Helped by a freakish invasion of gnats that unsettled New York's rookie reliever Joba Chamberlain, Cleveland rallied to beat the Yankees 2-1 in 11 innings on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in their American League division series.
The best-of-five series will now move to Yankee Stadium for two matches, with the home side needing to win both to force a fifth game and retain hope of reaching the American League championship series.
New York went ahead in the second inning through Melky Cabrera's solo home run and held that advantage until Cleveland levelled off Chamberlain in the gnat-infested eighth.
PHOTO: AFP
In the bottom of the 11th, Kenny Lofton walked on four pitches against Luis Vizcaino and Franklin Gutierrez singled.
Casey Blake moved the runners up with a bunt before Grady Sizemore walked to load the bases.
Asdrubal Cabrera popped up in front of the plate to make it two outs before designated hitter Travis Hafner took a full count off Vizcaino before lining a shot to right-center to score the winning run.
A day after the Indians slugged their way to a 12-3 win, Fausto Carmona and the Yankees' Andy Pettitte put pitching back into the series.
Game 3 will see Jake Westbrook trying to pitch Cleveland to a sweep against veteran Roger Clemens.
Red Sox 6, Angels 3
In Boston, a Manny Ramirez home run with two outs in the ninth inning gave Boston a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels and a 2-0 lead in their division series.
The Red Sox had earlier tied the game at 3-3 thanks to a front-row home fan who caught a tipped foul as it was falling into the glove of the scrambling Angels catcher Jeff Mathis. That prevented a third out in the fifth and Boston capitalized by getting the tying run later in the inning.
With that scoreline holding until the bottom of the ninth, Julio Lugo singled off losing pitcher Justin Speier and advanced to second as Dustin Pedroia grounded out at first.
Francisco Rodriguez relieved and struck out Kevin Youkilis, then intentionally walked David Ortiz -- his fourth walk of the game -- in the hope of retiring Ramirez and ending the inning.
"You've got pick your poison with those guys," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
But Ramirez, who is coming off the worst offensive full season of his career, hit a 1-0 pitch over Fenway Park's Green Monster outfield wall and the seats behind it. It was his 21st postseason home run, one behind Bernie Williams' career record.
It was Boston's eighth consecutive postseason victory over the Angels, who blew a 3-1 lead in the 1986 AL championship series and got swept in the division series of 2004 when the Red Sox ended championship drought that had lasted 86 years.
Red Sox veteran Curt Schilling will face the Angels' Jered Weaver in Game 3 in Anaheim.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
RSS