Four Real? Walk Off Edition Red Sox vs Mariners 7-31-13

Sox complete 15th inning win

Boston used a total team effort to come from behind and beat the Seattle Mariners Wednesday night. They got a strong performance from starter John Lackey, they got some timely hits, and played strong defense to earn their second win in a row at Fenway Park. Even though the middle of the order didn't get it done offensively for Boston, the top and bottom of the lineup carried the AL East leading Sox. Here are the four at bats that changed the game:

1) Sloppy D plates Two. With the Red Sox down 1-0 in the fifth inning, they promptly took the lead because of one hit and some poor defense from the Mariners. Brock Holt starts the inning with a double down the right field line, and then things get ugly for Seattle. Jacoby Ellsbury reaches with an error by center fielder Dustin Ackley, and then Shane Victorino crushes a liner towards second baseman Nick Franklin, and he can't play it cleanly. The botched play scores Holt. When Dustin Pedroia grounds out to third, Ellsbury crosses the plate to give the Sox the 2-1 lead, one they didn't deserve.

2) Power Surge. With the Sox down 3-2 in the seventh, Shane Victorino starts the inning off with a single to center field. Dustin Pedroia works the count full on five Oliver Perez off speed pitches, and then crushes the sixth pitch over everything to take the lead back for Boston. This is Pedroia's second homerun in the last two games, and it was gone the second he made contact. 4-3 Sox.

3) Long Ball Ties Game. Junichi Tazawa has pitched well for the Sox of late, but his poor pitch in the eighth was enough to tie up the game. Tazawa throw Kyle Seager an outside and high fastball that Seager did not miss. By the time it landed over the bullpen and into the first round of the bleachers, the game was knotted at 4-4.

4) Walk Off Magic. The game stayed all tied up until the 15th inning. With the bases loaded on three walks, Stephen Drew came up with two men out. He took a 2-1 sinker down the right field line to plate Pedroia for their tenth walkoff win of the season, a MLB high.

OF NOTE: Red Sox rookie pitcher Drake Britton pitched two innings in relief to earn the first win of his MLB career, and with Tampa Bay losing to Arizona last night, Boston regains the AL East lead by 1/2 game. The newest member of the Red Sox, Jake Peavy, is expected to join Boston tonight in the third game of series, when Felix Hernandez faces Ryan Dempster at 7:10pm in Boston.

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