BOSTON (AP) — Saved a bizarre bounce and an obscure rule, the Boston Red Sox staggered Tampa Bay 6-4 Sunday night on a walk-off, two-run homer by Christian Vazquez in the 13th inning to move one victory from eliminating the 100-win Rays from the AL Division Series.
The wild-card Red Sox took a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five matchup, with Game 4 on Monday at Fenway Park — Marathon Day in Boston. Game 5 would be in St. Petersburg, Florida, 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 rulebook and the Rays scratching their heads.
Kevin Kiermaier lined a two-out shot to right-center that bounced off the short wall in front of the Red Sox bullpen, ricocheted off right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s hip and flew back into the bullpen as Renfroe leaped to try to keep it in play.
It’s a good thing he didn’t: After the umpires conferred and went to the headsets, they correctly awarded Kiermaier a ground rule double and sent Diaz, who had come all the way home, back to third.
Diaz was halfway from second to third and easily would have scored if the ball remained in play. But 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 KK or Yandy was going to come around to score, but it didn’t go our way.”
Nick Pivetta struck out Mike Zunino to end the inning, then 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.
Kike 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 postseason 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.
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 center, 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 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.
UP NEXT
The teams play again on Monday night, with the starters to be announced. Nick Pivetta had been expected to start for Boston and Patino for the Rays, but both pitched in Game 3. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it would most likely be Eduardo Rodriguez.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.
The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
