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The Boston Marathon was postponed to Monday, but the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays decided to go the distance on Sunday. With ALDS tied at 1-1, the clubs battled 13 innings in Game 3 until Red Sox wide receiver Christian Vázquez crushed a two-run homerun to win, 6-4.
After innings and innings lacking in attack, the end came with a sudden turnaround and an explosion of drama.
Early in the 13th, the game was marred by a baseball situation most had never encountered. With Yandy Diaz in the front row, Kevin Kiermaier smoked a ball to the wall in right field. He bounced off the short fence at Fenway Park, struck Red Sox outfielder Hunter Renfroe and landed in the reliever box.
The referees ruled that this was a double of the ground rule, denying Diaz the point he would otherwise have scored had the ball not gone out of play. Which, in the end, is the rule as it is written – making Renfroe’s deflection an accidentally brilliant strategic game.
Pivetta struck out the next batter at bat to block Diaz and Kiermaier.
Game 3 started off like the rest of the series – with plenty of scores to start with. Rays outfielder Austin Meadows hit a two-run homerun early in the first, and Red Sox hitter Kyle Schwarber responded with a solo explosion at the bottom of the frame.
As Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi settled in and passed five innings, it looked like the Red Sox had taken control. Kiké Hernández, who has hit eight hits in the last two games, tied the game with an RBI in third and then took a two-point lead with a huge homerun over the Green Monster in the fifth.
But the Rays rallied in the eighth inning behind prodigy Wander Franco’s debut homerun in the playoffs and other Randy Arozarena October exploits that have become commonplace at this point.
Garrett Whitlock, arriving from the Red Sox box one or two hitters too late, stabilized the situation, but the game extended to the extras.
Manuel Margot reached base for Tampa in the 10th, but was sent off on a steal attempt when he lost contact with second base on the slide. It looked like he was safe, but the replay confirmed the call. Nick Pivetta, who was scheduled to start Game 4 for Boston, was called up and executed four clean innings with seven strikeouts and several excellent high-speed struts from the mound.
The Rays also deployed Luis Patino, who was supposed to be in the mix in Game 4. He ended up giving up the winning blast. It is not yet clear who will take the hill for either team on Monday, but the seeded Rays will now fight to avoid elimination.
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