Well shit, that was something.
Long story short, the Red Sox and Yankees took a garden-variety 3-2 game into the top of the ninth inning, at which point Andrew Miller loaded the bases to face David Ortiz with one out. The count went to 3-1, and then this happened:
This was a called strike https://t.co/0hFwduWene
— Sox Lunch (@Soxlunch) May 7, 2016
Papi got pissed, John Farrell got tossed, and, most importantly Papi watched strike three go by and walked away with no argument… at which point he got tossed from the dugout, and this happened:
Papi is PISSED. pic.twitter.com/qexeTb0Okl — Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) May 7, 2016
You know what is bad? That is bad.
Things weren’t always so bad.
Top Play (WPA)
Oh, to be a few hours younger. David Ortiz’s first-inning home run looked to set the tone for a long night against the previously underperforming Michael Pineda, but those two runs would be the only ones we’d get. If we can take solace in anything, we can take solace that these runs were obtained thusly:
[home run]
Bottom Play (WPA)
Hanley Ramirez strikes out to end the game with the bases loaded. He didn’t look like he had a clue against Andrew Miller’s slider on strike two, and Miller came back with it, and that was that. Ramirez has a 10-game hitting streak going, but when he’s overmatched it’s as subtle as as an airhorn.
Key moment
Strike 3 instead of tie game pic.twitter.com/TvIEWoFnTv
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) May 7, 2016
Trend to watch Run Kulpa famously incensed Carl Everett 16 years ago, and now he’s added Papi to his list of Red Sox enemies, not to mention the commissioner:
It’s a great game when a really bad umpire like Ron Kulpa can become the story of the game and be arrogant about it.
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) May 7, 2016
It is, in fact, lit.
Coming next
David Price looks to bring down his bulging ERA against the light-hitting Yankees lineup, while the rivals counter with feast-or-famine Nate Eovaldi, provided the weather allows for it. It has rained every day this week up here, which is driving me nuts, and Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be no different. Hopefully there is baseball and the Red Sox win, which, if they can manage four runs, they seem likely to do. I believe.