Last night was easily one of the most exciting, if not the most exciting, nights in baseball. Four teams went into the last game of the regular season with two playoff spots on the line, and only two survived. The two who didn't survived had huge leads in the wild card race, but completely collapsed in September. Full disclosure: I hate the Red Sox, so last night really filled me with glee.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves had a 10 1/2 game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals in late August, but went 9-18 in September to allow the Cards to catch up. Last night, the Braves completed their collapse by losing 4-3 in 13 innings to the playoff-bound Phillies. The Cards did their part by winning their game against the Astros 8-0, and they are in the playoffs.
The bigger drama was in the American League. Boston went into September with a 9-game lead over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but went 7-19 in September to end up tied with the Rays entering yesterday's game. Boston was playing against the Orioles and the Rays were facing the Yankees. Boston was up 3-2 on the Orioles when the game was called in the middle of the seventh inning because of rain. When the game was called, the Rays were behind 7-0 to the Yankees going into the eighth inning. But then the Rays staged a furious comeback that got them to 7-3, and then Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer to make it 7-6. In the ninth inning, pinch hitter Dan Johnson, who was only hitting .108 (that's bad), had a two-out, two-strike solo home run that tied the game.
Boston and Baltimore restarted the game after an hour and a half rain delay when the Rays and the Yankees were tied at 7-7 heading into the tenth inning. Right before midnight, Nolan Reimold tied the game by hitting a double against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, which scored Kyle Hudson. Hudson had entered the game as a pinch runner for Chris Davis, who hit a double against Papelbon. Then Robert Andino came to the plate. Andino had been on fire against the Red Sox in September. Just last week, Andino hit a bases-clearing double off Papelbon to win a game against the Red Sox at Fenway. In this game, Andino hit Papelbon's pitch into left field, and Carl Crawford, the touted left-fielder who was paid $142 million to make this play, missed. He scrambled and threw it home, but the Orioles had already scored the winning run.
Four minutes after Boston lost to Baltimore, Evan Longoria became the hero of the game when he hit a home run shortly after midnight. The Rays had won against the Yankees 8-7, and will be facing the Rangers in the ALDS.
It's true that the Yankees did not play their top players and their team looked more like a triple-A team. It didn't matter. The Red Sox choked and the Rays took advantage of it to win the playoff spot. The Braves also choked, allowing the Cards to catch up. The Braves are famous for choking in the playoffs, but this time they saved their fans the trouble of getting their heart broken in the playoffs.
The playoffs start tomorrow (Friday), but it's doubtful anything in the playoffs can match the drama of this last day.
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