AL: 4 NL: 3
It was a looooooooong game. 15 innings and just shy of 5 hours long. The starting lineup had long since taken their final at-bats when Michael Young, the Rangers' shortstop, sac-flied in the winning run sometime after 1:30 AM. Yankee Stadium is used to long games, but that's when the Red Sox and the Yanks are on different sides! This time, it was an extended game of chicken between the two leagues for multiple extra innings before the NL blinked and the AL squeezed out the win.
Waaaay back in the 7th, before the game was even halfway over as it turns out, our very own J.D. Drew took Cincy's Edinson Volquez of the sub-3 ERA deep for two to tie the score. The NL added another run in the 8th off of Papelbon, who was surrounded by loudly squawking boo-birds all over the stadium. In the bottom of that same inning, Paps was taken off the hook by the Desperate Housewife (my nickname for Rays 3B Evan Longoria, cuz, you know, take off the "n" from his first name and that's what you're left with. LOL) who doubled in a run to knot the game at 3. It stayed at 3 for 7 more innings, as both leagues were down to their last pitcher and position players who had half-jokingly volunteered to pitch were in grave danger of actually having to take the mound.
More on J.D., the Red Sox standout from the game: He was the only Red Sox to record a hit and score a run, going 2 for 4 with the aforementioned homer in the 7th, a single, reaching on an error, and a walk. He was fanned by a pitcher with the most bizarre "hand jive" delivery I've ever seen, but hey, that guy struck out the side, probably because the batters were baffled by the crazy hands. J.D. was named MVP for his efforts, which also included a few game-saving catches in right. and given a trophy and a brand spankin' new hybrid SUV. What a difference a year makes, J.D.! Congratulations!
On Paps and the bogus tabloid thing: Leave it to the New York Daily News to ruin Paps' All-Star experience. The paper, being the tabloid trash that it is, took an interview that he did way out of context and made it seem like he thought Mariano Rivera should not close the game. While he did say that, as a closer, sure he wanted to pitch the 9th, he also said the closing role in this game belonged to Mo, being in Yankee Stadium and all. During the Red Carpet event, Paps and his pregnant wife were harassed and threatened by some far-too-gullible Yanks fans. This made his wife very upset. Yeah, I know it's Yankee Stadium and the Sox-Yanks rivalry but for crying out loud, leave the players' families out of it!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
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