Shane Victorino belted a seventh-inning grand slam to put the Boston Red Sox into the World Series with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers that clinched the American League (AL) Championship Series on Saturday.
Victorino’s blast turned a 2-1 deficit into a three-run lead and sent the Fenway faithful into a frenzy as the Hawaiian thumped his chest and roared in delight while rounding the bases.
The Red Sox, who won the best-of-seven series 4-2, are to meet National League champions St Louis for Major League Baseball’s championship starting on Wednesday in Boston.
Photo: AFP
The showdown will be a rematch of the 2004 Fall Classic, won by Boston in a four-game sweep that ended their 86-year championship drought.
Red Sox closer Koji Uehara was named Most Valuable Player of the series after registering one win and three saves in Boston’s turnaround triumph. The Red Sox had finished last in the AL East last year with a 69-93 record.
“From day one in spring training there was something special about this team,” said Victorino, one of several players brought in to change the team chemistry.
Photo: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
“Guys came here in one mindset. I know the last couple of years have been tough here. But you know, we put that all behind us. Boston strong,” he added.
A tense pitching duel between Boston’s Clay Buchholz and Detroit’s Max Scherzer turned into a seesaw struggle as the Red Sox scored in the fifth to take a 1-0 lead, only for the Tigers to take it right back in the sixth, moving 2-1 ahead.
The seventh belonged to Boston as Victorino, who had been a dismal 2-for-23 at the plate in the series, connected off reliever Jose Veras’s third successive curve ball for the game-winning hit over the fence in left.
It was the second grand slam for Boston in the series, following an eighth-inning roundtripper by David Ortiz in Game Two that erased a 5-1 deficit and helped the Red Sox win 6-5.
Uehara, who pitched seven scoreless innings in relief and struck out 11 in the series, registered the final out with a strikeout of Jose Iglesias and jumped into the arms of catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the celebrations began in Boston.
The Tigers were left to wonder “what if?” as they squandered an opportunity to score more runs in the sixth and opened the door to Boston’s winning rally in the seventh.
After Victor Martinez drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single off the “Green Monster” wall in left, Detroit still had men on first and third with none out, but suffered a baserunning blunder by Prince Fielder.
Boston reliever Brandon Workman replaced Franklin Morales and got Jhonny Peralta to bounce to second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Pedroia tagged Martinez out, and with Fielder caught in no-man’s land between home and third, fired home in time for catcher Saltalamacchia to chase Fielder back toward third and tag him out.
In the seventh, Boston’s Jonny Gomes led off with a laser drive off the top of the Green Monster that went for a double. Scherzer then walked Xander Bogaerts to put men on first and second, and was removed from the game.
Jacoby Ellsbury then hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Iglesias reached, but bobbled for an error which loaded the bases and set the stage for Victorino.
“We made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on them,” said Tigers’ rightfielder Torii Hunter, a 17-year veteran who has still to reach his first World Series.
“Victorino got the big hit, the grand slam, and we couldn’t do anything about it. They played well,” Hunter added.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
RSS