Eponymous Boesch
Rookie outfielder Brennan Boesch powered the Tigers’ comeback with a 4-for-6 showing, turning what was a garden of earthly delights for the Red Sox into a patch of hellish horrors. With the score 6-1 in the sixth and victory seemingly in Jon Lester’s talented left hand, Boesch knocked in two runs with a bases-clearing triple to the right-center gap. Brandon Inge sacrificed Boesch and Detroit was back in the game, 6-4.
In the eighth the Tigers clawed their way to a tie. Hideki Okajima allowed a leadoff homer to Magglio Ordonez. Miguel Cabrera walked in an impressive eight-pitch at bat and advanced to second on Boesch’s ground ball single past a diving Dustin Pedroia. Inge smoked a double to left to plate Cabrera for the tying run.
The visitors squandered a scoring chance in the eleventh inning. Kevin Youkilis, who reached base five times on bases on balls, walked to start the inning. David Ortiz dropped a single into shallow left that Adam Everett gave up on and Johnny Damon failed to catch in a head-first slide. With two on and none out Adrian Beltre struck out swinging and J.D. Drew grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
Drew otherwise had a productive day; it was his ground-rule double to deep center in the third that granted his team the 3-0 lead. He also made an outstanding play on Cabrera’s pop out in foul territory; his slide took him along the periphery of the stands and his glove was perfectly positioned to nab the ball and spare the pitcher from having to throw another pitch to a fearsome hitter.
Although Red Sox batters combined for a dozen walks, it was Ramon Ramirez’s walk that proved pivotal. With the bases loaded and two out Ramirez walked Ramon Santiago on four pitches to push across the winning run.
| Game 37: May 15, 2010 ∙ 12 innings | ||
| Red Sox 19-18 | 6 | BS: Hideki Okajima (2) L: Manny Delcarmen (1-2) |
| 2B: J.D. Drew (9), Adrian Beltre (10) HR: Bill Hall (3) | ||
 Tigers21-16 | 7 | W: Jose Valverde (1-1) |
| 2B: Adam Everett (4), Brandon Inge (12), Brennan Boesch (8) 3B: Brennan Boesch (2) HR: Magglio Ordonez (5) | ||
