That's A Lot of Baseball!

They say good things come to those who wait. And wait. And wait. It took 14 innings over more than 5 hours of baseball for the Red Sox to pull out a walk-off win over the Oakland A's in what was--at least after the 8th inning--supposed to be an easy win for the Boston boys. When Papelbon took the mound in the top of the 9th with the Sox ahead 7-3, there was little doubt that, while he might not be as sharp as he usually is in save situations, he'd put the game away and secure Beckett's 5th win of the season, even if he gave up a run or two in the process.

NOT. SO. FAST.

If this were April, such an inning would have practically guaranteed a Red Sox loss. It began with a Mark Ellis single, followed by a Daric Barton walk. Pap fanned backup catcher Landon Powell, then up to the plate strode former Red Sox Coco Crisp. He hit a grounder to second that Pedey tried to get a glove on for an easy double-play, but instead the ball rolled through his legs a la Buckner and Ellis scored from second. Okay, one run, no biggie.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Cliff Pennington lined a double to left that was just barely fair and Barton scored. Tek took umbrage at the way home plate ump Tony Randazzo was calling some of Pap's pitches and got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. Salty strapped on his gear and came into the game in Tek's place. The change of catcher didn't help Pap, who promptly surrendered a 2-run single to Conor Jackson to tie the game at 7 a side.

F-L-U-S-H!

Down the crapper went the 4-run lead! Pap was perplexed by the calls he was getting and approached Salty to discuss the strike zone with him. This did not sit well with Randazzo, who barked at Pap and gave him the heave-ho too. Pap was now pissed something fierce and charged over to Randazzo to give him a piece of his mind. Tito popped out of the dugout (though not as fast as he'd wanted to, he would say after the game) and got between Randazzo and Pap.

The closer having been ejected from the game, Tito called on Bobby Jenks to finish out the inning. After a single by Sweeney put runners on the corners, still with only one out, Jenks punched out Josh Willingham and Hideki Matsui, only ball got away from Salty on the Matsui whiff. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Matsui doesn't run well and Salty was able to throw him out at first, negating the run that had crossed the plate in the process.

After that freak show of a half-inning (the only thing missing was one of the A's players biting one of the Red Sox, a la Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals), the Sox fail to re-take the lead in the bottom of the 9th. With all the momentum on the A's side,

INTO EXTRAS WE GO!

Jenks, back out for the 10th, throws a scoreless frame. Gonzo leads off the bottom of the inning with a single, is lifted for pinch-runner Drew Sutton. He's left on base when Youk pops out, Cameron, pinch-hitting for Reddick, who pinch-ran for Papi in the 8th, grounds out and Crawford flies out.

Now Aceves is in for the Red Sox. He allowed the A's to pull ahead with a walk, a double, and a sac fly, but kept it at one run when Willingham grounded into a force-out of Conor Jackson at the plate and, after a Matsui single, got Ellis to pop out to end the inning. With the A's All-Star closer coming on for the bottom of the 11th, it looked like it might be over for the Sox.

NOT. SO. FAST.

After two quick outs, Salty doubled high off the Monster, just missing a game-tying dinger. Ells finished the job, however with a ground-rule double. Rather than face Pedey, the A's put him on and pitch to Sutton. Sutton works the count full, but strikes out to end the threat. They tied the game, but couldn't push the lead run across. More extra frames coming up.

Aceves settled down for a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 12th, but the Sox couldn't muster a run after a leadoff walk, a failed sac bunt, a strikeout, and a popout. Aceves, who came off the field after the 12th with a cut on his pitching hand, got himself taped up and pitched the 13th, retiring the side in order once again. If this were a playoff game, it might be known as the "Bloody Hand Game". Yes, though no biting took place, there was some bloodshed.

The bottom of the 13th played out much like the bottom of the 11th, with the A's pitching around Pedey (who's hitting .239, by the way) to face Sutton after Ells singled and stole second. Sutton lined out to Ellis at second and the Sox were headed for the 14th.

Aceves worked around a leadoff walk and an infield single to preserve the tie. That left Youk, Cam and Crawford to try to break through in the bottom of the inning. Youk and Cameron couldn't do anything against A's reliever Guillermo Moscoso, but Crawford doubled, making this his 3rd 4-hit game of the season. Though Lowrie had gone 0 for 6, his .293 average next to JD Drew's .228 led to him getting the 4-finger salute from Oakland. JD had struck out in 4 consecutive at-bats before standing in the batter's box in the 14th. This time, he lined a single to center to score Crawford and put a merciful end to this long, drawn-out marathon of a game and send the Fenway crowd home happy for having stuck it out to the end. Heck, I'm exhausted just writing about this game! The happy ending, though, made it all

WORTH THE WAIT!