The Rays have now thrice enjoyed thrilling late game heroics, earning a third walk off win in as many days. Though these games mean oh-so-little, it is always nice to see the Rays beat the Red Sox.
In his most recent outing for the Rays, Andy Sonnanstine performed much better, going 4 innings, whilst permitting 0 walks, a scant 2 hits, and starting things right with a Jacoby Ellsbury strikeout. Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the other hand, did not do so well. He failed to close out the 4th inning, ending with a line of 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 Ks, and a shameful home run to John Jaso.
Offensively, Johnny Damon and Ben Zobrist -- the 1 and 2 hitters -- both had dandy days, going 1 for 2 with a walk and a double each. John Jaso had the Rays only two-hit performance, including the aforementioned homer, a single, and a walk tacked on for good measure.
The Rays went into the 9th inning with the lead, but a simply terrible decision by the umpiring crew to overturn an Oscar Tejeda out, transforming it into a home run, ended up leading to a 1-run Rays deficit in the bottom of the 9th. The day was extended, however, by a Desmond Jennings single followed by Casey Kotchman's laserbeam RBI double.
Then, with Kotchman on second, THIS HAPPENED:
Yes, Ol' Robinson Chirinos said: "MLB BITCHES!" with a towering homer to the left field bleachers. Game ovah.
Some more notes and the updated leaderboard after the jump:
- Dan Johnson had at least two nifty plays over at first, including a 1st inning Elasticman Stretch and an "zomg-my-momentum-is-going-this-way-but-I'm-throwing-that-way" kind of play. He looked rather slick. When R.J. Swindle came in, though, back-to-back singles went by Johnson, but they both seemed to be smoked into the hole, so it's hard to say if anyone else would have caught them.
- Mike Ekstrom looked like a different person in the 5th inning, playing the part of Grant Balfour. He quickly snuffed out Swindle's mini-jam and kept the Rays up by 4.
- Not a great outing from Alex Torres.
- Brandon Gomes should have had a 1-2-3 inning, but the umps stole it from him.
