October 20, 2013: Red Sox 2 Tigers 1 (10) (Red Sox win ALCS, 4-3)

It doesn't get any more exciting than this. Game 7 of the 2013 American League Championship Series needed extra innings to settle the score, and it is the Red Sox that come out on top over the Tigers in 10.

The winning run came about when Stephen Drew singled, Quintin Berry pinch ran, and Will Middlebrooks ripped a double on a hit and run play where Berry scored easily. Middlebrooks hasn't contributed much with his bat in the playoffs, but picked a good time to get his first hit of the series!

The Red Sox scored their 1st run in the 1st inning on a Mike Napoli RBI double following singles from Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. The Tigers scored their lone run on a Miguel Cabrera home run, of course. Cabrera's 9 HR in the series is easily a record for a playoff series. The Tigers scored 30 runs in the series, and Cabrera knocked in more than half (16).

Stephen Drew knocked in 9 of the Red Sox' 31 runs in the series, and led the team with 3 HR in the series, but my MVP is Koji Uehara. Koji entered this game in the 9th with runners on 1st and 2nd. He struck out Jhonny Peralta and got Omar Infante to ground out to end the threat, then kept 'em scoreless in the 10th.

The World Series starts on the 23rd between the Red Sox and Nationals. Clay Buchholz gets the game 1 start vs. Jordan Zimmermann of the Nats. The series is a rematch of my 2002 World Series, where the Sox beat the Expos in 5 games. The Red Sox most recent trip to one of my replay Series was their 2009 win, while the Nats were 2011 champions. The two teams did not meet in the regular season in 2013. The Nats swept the Sox in 2012, although that was not a very good Sox team.

BOXSCORE: 2013 Detroit Tigers At 2013 Boston Red Sox               10/20/2013
 
  Tigers             AB  R  H RBI AVG     Red Sox            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Jackson CF        5  0  1  0 .314     J.Ellsbury CF       4  1  1  0 .222  
  T.Hunter RF         5  0  0  0 .280     S.Victorino RF      3  0  1  0 .327  
  M.Cabrera 3B        5  1  2  1 .511     D.Pedroia 2B        4  0  0  0 .265  
  P.Fielder 1B        3  0  1  0 .275     D.Ortiz DH          4  0  1  0 .213  
  V.Martinez DH       4  0  0  0 .283     M.Napoli 1B         4  0  1  1 .326  
  J.Peralta LF        3  0  0  0 .154     D.Nava LF           3  0  1  0 .289  
  O.Infante 2B        4  0  1  0 .317     J.Saltalamacchia C  3  0  0  0 .317  
  A.Avila C           3  0  1  0 .229     S.Drew SS           3  0  1  0 .357  
A-D.Kelly PR          0  0  0  0 .143   C-Q.Berry PR          0  1  0  01.000  
B-B.Pena C            0  0  0  0 .000     W.Middlebrooks 3B   4  0  1  1 .133  
  J.Iglesias SS       3  0  0  0 .120                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      35  1  6  1                 Totals      32  2  7  2
 
A-Pinch Ran For Avila In 10th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Kelly In 10th Inning
C-Pinch Ran For Drew In 10th Inning
 
Tigers.......... 0 0 0  0 0 1  0 0 0  0 -  1  6  0
Red Sox......... 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  1 -  2  7  0
 
Tigers (6-5)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
A.Sanchez                 7       5   1   1   3   6   0 104   1.54
D.Smyly LOSS(0-2)         2       2   1   1   1   2   0  30   7.50
Totals                    9       7   2   2   4   8   0
 
Red Sox (7-5)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Lester                  8       4   1   1   2   3   1 117   3.29
J.Tazawa                  0 1/3   1   0   0   1   0   0  13   4.15
K.Uehara WIN(1-0)         1 2/3   1   0   0   1   2   0  27   0.00
Totals                   10       6   1   1   4   5   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 35,324 DATE- Sunday, October 20th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad
UMPIRES- Manny Gonzalez, Brian Gorman, Larry Vanover, Tony Randazzo
T- 2:30
LEFT ON BASE- Tigers: 8  Red Sox: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Tigers: 1  Red Sox: 1
DOUBLES- M.Napoli(3rd), W.Middlebrooks(1st)
TRIPLES- S.Victorino(2nd)
HOME RUNS- M.Cabrera(11th)
RBIs- M.Cabrera(18th), M.Napoli(3rd), W.Middlebrooks(6th)
CAUGHT STEALING- S.Victorino
WALKS- P.Fielder, J.Peralta, A.Avila, J.Iglesias, S.Victorino, D.Nava,
       J.Saltalamacchia, S.Drew
STRIKE OUTS- A.Jackson, P.Fielder, J.Peralta, A.Avila, J.Iglesias, J.Ellsbury,
             S.Victorino, D.Pedroia-3, M.Napoli, J.Saltalamacchia, S.Drew
GIDP- A.Jackson, W.Middlebrooks
2-out RBI- M.Napoli, M.Cabrera
RLISP 2-out- D.Nava-2, S.Drew, J.Iglesias, D.Pedroia, O.Infante, M.Cabrera-2
TEAM RISP- Tigers: 1 for 8  Red Sox: 1 for 4
 
The Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers locked up in an exciting one-run
game at Fenway Park.  The final score was the Boston Red Sox 2, the Detroit
Tigers 1 in 10 innings.
 
Both teams were tied at 1 runs apiece after nine innings.  Boston was
victorious in the 10th inning.  Stephen Drew laced a base-knock.  Will
Middlebrooks came next and he doubled giving Boston the win and sending the
home town fans into a frenzy.  Boston rapped out 7 hits for the night.
 
Koji Uehara(1-0) was the winner allowing no runs in 1 and 2/3 innings. The
losing pitcher was Drew Smyly(0-2) in relief.  He gave up 1 run and 2 hits in
2 innings.