Red Sox and Astros put on quite a show
Jim Monaghan
Content Coordinator
There's a cliche in baseball that every time you watch a game, there's a good chance you will see something you've never witnessed before.
Thursday night's Red Sox-Astros game at Fenway Park was one of the best examples of that I've ever seen.
On top of six lead changes, the most in any Major League Baseball game to this point of 2021, there were things like a 211-foot infield fly ball, an incredibly smart base running decision by Xander Bogaerts (on the same play), and a double play on what looked like a foul ball, which included two base running gaffes by Houston's Yordan Alvarez on the same play.
The infield fly was unique in that most don't go that far into the outfield, and Carlos Correa ended up dropping it anyway (pictured). Though most involved - including Red Sox manager Alex Cora - agreed that it was the right call, Bogaerts appeared to never have heard it and thought that he was out at second base when Correa tossed the ball in.
A lot of players would have stepped off second to argue against the call but Bogaerts stood his ground on the bag trying to figure out what had just happened. For his part, Cora could be seen in the dugout telling Bogaerts to stay where he was. Had he left the base, he could have easily been called out.
The double play was equally bizarre.
Yuli Gurriel hit a ball that appeared to bounce off him in the batter's box...except it didn't. Boston catcher Christian Vazquez, not hearing the plate umpire call the ball dead, picked it up and threw to first to get Gurriel. Alvarez, who had taken off from first on contact, was already past second when he concluded that the ball must have been foul. Not only did he start back to first, but he missed second base on the return trip so he would have been out even had the Red Sox not tagged him in a rundown.
And let's not forget the guy who decided to run onto the field in the sixth inning...as if the game wasn't already entertaining enough.
Good times never seemed so...bizarre.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.
Content Coordinator
There's a cliche in baseball that every time you watch a game, there's a good chance you will see something you've never witnessed before.
Thursday night's Red Sox-Astros game at Fenway Park was one of the best examples of that I've ever seen.
 |
| Photo courtesy of the Associated Press |
On top of six lead changes, the most in any Major League Baseball game to this point of 2021, there were things like a 211-foot infield fly ball, an incredibly smart base running decision by Xander Bogaerts (on the same play), and a double play on what looked like a foul ball, which included two base running gaffes by Houston's Yordan Alvarez on the same play.
The infield fly was unique in that most don't go that far into the outfield, and Carlos Correa ended up dropping it anyway (pictured). Though most involved - including Red Sox manager Alex Cora - agreed that it was the right call, Bogaerts appeared to never have heard it and thought that he was out at second base when Correa tossed the ball in.
A lot of players would have stepped off second to argue against the call but Bogaerts stood his ground on the bag trying to figure out what had just happened. For his part, Cora could be seen in the dugout telling Bogaerts to stay where he was. Had he left the base, he could have easily been called out.
The double play was equally bizarre.
Yuli Gurriel hit a ball that appeared to bounce off him in the batter's box...except it didn't. Boston catcher Christian Vazquez, not hearing the plate umpire call the ball dead, picked it up and threw to first to get Gurriel. Alvarez, who had taken off from first on contact, was already past second when he concluded that the ball must have been foul. Not only did he start back to first, but he missed second base on the return trip so he would have been out even had the Red Sox not tagged him in a rundown.
And let's not forget the guy who decided to run onto the field in the sixth inning...as if the game wasn't already entertaining enough.
Good times never seemed so...bizarre.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.
