The title of this article is more than just a homage to Will Fleming and his penchant for hyperbole. The fact that it is also a song by the Grateful Dead is really the most appropriate connection I can make with this game. Boston’s hopes were basically dead late in the game until Trevor Story miraculously helped raise the ship from the bottom of the sea almost by himself.
Coming off the depressing performances for most of the weekend against the Yankees, it looked like home cooking wasn’t going to have the impact everyone wanted when Payton Tolle and the Sox were down a run after just the third Seattle hitter of the game.
Thankfully, though, the Great Mickey Gasper had returned from his 32-hour exile to Worcester and tied the score in the bottom of the inning with his sixth home run in two weeks.
For those of you who haven’t been following just how incredible these last few weeks have been for Gasper, there are stats that, when taken over the same period of time, have him right up there with the likes of Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, and Babe Ruth.
I know it sounds like blasphemy, but that is the true beauty of the game.
Thanks to statistics, over any given period of time, one player can be the greatest player walking the planet, and you don’t have to have a generational pedigree or a godlike physique. You can simply be a regular old guy from New Hampshire who loves the game and will never give up on his dream.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Red Sox got back to doing what had made them so successful during their run, and again, it paid dividends. Sogard led off with a double, and then Durbin sacrificed him to third base. From there, Jarren Duran sent a spark of emotion into the Fenway crowd by hammering a towering 409-foot homer around the Pesky Pole and deep into the right-field grandstand.
With the Sox up 3-1 and Tolle on the mound, the joy and love in the stadium was reborn.
But like a quick contact high during a Grateful Dead concert, that sensation didn’t last very long. Randy Arozarena quickly ruined the buzz by homering in the top of the third to cut the lead in half and then tied the game in the top of the fifth with an RBI single.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the bottom half of the fifth when Mariner pitcher George Kirby couldn’t complete the shutdown inning and surrendered a two-run single to Ceddanne Rafaela.
In the top of the sixth, it was Tolle and Tyron Guerrero’s turn to capsize the boat as they combined to give up the lead while Seattle scored four runs in the frame. Tolle walked the leadoff man but was able to retire the final two batters he would face on the night. Chad Tracy turned to the very reliable Tyron Guerrero to get out of the inning, but on this night, Tyron looked less like a T. rex and far more like the character that the T. rex bit in half in Jurassic Park.
The next four batters went single, walk, single, double, and Boston was down 7-5 as shades of Yankee Stadium started to dance in the heads of Red Sox Nation.
A homer by Cal Raleigh off Erik Miller in the seventh meant the Sox had given up runs in three straight innings and, more concerningly, two of their most reliable relievers were the culprits.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth, things were looking very bleak for Boston. Alec Gamboa was pitching, the team was down three runs, and standing between Seattle and the final six outs were Abreu, Sogard, Durbin, Duran, Story, and Wong.
Not exactly “Murderers’ Row.”
Abreu grounded out, but then Sogard and Durbin singled to bring the tying run to the plate.
Was it possible that one of the best late-inning RBI men in baseball could do it again for his team? Not tonight. Duran popped up harmlessly to shortstop.
The final hope for something in the inning was Trevor Story.
Three months ago, this would have been an automatic run to the fridge to get something to eat because the inning was done and the rally was over. On Monday night, however, maybe something was going to be different.
Two quick strikes, and those who didn’t take the bathroom break were already cursing their decision.
Then Story watched a sweeper dive down and away without swinging.
He took another pitch well off the outside corner, but still the kind of pitch that traditionally resulted in a certain flail and a miss.
Then it happened!
I don’t know if it was out of sympathy for the plight of his old team or simply because he wasn’t capable of making five quality pitches in one at-bat, but ex-Red Sox pitcher Eduard Bazardo threw a sloppy little sweeper that didn’t get far enough off the plate or low enough in the zone to fool Story.
And he connected.
As the high fly ball sailed through the Boston night toward the Monster, so many different emotions were going through the minds of the people watching. Most of them profanity-laden admissions of pure shock and amazement.
Then the ball scraped the tin.
Two runs had scored, and Story was standing on second base.
Boston was alive.
In the top of the ninth, all those good feelings were almost instantly dashed when Gamboa gave up a leadoff triple into the triangle to Dominic Canzone. So much for that comeback.
But again, Trevor Story came through. Well...sort of.
With the infield in, Gamboa got the first batter to ground out to second. The next batter, perennial All-Star Julio Rodríguez, hit a one-hop bullet to Trevor Story that almost knocked him over when it hit his mitt. Yet, he held on, looked the runner back, and threw over to first...But the throw bounced.
Mickey Gasper was forced to channel his inner Don Mattingly to make the scoop and save Story from becoming the GOAT everyone expected him to be the inning before.
The next batter hit a Baltimore chop off the plate, and Story allowed it to take a second bounce right around the second-base bag before fielding it and rushing his throw to first.
Another bounce. Another scoop by the Greatest Player on Earth.
And Boston had survived to fight another inning, still down only a run.
This is when things really got crazy at Fenway.
Roman Anthony led off the ninth with a triple of his own. Thank you, Julio Rodríguez!
After Gasper showed that he was actually mortal and struck out, Ceddanne Rafaela popped a ball out to medium-depth left field, where Arozarena made the catch but, thankfully, caught it almost flat-footed.
He had to take an extra beat to build up enough momentum to release the ball, and that was all it took for Roman Anthony. With a wonderful fadeaway slide and a swipe of his hand across the plate, Anthony beat the tag and tied the game.
To the tenth they went, and Chad Tracy turned to Aroldis Chapman, who struck out two men with the go-ahead run standing on third base to set the stage for the perfect ending to our Story!
With another old friend, Cooper Criswell, on the mound, Nick Sogard bunted the ghost runner to third. The Mariners walked Durbin and Duran to load the bases for...You guessed it.
Trevor Story.
No way he does it twice in one game?
Ball One...Maybe.
Ball Two...Could it be?
Ball Three...Oh my God, we are going to do it.
Strike One...Good eye. Make them earn it.
Strike Two (swinging)...I knew we couldn’t trust this guy...he is just a huge pile of...
CRACK!
Bat flip.
The lights start their seizure-inducing rhythms and The Standells are blaring.
Story had delivered.
And there was bedlam at Fenway after a 9-8 walk-off win.
Touch of Grey
The victory was amazing, but despite all of the great feelings, there is a little touch of grey in the silver lining.
Payton Tolle pitched all right, but he wasn’t his dominant self for the second time in three outings. He gave up four runs in 5.2 innings on six hits and two walks, showing some chinks in the armor. As we head down the stretch, he will be a crucial man on the mound if Boston wants to win in the Bronx.
Both Tyron Guerrero and Erik Miller showed some vulnerability as well. Granted, no one is perfect, and both of these men have been outstanding since joining the club. But this team is not talented enough or deep enough to get by if the players it relies upon most aren’t capable of producing when the pressure is on.
Hopefully, this was just a one-off and nothing to be concerned about.
But this is the second such outing for Guerrero in a few weeks, and it might be something to keep an eye on.
Ripple
The ripple effect of the weekend series with the Yankees might not be seen exactly on the ball field, but rather in the moves made by the front office before and after the games.
Before Monday’s game, the Red Sox announced that they were placing Willson Contreras on the IL with a hamstring issue. This is clearly not something new for Willson, but perhaps it is a sign that the front office and management are becoming resigned to their fate as the second Wild Card.
Moving forward, we might see a lot more moves designed to get key players rest and set up the rotation so it is prepared to face the Yankees in a potential Wild Card Round in the Bronx.
This isn’t written in stone, but they have already announced that Sonny Gray won’t make his start on Tuesday night and that Jedixson Paez will instead take the hill for Chad Tracy.
Hopefully, Craig Breslow and the powers that be know what they are doing because it would be a terrible shame if a team that has prided itself on fighting for all 27 outs of each and every game it plays suddenly got a little complacent and somehow lost the drive and energy that have become its hallmark.
Because if they have to rely on talent alone to be successful in the playoffs...That strategy could make them a “Loser.”
Image courtesy of s.ying.com