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Posted 09/26/2007 at 01:29 PM
What a season it has been on the diamond, when you think you have seen it all, and then you realize that there's still more that can happen, here are my top ten wins of the 2007 MLB season.
Top Ten Wins
1. Yankees stun Red Sox at Fenway As a common theme in this blog, you'll notice that many of the wins and losses will be on a comeback or blown lead status. The Bronx Bombers trailed Dice-K and the Red Sox 7-2 headed to the 8th inning on September 14th, and gave the Sox opportunities thanks to errors by Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi. However, Giambi atoned with a solo HR to lead off the 8th, propelling the Yanks to a six-run 8th, all the runs scored with no outs, including the go-ahead RBI single by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees did this off two of the most unhittable relievers in baseball, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, who combined to record four outs, but allowed six hits and six runs. Yankees prevail 8-7.
2. Rockies Beck the Trend As Colorado inches closer and closer to a potential Wild Card berth, the Rox can look back at a crucial series victory at Fenway Park back in mid-June. The Rockies came in as underdogs at nearly +200 on June 14th, when Jeff Francis faced off Josh Beckett, who began the night at 9-0. The Rockies scored once in the 1st inning, but then got to Beckett in the 3rd, thanks to a grand slam off the bat of Garrett Atkins, giving the Rockies a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Atkins actually hit two other balls off the Green Monster, as the Rockies slammed the Red Sox 7-1. Colorado took two of three in that series, then swept the Yankees at home days later, turning their season around for the better.
3. Calling all Angels...and Astros relivers The Angels came into June 20th's matchup with the Astros as huge favorites, so why not take them on the run-line - easy, right? Not so fast, as Wandy Rodriguez was mowing down the Angels
hitters, and Houston provided some run support for their lefty with a 4-2 lead headed to the 7th. Cue the wheels falling off the wagon. The Astros went to the bullpen and recorded one out, then things got dicey. Howie Kendrick reached on an error, then four straight Angels walked, bringing home two runs to tie the game. Still need some help on the run-line. Orlando Cabrera followed with a sac fly to give the Angels the one run lead at 5-4. With two outs, Vladimir Guerrero belted a shot to deep left field for a three-run homer, giving the Halos an 8-4 lead that would hold and a great run-line victory.
4. National Treasure in the Desert The Washington Nationals came into this season as a punchline, a team capable of winning maybe 50 games. The Nats started the season at 9-25, but then turned things around slowly. Washington
won eight of ten games, and stood nine games under .500 heading into a mid-August series with the Diamondbacks. Arizona took the first two games, and were looking for the sweep. In the final matchup, the D-Backs grabbed a 5-0 lead after three innings, thanks to homers from Eric Byrnes and Mark Reyonlds. Washington scored one in the 5th to make it 5-1, but then
rallied off the D-Backs bullpen in the 8th, with three straight hits resulting in four runs, including a game-tying homer from Ryan Church. Arizona came back with a sac fly in the bottom of the 8th to retake the lead at 6-5. Jose Valverde, the league leader in saves, gave up a leadoff homer to Jesus Flores in the top of the 9th, and following a Robert Fick triple, Felipe Lopez brought home Fick with a sac fly, and closed the door to a 6-5 Nationals win, and proving that they were a tough
team to shut down this season.
5. Young the Del-man The Devil Rays were going for a sweep of the Rangers on May 17th in Orlando, and were looking good with a 6-3 lead and Scott Kazmir on the mound. Texas, though, rallied for two in the 6th and one in the 7th to tie the game at 6. Granted, I had the Rays on the run-line, so now it was crunch time. Nothing for several innings, as the
two teams headed for extras. If you had the Rays straight-up, you need one run; if you're like me, you need a miracle. Carlos Pena grounded out to start the inning, then Brendan Harris got on with a walk. Delmon Young headed to the plate, and the thought process is, "Jack this one out, Delmon." Turns out, Young cranks a pitch opposite field that clears the right-field wall and the Rays win 8-6, and cover the run-line. Whew.
6. Brewers bullpen catches fire...again On August 5th, the Phillies tried to avoid a three-game sweep at Milwaukee, and wasn't doing a good job, trailing 6-0 after five innings. The Phils put one on the board in the 6th, then the Brewers pen got involved. Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer in the 9th to cut the deficit to 6-3. Francisco Cordero came in
to record two outs, but the top of the order was up. Jimmy Rollins walked, Tad Iguchi singled, Pat Burrell walked, setting up Ryan Howard with the bases loaded. Howard did nothing, but get hit by a pitch, making it 6-4. Aaron Rowand came up next and drove in two with a single tying the game at 6. Milwaukee did nothing in the bottom of the ninth, same for both teams in the tenth, but once again in the top of the 11th, the Phillies had two outs and no one on, but still managed another charge.
Howard walked, Rowand singled, then Wes Helms doubled in the two to take an 8-6 lead and Jose Mesa finished it off in the bottom of the 11th for the underdog win.
7. Meltdown by the Lake At a time when you were about to fade Dan Haren and be right about it, maybe you got burned. On June 26th, the Indians were a sizable underdog at home to Haren and the A's, as the Tribe took a 3-1 lead after four innings. In the fifth, Mark Ellis tied the game with a two-run homer off Paul Byrd, then Ellis doubled in the 7th to give Oakland the 4-3 lead. Hope seemed to fly out the window with a Shannon Stewart lead-off homer in the ninth to put the A's up 5-3. To make matters worse, in the bottom of the ninth, Oakland recorded two outs with Grady Sizemore on first. Victor Martinez walked, then Travis Hafner doubled in Sizemore and Martinez to tie the game at 5. Jhonny Peralta was intentionally walked, then Kelly Shoppach hit a pinch-hit three-run homer to win it 8-5, as the Tribe put up five in the ninth, all with two outs.
8. Blazin Arizona bullpen This seems like a common theme, does it not with pen meltdowns? On August 31st, the Rockies and Diamondbacks went scoreless for six innings, until Arizona put up three runs in the bottom of the seventh, on a Miguel Montero three-run homer. Arizona's "reliable" bullpen came out, and disaster struck, as Cory Sullivan doubled home
two in the top of the 8th, then Garrett Atkins singled home a run in the top of the 9th to tie it at 3. Colorado then scored four times in the top of the tenth to win it 7-3, as the D'Backs were held to only three hits.
9. In Bloom-quist Not many times in a season would you ever credit Mariners 3B Willie Bloomquist assisting you in winning a game, but on May 7th against the Yankees, you can. Or, thank the second base umpire Gerry Davis. The Mariners came in a dog of +160 in Matt Desalvo's ML debut, and Seattle had started to play some good baseball, but it wasn't
worth backing a rookie, even a Yankee. The Bombers took a 2-1 lead heading into the 8th, when Bloomquist stole 2nd base, even though replays showed he was tagged out by Derek Jeter. Bloomquist was called safe, then Kenji Johjima drove in Bloomquist to tie the game at 2. Adrian Beltre hit the go-ahead homer in the 9th off Mariano Rivera to win is 3-2. Thank
you, men in blue.
10. A Grand-erson stab I wrote a blog months ago about how one defensive play can kill a rally, or save your team. It worked out on August 14th, when the Tigers beat the Indians in extra-innings at the Jake. Jeremy Bonderman pitched very well, except for one pitch that Grady Sizemore hit out in the 1st for a 2-0 lead. The Tigers came back with a run in the 6th and 7th off C.C. Sabathia to tie it at 2. The Indians had a chance to win it in the 8th with two runners on and two
outs with Travis Hafner, when the big lefty drilled a line drive in the gap that was sure to clear the bases, until Curtis Granderson came over and made one of the top catches of the year to end the threat and the inning. Detroit put up four runs in the tenth to win it 6-2, and despite the Tigers not going back to the postseason, it was one of the better games of the season.
Tomorrow, I will go over my Top Ten losses of the 2007 baseball season.
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