Mitch Moreland came through as a pinch hitter at Fenway Park last night, delivering a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th for a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros, a win that averts a three-game Houston sweep.
The Red Sox looked to be in control of this one when J.D. Martinez blasted his 40th home run of the year in the bottom of the fifth, a three-run shot that gave the Red Sox a 5-1 lead, but the Astros struck back in the sixth with starter Rick Porcello giving up a home run to Jose Altuve, and then some sloppy bullpen work by Heath Hembree and Brian Johnson allowed the Astros to tie the game at five until Moreland came on for his heroics in the bottom of the 9th, slicing a line drive, opposite field single to win it.
So the Red Sox lead over the NY Yankees for first place in the A.L. east is at 8 1/2 games, reducing Boston's magic number for clinching the division to 11 after the Yankees fell 3-2 to the Mariners in Seattle.
Mitch Haniger stole second in the 8th inning with the game tied at 2, moved over to third on a bunt, and then dashed home on contact on a weak hit up the middle, just beating the throw home to give Seattle a 3-2 lead. He then ended the game in the 9th with a great diving catch on a shallow fly to right by Giancarlo Stanton.
The NY Mets dealt a big blow to the Philadelphia Phillies playoff hopes, beating them 6-4 yesterday even after the Mets scratched a start by ace Jacob DeGrom due to a rainy forecast. Corey Oswalt started instead and the Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead but a Michael Conforto tie breaking three run homer in the fifth gave the Mets the win and the Phillies fall 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta for first place in the N.L. east and trail by that same margin for a wild card berth.
The UVM women's soccer team scored its first victory of the season, beating Sacred Heart 1-0 on a goal by sophomore Ella Bankert.
The Middlebury Panthers are still undefeated after a 3-0 shut-out win over Roger Williams. Virginia Charman, Leah Salzman, and Eliza Robinson all scored for the 18th ranked Panthers, who are 3-0 to start the season.
Northern Vermont-Lyndon were shut-out by Curry College 5-0, but the badgers of Northern Vermont-Johnson scored a 6-0 win over Newbury College, riding a hat trick from Kelsey Cauchon and two goals by Iashia Cooper.
In men's soccer the Norwich Cadets remain unbeaten on the season after a 3-1 win over SUNY Maritime. Norwich got a goal and an assist each from Burlington's Eric Badibanga and the same from another Burlingtonian Amerle Nemeye.
And goals by Jacob Godfrey and Seraphin Iradukunda keyed a 2-0 win for the Castleton Spartans over the SUNY Potsdam Bears.
Finally, Novak Djokovic won the US Open tennis tournament yesterday, beating Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets, but a quick word if I may about the fall-out from the women's final Saturday. Yes, there is a strong case to be made that sexism played a role in Serena William's being docked a game after her outbursts against the male chair umpire, and for sure we've seen male players do far worse and not get penalized, but all of this focus on Serena takes away from the amazing accomplishment of the winner, Naomi Osaka, who became the first Japanese woman to ever win a grand slam final.
She was reduced to tears after the match but they were hardly tears of joy because she was well aware of the controversy and all the attention being on Serena. Osaka beat the best women's player in history--for the second time in her career by the way, and all anyone is talking about is Serena. Sorry, folks, but this remarkable 20 year old woman was denied her rightful moment in the spotlight and doesn't feel right.
