Orioles win, but Yanks crush Sox–Ibanez ties game in 9th with pinch HR, wins it in 12th
By Earl Nash
It took until game #161 for the Red Sox to play one that meant something and they had a chance to get a small measure of revenge against the Yankees.
The Sox were on the verge of winning the game 3-1 in the ninth, when closer Andrew Bailey blew up and Yankee pinch hitter, the ancient Raul Ibanez, smashed a HR that sent the game into extra innings and then capped the victory by driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 12thinning.
Oct 2, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (13) celebrates with left fielder Raul Ibanez (27) after defeating the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE
"Q: Will the Sox really let Dicey K start the most important game of the season?"
Despite beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0, the Orioles still trail Yankees by one game with one game to play.
The team that wins the AL East title gets to take a short rest and set their rotation; the other team goes right into a one-game playoff.
Here are the possible outcomes after tomorrow’s games:
Both Yankees and Orioles win =
Yankees win the AL East title advance to the best-of-five division series while the runner-up Orioles gets a wild-card berth and have to play a one-game playoff to advance to the next round.
Both Yankees and Orioles lose =
Yankees win the AL East title advance to the best-of-five division series while the runner-up Orioles gets a wild-card berth and have to play a one-game playoff to advance to the next round.
Orioles beat Tampa and the Red Sox beat the Yankees =
One game playoff, Oct. 4 in Baltimore to determine the division winner and wild-card representative.
Tonight Sox lefty Jon Lester limited New York to one unearned run in five innings at Yankee Stadium, before leaving with an injury and Hill, Tazawa and Breslow shutout the Bombers for one inning each to hand the save opportunity to Sox closer Andrew Bailey.
Bailey did not bring his best stuff and was wild.
With the Sox leading 3-1, Granderson led off the ninth with a single to RF; then pinch hitter Raul Ibanez tied the game with a HR to right.
Just when it looked like the Sox would play the hero and grab a “win” in this lost season, a swing of the bat rudely snapped them back into their familiar loser role.
A groan went up in the Orioles locker room in Tampa.
Extra innings’ records:
Sox: 2-9 [0-7 at Fenway]
Yankees: 5-3
The game remained tied 3-3 until the bottom of the 12th inning when:
LHP, Andrew Miller replaces RHP Padilla.
3-1, 3.18, K/W 50/18; pitched 2/3 inning last night.
A-Rod grounds out.
Cano, 1 for 8 vs. Miller.
Ivan Nova, originally scheduled starter, is warming in the pen with Eppley.
Cano called out on a 95 MPH fastball.
Yanks third C, Francisco Cervelli; first AB this year. Full count: walks.
Granderson, one on, two out.
Miller threw 8 straight strikes, then 8 straight balls.
Walks Granderson.
Winning run at 2b is slow footed Cervelli; he is the last Yankee C and they cannot pinch run for him.
Ibanez, who tied the game with a 2-run pinch hit HR in the bottom of the 9th, tapped a seeing-eye single that rolled so slowly that it allowed Cervelli , off on contact with two outs, to score the winning run for the Yankees.
Despite the loss, the Red Sox can make their final game of the season meaningful by beating the Yankees, which, combined with an Oriole win over Tampa, would force a one game playoff, Oct. 4 in Baltimore to determine the division winner and wild-card representative.
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