In a madcap game on a night when Fenway Park often sounded like At&T Park East, Hanley Ramirez almost single-handedly saved the Boston Red Sox from blowing an 8-0 lead, leading the team on offense and defense in a frenzied 11-7 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Ramirez had a career-high three homes runs in the game, all of them two-run shots, accounting for six RBI's, also career-highs. And the Red Sox needed every one of those runs.
It looked early like it would be a laugher, with the Sox up 8-0 by the third inning, but the newly acquired Drew Pomeranz did not dazzle in the debut with his new team, giving up five runs in the top of the fourth, which ended his night. The Boston bullpen didn't stop the bleeding, with Heath Hembree coughing up two more in the fifth to make it an 8-7 game. That inspired the thousands of orange-clad Giants fans in attendance to start choruses of "let's go Giants", and it was an interesting instance of turned tables. Red Sox fans are known for showing up en masse at opposing team ballparks around the country, and this was definitely a taste of their own medicine, but the Giants partisans would have the wind taken out of their sails in the bottom of the sixth when Ramirez blasted his third home run of the night to give the Sox some breathing room and go on to the victory. And did I mention Ramirez got the job done on defense as well? Before the season began there were many skeptics who rolled their eyes at the idea of Ramirez taking up first base for the first time in his career, especially after his disastrous turn as a left fielder last season. But with the bases loaded in the sixth and nobody out, Ramirez started a brilliant double play, collecting a high hopper at first, stepping on the bag, then whipping a perfect throw home to catcher Sandy Leon, who tagged out Brandon Belt to prevent the game from being tied. When Ramirez then ended the inning by catching a foul pop, Fenway erupted with a standing ovation. Easily the best game of Hanley's Red Sox career, and one that propels the Red Sox into first place in the A.L. East with the NY Yankees beating the Baltimore Orioles yet again in the Bronx.
That Yankee win was authored by Michael Pineda, who rebounded from his last poor outing against the Red Sox to shut-out the Orioles over six inning in a 5-0 Yankees win. Mark Texiera returned from the disabled list to homer for the Yankees, who go for a sweep of the four-game series tonight. To be fair to the O's, they have been short-handed for this series, with a number of players unable to play due to a nasty stomach bug that's hit the team. All-star third baseman Manny Machado missed last night's game and slugger Chris Davis has yet to make an appearance. But the Yankees will take it as they move to within six games of the Orioles, and five games out of a wild card spot.
In Chicago, Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs against Bartolo Colon and the Cubs beat the NY Mets 6-2 to take two out of three against New York. The Cubs had been cruising all season until about a month before the all-star break, taking a 6-15 record into that game, but they've since won four of six against the Texas Rangers and the Mets.
The Vermont Lake Monsters were off yesterday and host the Hudson Valley Renegades at Centennial Field tonight. In the NECBL the Sanford Mainers and Vermont Mountaineers went extra innings last night in Montpelier, with the Mainers pulling out a 7-6 win in the top of the eleventh when DH Jordan Powell delivered the eventual game winning RBI single.
In White River Junction the Upper Valley Nighthawks got a much-needed win, scoring six runs in the first two innings en route to a 9-2 win over the Winnipesaukee Muskrats. Charlie Concannon and Zach Canada each homered for the last place Nighthawks.
At the Tour de France, Britain's Chris Froome increased his overall lead in the world's toughest bike race, yielding Stage 17 to Ilnur Zakarin of Russia but outracing other rivals to add another two plus minutes to pad his overall advantage. A big four-day block of races through the Alps begins tomorrow.
And at the New England Amateur Golf Tournament in Hartford, Connecticut, Vermonter Logan Broyles sits in third place after two rounds of play. Timothy Umphrey of Massachusetts leads the field, but Brad Valois of Rhode Island and Broyles are just one and two strokes back respectively.
