The particulars of what took place after the shadows encompassed the pitching mound at Fenway Park late Sunday afternoon seems even more unbelievable as you get further away from it. As it transpired, the impression is simply that of a flurry of hits followed by a quick, 1-2-3 home half of the ninth inning and, ultimately, the Angels celebrating their 7-6, series-clinching win.
But as there is time to slow down that ninth, its construction becomes almost unbelievable.
Two outs, the Red Sox leading by two runs, and Jonathan Papelbon — not only one of the game’s best closers, but a pitcher who had retired all but one of the last 17 batters he faced (having hit Toronto’s Adam Lind on Sept. 29) — jumping out to an 0-2 count on Los Angeles’ No. 9 hitter, Erick Aybar.
But then the improbable started showing its face.
First, Aybar turned around Papelbon’s 97 mph, 0-2 fastball for a single. The fact that the shortstop jumped on the pitch in the zone shouldn’t have come as a surprise considering he only took a called third strike twice in 158 0-2 pitches this season and had hit a reputable .222 when putting pitches on that count in play.
Papelbon also had thrown a remarkable high percentage of strikes on 0-2 pitches this year, tossing balls on just 35 of his 93 offerings with such a count.
The Red Sox closer proceeded to come back from a 3-0 count to the next batter, Chone Figgins, and work a full count. At this point, it was clear Papelbon was bring the hard stuff and nothing else, pumping in all four-seam fastballs. But the seventh pitch to Figgins sailed high, resulting in the pitcher’s first free pass since Aug. 24 when he walked Chicago’s Paul Konerko.
That was 56 at-bats and 263 pitches without a single walk until Figgins came around.
Up next was Bobby Abreu, the hitter who had reached base eight times in 12 plate appearances in the series. Above and beyond any other hitter Papelbon has had to face, Abreu had a talent for working the count against the closer, having drawn more walks vs. Papelbon than any other major league hitter (5). But when there wasn’t a free pass involved, the hurler usually had the upper-hand, having retired Abreu in all but one of his seven official at-bats in the matchup.
This time Abreu took the first pitch for a ball before fouling off three straight pitches. Finally, the outfielder got a fastball to his liking, lining it sharply off the left field wall to draw the Angels within one.
Now Figgins stood at third with the tying run, with Abreu representing the go-ahead score at second and Torii Hunter at the plate.
Hunter entered the game 3-for-8 against Papelbon and was coming off an at-bat in which he was showered with chants of “Torii, Torii” prior to striking out against reliever Billy Wagner.
Hunter was perceived as a good clutch hitter, having totaled a .305 batting average this season with runners in scoring position and two outs. He also had hit .353 in “close and late” situations entering the showdown.
The choice was made by Red Sox manager Terry Francona: Walk Hunter and take your chances with Vladimir Guerrero, he of the 2-for-12 history against Papelbon.
The downside of such a decision was that Papelbon had little room for error, and had thrown all fastballs to that point, both facts that weren’t lost on Guerrero. The numbers kept piling up — the cleanup hitter had hit .351 when putting the first pitch in play this season, with Papelbon issuing just two walks (and three hits) in 38 career plate appearances with the bases loaded.
Bottom line: If Guerrero was going to get a good pitch out of the gate he was going to swing at it. He did, and he did. The result was a line drive that center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury didn’t have a prayer at reaching, leading to another black mark in Red Sox playoff lore.
“It hurts just as much as any other postseason loss. You can’t sit there and classify how much this one hurts than any other. … In postseason play, my job is to, when I get called upon is to get all the outs I’m called.Read more: www.weei.com
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