The Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier swings for a ground-rule double during the 13th inning against the Boston Red Sox in Boston on Oct. 10, 2021.
The Associated Press
Kevin Kiermaier’s line drive sailed over right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s head and bounced off the short wall in front of the Boston bullpen and back onto the warning track. It ricocheted off Renfroe and into the air.
The Red Sox right fielder waved at it desperately – and unsuccessfully – to keep it from going out of play.
It’s a good thing he couldn’t.
Saved by an obscure rule and a bounce that was weird even for quirky Fenway Park, the Red Sox staggered Tampa Bay 6-4 Sunday night on Christian Vazquez’s 13th-inning walk-off homer to move one victory from eliminating the 100-win Rays from the AL Division Series.
“I was speechless,” said centrefielder Kike Hernandez, who had come over to back up Renfroe. “I don’t know if you guys have seen that before. I’ve never seen that before in my life.
“I wasn’t sure what was going to get called. I wasn’t sure if the runners had to return. … Like, I had no idea,” he said. “Luckily, it went our way. And you call it home-field advantage if you want – call it whatever you want – but we won.”
The Boston Red Sox’s Hunter Renfroe reaches for a ball hit by the Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier, as it bounces over the wall after bouncing off Renfroe for a ground-rule double during the 13th inning in Boston on Oct. 10, 2021.
Michael Dwyer/The Associated Press
The wild-card Red Sox took a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five matchup. Game 4 is Monday at Fenway – Marathon Day in Boston – with Game 5 in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday, if necessary.
Tampa Bay rallied from a 4-2 deficit to tie it in the eighth inning and it was still 4-all when Yandy Diaz singled with one out in the 13th.
Then came the play that had the umpires scurrying for the rule book and the Rays scratching their heads.
Diaz was halfway from second to third when Kiermaier’s ball bounced over the five-foot-high wall, and he easily would have scored had it remained in play. But the umpires conferred and went to the headsets before awarding Kiermaier a double and sending Diaz back to third.
Baseball Rule 5.05(a)(8) states: “Any bounding fair ball is deflected by the fielder into the stands, or over or under a fence on fair or foul territory, in which case the batter and all runners shall be entitled to advance two bases.”
“If I stayed at second, that’s fine,” Kiermaier said. “But I was hoping to see that Yandy scored, because he would have scored obviously. It’s incredible that it worked out to their advantage just like that.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash said he watched the replay and it was obvious Renfroe didn’t knock it over the wall on purpose.
“That’s just the rule. That’s the way it goes. It was very unfortunate for us,” he said. “I think it was fairly obvious that K.K. or Yandy was going to come around to score, but it didn’t go our way.”
Said umpire crew chief Sam Holbrook: “It’s in the rule book. It’s a ground-rule double. There’s no discretion that the umpires have.”
“There’s no, `He would have done this, would have done that.’ It’s just flat-out in the rule book, it’s a ground-rule double,” he said.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta reacts after striking out the Tampa Bay Rays’ Mike Zunino to end the top of the 13th inning in Boston on Oct. 10, 2021.
Charles Krupa/The Associated Press
When play resumed, Nick Pivetta struck out Mike Zunino to end the inning and came bounding off the mound in celebration.
Renfroe walked with one out in the bottom half, then Vazquez hit the first pitch from Luis Patino over the Green Monster to end it.
Hernandez and Kyle Schwarber each had three hits, including a homer, for Boston.
Hernandez singled in the first, singled in the third and homered in the fifth to give him seven consecutive hits in the series. He went 5 for 6 with a home run and three doubles in Boston’s Game 2 win, becoming the first Red Sox player ever with four extra-base hits in a post-season game.
Red Sox ace Nate Eovaldi allowed Austin Meadows’ two-run homer in the top of the first, but Schwarber led off the bottom half with a home run. Hernandez’s fifth-inning homer gave Boston a 4-2 lead, but the Rays tied it in the eighth when Wander Franco hit a solo homer and Meadows and Randy Arozarena doubled.
Garrett Whitlock struck out Zunino to end the inning.
The Boston Red Sox’s Christian Vazquez reacts after hitting a walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in Boston on Oct. 10, 2021.
Charles Krupa/The Associated Press
LATE THREATS
With a runner on first in the 10th, J.D. Martinez fouled off five pitches with two strikes and then hit one to straightaway centre, where Kiermaier pulled it in right in front of the 379-foot marker. (The wind was blowing in.)
In the 11th, Arozarena stole second and was caught in a rundown on his way to third, but he scrambled back to the bag safely. But he was stranded there when Pivetta struck out Zunino and Jordan Luplow to end the inning.
Boston had a runner on first in the 11th when Hernandez hit a chopper into the hole between short and third. Franco went to his right to field it, then made a long throw that first baseman Luplow picked out of the dirt for the third out.
SCHWARBER TIME
Schwarber, a star of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series title who homered in the wild-card game against the Yankees, also singled and scored in the third, when Boston scored a pair of runs to chase Drew Rasmussen and take a 3-2 lead. He singled in the ninth before leaving for a pinch-runner.
But it was Schwarber’s play in the field that endeared him to the Fenway fans.
After earning an error when he lobbed the ball over pitcher Nathan Eovaldi’s head on a grounder in the third inning, Schwarber was tested on a similar play and made a more accurate toss in the fourth.
He celebrated by raising both arms in the air and giving a fist pump, then tipping his cap to the cheering fans. Schwarber turned toward the dugout and laughed.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Arozarena slipped on his way to second base on his eighth-inning double, then limped into the dugout while the Red Sox changed pitchers. But he remained in the game.
Red Sox: RHP Hansel Robles appeared to be experiencing discomfort after striking out Diaz for the second out in the eighth. He winced and stretched his shoulder, then gave up Arozarena’s double to tie it 4-4.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
