O’s rally from 9 down, stun BoSox 11-10
July 1, 2009
BALTIMORE (AP)—John Smoltz(notes) watched in disbelief as the Boston Red Sox wound upon the wrong end of the biggest comeback in Baltimore Orioles history.
Smoltz wasn’t upset that he didn’t earn his long-awaited 211th victory. Hejust couldn’t believe that the Red Sox didn’t win, either.
“No one would have ever dreamed it would play out the way it did,” Smoltzsaid after the Orioles rallied from a nine-run deficit to win 11-10 Tuesdaynight. “It’s one of those games when you shake your head and can’t believe whatyou just saw.”
Nick Markakis(notes) hit a two-run double off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon(notes) tocomplete the comeback before a mixture of delirious hometown fans and stunnedRed Sox backers.
Baltimore trailed 10-1 before scoring five runs in the seventh inning andfive more in the eighth. The rally was even more shocking because it cameagainst a Boston team that had defeated the Orioles eight straight times,including five this season.
Series at a Glance Boston 4 Baltimore 0 Mon, Jun 29 – Final Boston 10 Baltimore 11 Tue, Jun 30 – Final Boston at Baltimore Wed, Jul 1 – 1:35 pm ET
Up by nine runs in the seventh, the Red Sox probably figured the onlylamentable aspect of the night was that Smoltz wouldn’t get his first win withBoston because of a lengthy rain delay.
The Red Sox had no idea how bad it would get.
“It was a weird game, a terrible loss for us,” Dustin Pedroia(notes) said.“That’s upsetting. Things just kind of spiraled on us.”
Previously, the biggest comeback in Orioles history was Sept. 2, 1956, whenBaltimore rallied from an eight-run deficit at Boston. In this one, the Oriolesgot 13 of their 16 hits in the seventh and eighth innings.
“We just had no answer,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “We wentthrough everybody. Nothing we did worked.”
Mark Hendrickson(notes) (3-4) gave up one run in three innings and George Sherrill(notes)got three outs for his 17th save.
“That was probably the best game I’ve been involved in, right there,”Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. “That was absolutely tremendous. When youtalk about playing all 27 outs, that’s tonight.”
Takashi Saito(notes) (2-1) took the loss and Papelbon was charged with his secondblown save, one night after he tied Bob Stanley’s career record for saves withBoston. The right-hander was 20-for-20 in save opportunities against theOrioles.
Baltimore used seven hits in the seventh inning, including a three-run homerby pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar(notes), to cut a 10-1 deficit to 10-6.
“You sit on the bench 5 hours with the rain delay, but when they told me tohit, I was ready,” Salazar said.
In the eighth, Ty Wigginton(notes) hit a sacrifice fly and Brian Roberts(notes) deliveredan RBI single before Papelbon entered. The right-hander struck out Felix Pie(notes) forthe second out before Markakis stepped in.
Markakis was 0 for 7 with four strikeouts against Papelbon, but this time hehit a double to left-center.
“Give the other team credit. They put pressure on our bullpen tonight andwe pretty much imploded,” Papelbon said. “I can’t think of any other word thatdescribes it better.”
It had been 438 days since the 42-year-old Smoltz won a game, and itappeared certain the right-hander would end the drought when Boston took a 9-1lead into the bottom of the fifth. But a fierce storm forced the game to bestopped for 71 minutes.
Thus ended Smoltz’s second start with Boston after a 20-year run with theAtlanta Braves. Five days earlier, he gave up five runs over five innings in aloss to Washington.
Kevin Youkilis(notes) and Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) homered for the Red Sox, and Pedroia hadthree RBIs. None of it really mattered in the end.
“It happened real fast. We beat them up pretty good and then they beat usup pretty good,” Pedroia said.
Before the Red Sox blew the lead, Boston’s infielders joined pitcher JustinMasterson(notes) in leaving the field with two outs in the sixth inning.
Thinking Pie’s grounder to shortstop was the third out, Masterson walkedtoward the Boston dugout and was followed by his infielders. All of themsheepishly returned after realizing their gaffe.
NOTES: Orioles CF Adam Jones(notes) ran into the wall trying to catch Youkilis’homer. He stayed in the game but was ultimately replaced by Pie in the thirdinning. … The Red Sox placed 3B Mike Lowell(notes) on the 15-day disabled list andrecalled Jeff Bailey(notes) from Triple-A Pawtucket. Bailey batted ninth and went 3 for4 and scored three runs.
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