Ramon Hernandez dropped a perfect bases-loaded bunt with two outs in the 12th inning Wednesday, scoring Eric Chavez with the winning run to lift the Oakland Athletics over the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in their playoff opener.
At 4 hours, 37 minutes, the game was the longest in Oakland's postseason history, and it ended in the most improbable way: with the hard-hitting A's executing a small-ball play to eke out a run.
"It was the biggest hit in my career," said Hernandez, Oakland's All-Star catcher. "When you're playing a team like the Red Sox that's got good pitching and good hitting, you've got to try whatever you can to win."
PHOTO: AFP
Chavez helped prevent Boston from taking the lead in the top of the 12th, making a tremendous play at third base. On the basepaths moments later, he alertly stole third, and Derek Lowe later intentionally walked Terrence Long to load the bases.
"Freaky, just freaky," Chavez said. "It was probably the best game I've ever been involved in."
Hernandez and Chavez both acted on their own, according to manager Ken Macha.
"What an ending. Who would have thought that? A's win with a bunt," Macha said. "Shame on anybody who missed it."
Atlanta 5, Cubs 3
John Smoltz, making a rare two-inning appearance in a game the Braves had to have, allowed the tying run before Mark DeRosa's two-run double in the eighth pushed Atlanta past Chicago.
The Braves evened the best-of-five National League division series at one game each. Game 3 is Friday at Chicago's Wrigley Field, with Greg Maddux starting for the Braves against Mark Prior.
Atlanta's vaunted lineup was overshadowed by a guy who doesn't usually play much. DeRosa was starting at second base in place of Marcus Giles, who had a deep bruise on his left leg after tumbling over first base in Game 1.
The Cubs walked Rafael Furcal intentionally to get to DeRosa, who made them pay by lining a 1-2 pitch from Dave Veres to the wall in left-center.
"You understand that they're intentionally walking Furcal to get to you," DeRosa said. "You try to use that anger."
As an added bonus, Giles appeared as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and came through with a run-scoring single that put the Braves ahead 3-2.
Anxious to protect the lead, Braves manager Bobby Cox called on Smoltz in the eighth -- even though he missed nearly a month at the end of the season with a sore elbow.
Braves starter Mike Hampton overcame a terrible start to pitch six solid innings before a Turner Field crowd of 52,743 -- the most ever for a postseason game in Atlanta. For the second successive night, thousands of Cubs fans boosted the standing-room-only turnout.
After managing only three hits in Game 1, the Braves pounded Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano for 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Marlins 9, Giants 5
In San Francisco, Juan Encarnacion homered and Juan Pierre had a bases-loaded double in the sixth inning as Florida evened its series at 1-1 by defeating a sloppy San Francisco in Game 2.
After an energized Barry Bonds helped the Giants take a 4-1 lead, Sidney Ponson couldn't hold it. Pierre had four hits as the Marlins rallied to send the best-of-five series back Florida at one apiece.
"Getting down 4-1, I think they were confident they would get us again," Pierre said. "We put the pressure on them and kept the pressure on."
Game 3 is Friday in Miami. Kirk Rueter pitches for San Francisco against Mark Redman.
Pierre said before this series started that the Giants hadn't yet seen the wild-card Marlins at their best. He led a 15-hit effort, a day after Florida was held to just three.
Carl Pavano, the winning pitcher when Florida clinched the wild card, earned another important victory by getting two outs.
"It was just a weird day," Giants first baseman J.T. Snow said. "They are a good team. There's a reason they are here. When you get to this point in the year, there's no quit in anybody."
Most of all, Florida kept Bonds from doing major damage. Rookie Dontrelle Willis, Florida's probable Game 4 starter, did his part by relieving in the eighth and retiring Bonds on a foul out.
On a day the 39-year-old Bonds showed unusual energy in left field and on the bases, the Marlins again made sure the slugger wouldn't beat them at the plate. After Bonds doubled to drive in a run in the first, he was walked twice.
Bonds made a sliding catch in left field and hustled home from first base on Edgardo Alfonzo's double.
But Bonds was about the only one who looked like himself.
"They played better. They won. That's the end of it. Go away," Bonds said.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS