!
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