The Boston Red Sox clawed their way back from a three run deficit against the Toronto Blue Jays, tying the game with a rally in the 9th, but suffered their third loss in a row in extra innings thanks to the arm and the bat of one player.
Blue Jays outfielder Curtis Granderson threw out Eduardo Nunez at the plate, cutting down the potential go-ahead run for Boston after Brock Holt had singled to tie the game with the bases loaded. Then, in the bottom of the tenth, Granderson struck again, this time launching a walk-off solo home run off the normally untouchable Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, who gave up his first earned run of the season, as the Blue Jays secured a 4-3 win.
Rick Porcello gave up three runs in the second but settled down after that and ended up striking out a season high nine, while the Red Sox were flailing against Toronto starter A.J. Happ, who struck out ten and should have gotten the win but for closer Roberto Osuna blowing a 3-1 lead and the save in the 9th. But Granderson's heroics in the field and at the plate rescued Toronto and we'll see how the Red Sox respond to their first real stretch of adversity now that they've lost three in a row in a season that up until now has been all sunshine and lollipops. The Red Sox still own the best record in the majors at 17-5 with Eduardo Rodriguez getting the ball tonight against Aaron Sanchez for Toronto.
The NY Yankees are trending the other way, now winners of four in a row after another blow out win against the Minnesota Twins, an 8-3 victory at the Stadium powered by the league's leader in RBI's Didi Gregorius, who's off to a scintillating start to the year. The Yankees short stop blasted a two-run homer, his 8th of the season, and shared the spotlight with catcher Gary Sanchez who homered twice. CC Sabathia got the win, giving up just two hits over six innings.
The ball was flying deep in St. Louis as well, as the high flying NY Mets got another win when Jay Bruce blasted a go-ahead and eventual game winning home run in the 10th to give the Mets a 6-5 win. Yoenis Cespedes also got in on the round tripper barrage, smacking a three run blast for the Mets, who are fast putting last season's disastrous campaign behind them, now sporting a 15-6 record, good for first place in the National League east.
To the NBA playoffs, and the Boston Celtics pulled out a critical 92-87 victory to give them a three games to two lead over the Milwaukee Bucks and a chance to win the series if they can get a road win in Milwaukee on Thursday.
The X-factor for the Celtics last night was the return of defensive specialist Marcus Smart, who played his first game since March when he underwent thumb surgery, and played with a splint on his hand last night. Smart came off the bench to score nine points to go with five rebounds and four assists.
Veteran Al Horford played his best game of the series so far, recording a double double with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Terry Rozier chipped in 16 after two lackluster games in Milwaukee.
Two other series came to an end last night, with the Golden State Warriors knocking off the San Antonio Spurs 99-91 behind a game high 25 points from Kevin Durant.
Back in the east the Philadelphia 76ers are also moving on after beating the Miami Heat 104-91 to take that series in five games. Joel Embiid poured in 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Philly and their fans in the next phase of the "Trust the Process" campaign. That catch phrase has been the mantra for woebegone Sixers fans who haven't had much to cheer about in recent years. Philly won just ten games two seasons ago and haven't seen the second round of the playoffs in six years, but they're getting a taste now.
And finally, there's nothing more exciting in sports than a winner take all playoff game 7 in hockey, or, if you're a Bruins fan like me exasperated that Boston has blown a 3-1 series lead against Toronto to make this game seven necessary at all, nothing more nerve wracking.
The Bruins have home ice advantage tonight, but that hasn't meant much in past endeavors for the Black and Gold. There were home ice game seven losses against Montreal in 2004, against Philadelphia in 2010, against Washington in 2012, to name just a few. One of the few game seven successes in recent memory, though, was the come from behind win against Toronto in 2013, when the Bruins overcame a 4-1 deficit with ten minutes left in the third period to force overtime and win, but if they think they can get away with that kind of thing tonight, they might as well concede the game now.
The Bruins could use some heroics tonight to save their season, whether it's from one of their big name veterans or one of the impressive youngsters, but anything can happen in a game seven, and your guess is as good as mine.
