Red Sox 3, Giants 2

 

Now that's some big-dick energy right there! Down 2-0, bottom of the ninth, the mighty Boston Red Sox rally for three runs, culminating in a Wilyer Abreu walk-off RBI with one out. 

The eminently suspect Patrick Sandoval gave up two homers early in the game, but stayed in for 5⅔ innings with seven Ks and five hits. But San Francisco starter Blade Tidwell stayed in just as long with seven K's of his own and kept the Sox scoreless with only three hits. The pitching duel spilled over into the bullpen for the seventh and eighth innings until that final, climactic ninth when Eli White scored the game's first Boston run with an RBI single, followed by a Nick Sogard one-run double, and then, finally, Abreu's game-winning hit.  

Raffie went 0-4 for the Giants.

Down but not out, the Sox found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Tampa Bay and New York both lost yesterday, the third straight loss for the Rays, so now Boston (70-59) is six games out of first place and three behind the Yankees. But the Red Sox' path to the World Series doesn't run through the division title, and their cushion in the Wild Card standings now stands at a comfortable 6½ games.

Big Jake Bennett (7-6, 3.46) goes for the sweep this afternoon (3:15 pm) against someone named Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson (0-0, 0.00) in his second MLB appearance. Tugboat's only other game was a two-inning start against Cleveland last week, so he's still pretty damn green. 

The Sox will teach the Giant's little Tugboat that the difference between San Francisco Bay and the Boston Harbor is we've got the Dirty Water.