In walk-off victory, defense proves crucial for Boston
1:12 AM Sat, Apr 25, 2009 | Permalink
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By Joe McDonald BOSTON _ Jason Bay hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Youkilis drilled the walk-off in the bottom of the 11th. Dustin Pedroia went 1-for-4 with a pair of walks, but saved the game with his defense. Mike Lowell went 2-for-5, but made a dramatic diving stab in the third inning. Bay did it with both his bat and glove and showcased his leather with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. It's an old cliché, but it rings true, especially when the Sox and Yankees play - defense and pitching wins games. With the bases loaded and the Yankees holding a two-run lead in the top of the ninth inning, Red Sox reliever Javier Lopez was struggling. He hit a batter and issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. With the infield playing in, the lefty got the Yankees' Robinson Cano to ground into a 4-2-3 double play. He followed that up by getting Melky Cabrera to pop out to catcher Jason Varitek. Ending the threat proved crucial because of Bay's two-run homer tied the game and sent it into extra innings. In the top of the 10th inning, it was much of the same with the Sox flashing the leather. With one out and a runner on second, Derek Jeter smoked a grounder up the middle, but Pedroia made a tremendous diving stab, got to his feet in plenty of time to make the throw to first for the out and keep the runner from scoring. "He hit the ball really hard and I was able to get a glove on it and caught it," said Pedroia. "It was one of those things of being in the right spot at the right time." The Yankees had runners on first and second in the top of the 11th inning when Pedroia ended the threat with a 4-unassisted-3 double play. Youkilis finished it with one swing in the bottom of the inning. Without the glove work by Boston's defense, the dramatic night could have ended a lot sooner than it did. "That's how you win ballgames and that's how we won today," said Youkilis. 
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Pedroia's double play was not unassisted. He threw to first for the second out. It would have been an unassisted double play if he had tagged the runner and then run to first for the second out. Or if it had been a line drive which he caught and then tagged the runner or stepped on the bag. This is pretty elementary stuff. Somewhat disappointing to see.
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