Tag Archives: grand slam

On This Day In Red Sox History: Nomar’s Birthday Bash

Leave a reply

Tuesday, July 23, 2002, the Devil Rays and Red Sox were set to play two at Fenway Park. The day happened to be fan favorite Nomar Garciaparra’s 29th birthday. Nomar and Manny Ramirez were both coming off two home run games in a loss the previous day. The Red Sox still stood at 57-39 on the season, 27 games ahead of the Devil Rays.

Red Sox Slip Out of the Gate

Tim Wakefield was on the mound for the Red Sox, making his first start in three weeks. Wakefield had mostly pitched out of the pen so far on the season to good success, coming in at 3-3 with a 2.99 ERA. He was opposed on the mound by Worcester, Massachusetts native Tanyon Sturtze. Sturtze was an unenviable 1-9 on the year despite an okay 4.39 ERA. Wakefield started out the game right, striking out Randy Winn swinging. However, he hit the second batter of the game, quickly demonstrating the fickle nature of his knuckleball. The next batter was Steve Cox, who was putting together a solid season. Cox took a 1-0 pitch out to right field for his 12th home run of the season, and just like that the Sox were behind 2-0.

Wakefield encountered some more troubles in the second; a single and a walk were followed by a passed ball and the Devil Rays had men on the corners with no one out. A fly ball brought home the runner from third and Tampa Bay’s lead grew to 3-0. Two batters later Randy Winn doubled home another run and it just didn’t seem to be Wakefield’s day. He got the next batter to lineout but trailed 4-0 after two.

Red Sox Offense Explodes

The Red Sox trailed 4-0 entering the home half of the third inning, but were sending the top of the order to the plate. With the count full, Johnny Damon homered off Sturtze to right to put the Sox on the board. Lou Merloni followed with a single to put a man aboard. Sturtze fell behind Nomar Garciaparra 3-0. Nomar may have surprised him when he jumped on a 3-0 pitch and homered to left. Two pitches later Manny Ramirez homered to the opposite field and the game was tied. The Red Sox had homered three times in four at-bats to kick off the third inning and it was 4-4.

A walk and an error put two more men aboard with one out for Trot Nixon. Nixon doubled to left to score one and the Red Sox suddenly had the lead. Wakefield’s catcher Doug Mirabelli followed with a double of his own to plate two more runs. The Red Sox had batted around and were still threatening. Johnny Damon, batting for the second time in the inning, lined a base hit to right-center to score Mirabelli and chase Sturtze from the ballgame.

Long man Brandon Backe replaced Sturtze, but he wouldn’t have any more success. After getting a pop out, he faced Nomar with a man aboard. Nomar jumped on the first pitch, as he so often did, and homered to left for his second two-run homer of the inning. The birthday boy had put the Sox ahead 10-4 in the third.

Nomar Hits a Birthday Slam

Wakefield settled in after the 10 run uprising, enjoying a 1-2-3 fourth inning with two strike outs. But the Sox weren’t so content with their six run lead. After back to back popups, the flood gates reopened. Trot Nixon followed a Jose Offerman single with a run scoring double. Doug Mirabelli then drove in Trot for the second straight inning with a base hit. A Johnny Damon double was followed by a walk to Lou Merloni. The bases were loaded and up strode the birthday boy. Nomar, with two home runs the previous inning, was up with the bases loaded, they had to pitch to him. On a 2-2 count Nomar deposited yet another baseball over the Green Monster for his third home run in two innings, a Major League record. The Red Sox now led 16-4 following the grand slam.

Sox Cruise to Victory

Tim Wakefield pitched three shutout following the rough start to go the necessary five for the win. Willie Banks replaced him and cruised through the Tampa Bay lineup. Banks allowed just two baserunners and needed only 39 pitches to finish off the game. He earned the save with his four shutout innings of relief, lowering his ERA to 2.84.

The Sox offense wasn’t quite done. The Red Sox scored two in the sixth, one on a double from Manny Ramirez. In the seventh, Trot Nixon homered off Travis Phelps to make it a 19-4 game. Close to 20, the Red Sox still had work to do. In the eighth, Johnny Damon singled followed by a walk to Lou Merloni to bring up Nomar with two men on. With a chance at a four home run game, Garciaparra flew out. However, Manny Ramirez wanted in on some more action. Manny homered to left for his second of the game, giving the Red Sox a 22-4 lead. When Banks cruised through the ninth, that was the final score.

Wrapping It Up

The Red Sox had several members with huge performances, but Nomar took center stage. With three home runs and eight runs batted in, Nomar had possibly the finest birthday performance ever. He also tied a record by hitting five home runs over a two game span. This, coupled with Manny Ramirez’ four home runs over the same two games made the teammates the first pair of teammates to combine for nine home runs over two games. Nomar had also hit three home runs and driven in 10 runs on May 10, 1999, making him the fourth Red Sox ever to have multiple three homer games. He joined Ted Williams, Jim Rice and Mo Vaughn in accomplishing this. Nomar and Mo were the only two to have done them both at Fenway Park.

On top of Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez’ big nights, Johnny Damon and Trot Nixon both collected four hits and homered. Damon scored four runs while Trot drove in three runs and scored three. The Red Sox had 19 hits and seven walks on their way to the 22-4 victory. Watch video of Nomar’s monster performance here.

 

Featured picture from the Boston Globe.

Find me on Twitter: @thefrizz87.

Xander Bogaerts’ Walk-Off Slam the First for Sox in Almost 18 Years (@MrMac91)

Leave a reply

On Saturday afternoon, shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit his third grand slam of the season. It came in the bottom of the 10th to give Boston a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bogaerts’ slam was his second huge hit in the game. Previously he hit a leadoff double to begin the bottom of the ninth to set the stage for Jackie Bradley Jr.’s game-tying double two pitches later. Closer Craig Kimbrel then came on to pitch a scoreless tenth inning to earn the win.

With the win, the Red Sox improved their MLB-best record to 67-30.

The walk-off shot was Boston’s ninth grand slam of the season, which ties the Cincinnati Reds for the most in baseball. It’s also Bogaerts’ third this year. In 2017, the Red Sox were unable to muster even one grand slam.

This was Boston’s first walk-off grand slam since August 14, 2000, when Rico Brogna smashed one against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Bogaerts, 25, continues to rake this year as he enters Sunday’s first-half finale with a .284/.355/.529 slash line. He also has 15 homers and 62 RBIs, which is impressive considering he was out for three weeks in April.

On This Day In Red Sox History: July 15, 2005 (@TheFrizz87)

Leave a reply

On Friday, July 15, 2005, the Red Sox and Yankees met for the second of a four game series at Fenway Park. This was the first series after the All-Star break and the Yankees had taken the first game to move within 1.5 games of the Sox for first place in the East. Through nine games, the Red Sox had gone 5-4 in their season series. Among the wins was a 17-1 victory at Yankee Stadium in late May.

Taking the Field

The Red Sox sent former Yankee David Wells to the mound. Wells was in his first season with Boston and just a year removed from his second stint with the Yankees. He had pitched twice versus New York already on the season, going 1-1. For New York, newcomer Tim Redding would take the hill. The Yankees had just acquired Redding along with Darrell May from the Padres for Paul Quantrill. Redding was 0-5 with an unsightly 9.10 ERA while pitching in the National League West.

Wells cruised through the top half of the first, striking out Derek Jeter and Robinson Canon before getting Gary Sheffield to fly out. Johnny Damon was the Red Sox leadoff hitter and singled to right to open up the home half of the first. Edgar Renteria walked before Tim Redding surprisingly struck out David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez back-to-back. With two outs, Trot Nixon doubled home both Damon and Renteria to put the Red Sox on the board first. After a Kevin Millar walk, Jason Varitek doubled and the Red Sox were ahead 3-0.

Sox Chase Redding

After another 1-2-3 inning for Wells, the Red Sox offense went back to work. Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon walked followed by a single by Edgar Renteria to load the bases. Just like that, Redding’s night was over, as was his Yankees career. Redding never threw another pitch for the Yankees, getting just three outs. In came Darrell May, their other recent acquisition from the Padres. The left-hander fared a little better, if only marginally so. A run came home on a fielder’s choice. Manny Ramirez followed with a double to left to score the Red Sox fifth run of the night. Trot Nixon, in the play of the night, hit a fly ball to center that seemed to tail some. Melky Cabrera, coming in for the play missed the ball as it glanced off his glove. Trot kept running as the ball rolled well past Cabrera and came around to score with a three-run inside-the-park home run! The Red Sox were up 8-0 and it was only the second inning. Tim Redding allowed six runs while only recording three outs in his only appearance for the Yankees.

Melky Cabrera misses Trot Nixon’s fly ball, leading to an inside-the-park home run.

Red Sox Chase Another Yankee Acquisition

The Red Sox got another run in the third when Edgar Renteria drove home Johnny Damon. In the top of the 4th, the Yankees got their first hit off their old buddy on a ground ball into center by Robinson Cano. After a wild pitch moved him to second, Gary Sheffield drove him home with another hit. Wells would get Alex Rodriguez to hit into a double play and Hideki Matsui to ground out to end the inning. The Yankees had scored a run, good for them.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox got two men on via walk with two outs. Bill Mueller doubled to left to drive home Kevin Millar with the Sox’ 10th run. After another walk, Johnny Damon doubled home two more runs to chase Darrell May from the game. May had equaled Tim Redding’s six runs allowed, although at least he had gotten eight batters out to Redding’s three. This was May’s second outing as a Yankee, having allowed seven runs six days prior against the Indians. Just like Redding, this would be his final outing with the Yankees. The Yankees two recent trade acquisitions pitched a combined three games for the Yankees, allowing 19 runs over eight innings. May never pitched in the big leagues again.

A Grand Slam

The Yankees found some semblance of competency with Jason Anderson, who enjoyed a 1-2-3 fifth inning after recording the final out of the fourth. Meanwhile, David Wells kept cruising along, allowing just one hit between the fifth and sixth.

Anderson did not seem up for another inning of work however. Kevin Millar led off with a double before Anderson walked Varitek. Alex Cora then pinch-hit for Bill Mueller and singled to load the bases. Anderson actually got two outs after that without allowing a run to come in. Close to getting out of the jam, Anderson walked Edgar Renteria to bring home the Red Sox’ 13th run of the game. That was the end of Anderson’s night. With David Ortiz due up, the Yankees brought in long-time lefty specialist Buddy Groom. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ortiz took an 0-1 offering from Groom deep to right and over the fence for a grand slam. So much for the lefty specialist, the Red Sox now led 17-1.

David Ortiz follows through on his grand slam off pitcher Buddy Groom in the sixth inning at Fenway Park on July 15, 2005. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Yankees Get Embarrassed

The rest of the game was uneventful. Buddy Groom wound up pitching a shutout seventh after allowing the grand slam. For the Red Sox, David Wells went seven innings allowing just one run to improve to 7-5 on the season. John Halama had a perfect eighth followed by Geremi Gonzalez bringing home the huge victory with a perfect ninth. For the second time on the season, the Red Sox had beaten the Yankees by a score of 17-1. Trot Nixon and David Ortiz both drove in five runs on the day, with Nixon hitting the inside-the-park home run and Ortiz the grand slam.