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The 50-minute delay did little to dull Justin Verlander’s skills. Although Jacoby Ellsbury quickly dismissed the notion that Verlander would get a second no-hitter with a line drive single to start the game the Red Sox batters mustered just one extra base hit (a double by Jason Varitek off Verlander in the sixth) against the Tigers staff. Just ten days prior to last night’s contest the Tigers ace held the Red Sox to three runs over eight innings only to have his team lose in the bottom of ninth. Last night Verlander triumphed in his rematch against Josh Beckett. This game was on the verge of being blacked out due to MLB’s blackout rules, which state that “each Sunday with a scheduled start time after 5:00 PM ET, will be blacked out in the United States (including the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands). In addition, in the event of circumstances that produce a programming conflict or change in schedule, the above blackout windows may be subject to change.” Credit should be given to ESPN, who waived its Sunday exclusivity so that NESN and Fox Sports Detroit could broadcast the game to the teams’ fans. Jim Leyland tapped...
I had foreseen the inevitability of David Ortiz’s grand slam. The set-up was all too perfect: the score was 6-1 in favor of the visitors, an erratic closer walked three batters in succession, and the personification of clutch crouched in the box. However, I had also envisaged the local nine coming up short in the bottom of the ninth. It was the story of 2010 writ small: inconsistent pitching allowing just enough runs so that the sputtering offense couldn’t overcome the deficit. To be sure there are individual flashes of brilliance like Ortiz’s grand slam, a number of near no-hitters and perfect games, and a treasure chest of defensive gems. From the start of 2010 the team was never at full strength and yet they were within a stone’s throw of leading the AL East for most of the season. The losses of Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez to injury were almost contemporaneous with their team coming within a half-game of first place in the division. Since then the Red Sox have not been able to keep pace with the Yankees or Rays. In an odd season one of the most bizarre plays unfolded in the first. Martinez dropped strike...
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Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library’s Sports Temples of Boston.