MLB Rankings: Baseball’s Greatest Hits of Week-22
By Bill Felber
MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-22
6. Mookie Betts, 40 percent
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 7-6 in 15 innings Friday night in a dramatic battle in Anaheim. The only reason the teams played that long was a three-run Angels comeback which, statistically if not on the scoreboard, overshadowed the actual winning hit.
We’ll deal with the comeback presently; for now, it’s time to focus on the game-winner.
The Angels had a chance to end the game in 11, but with runners on first and second and two out Darwinson Hernandez struck out Matt Thaiss to end the threat. Boston threatened in the 14th, moving the lead run to third base with two out before Trevor Cahill retired Christian Vazquez.
In the 15th Cahill got the first two Red Sox batters, then stared in at Betts, who hit the first pitch to him deep into the left-field seats. It put Boston on top 7-6 and Andrew Cashner closed the issue in the inning’s bottom half, working around a walk to Mike Trout by retiring Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols.
The reality of Pujols making the final out provided a bit of bitter irony to the conclusion given Pujols’ role in sending the game into extra innings. More on that in a moment.