Red Sox and Rays Both Victorious, Wild Card Still Tied

If you watched any of the Boston Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night, we hope you caught the Adam Jones at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out and a man on second. What an attention whore.

After ten agonizing pitches, Jonathan Papelbon eventually got Jones to ground out on a slider and end the game. The 8-7 victory, combined with the Tampa Bay Rays' 5-3 win over the New York Yankees, allowed the Red Sox to stay alive another day in the American League Wild Card hunt.

Boston went yard four times in the evening, including two homers off the bat of adorable rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway. The Yale philosophy major who never even played a big league game before this August, nailed a three-run shot in the fourth before adding a solo shot for good measure to give his team an 8-4 lead in the eighth. The O's tried to rally late in the game, but Papelboner was having none of that.

The Red Sox will send workhorse Jon Lester to the mound on three days' rest to face Alfredo Simon in the season finale Wednesday night in an effort to punch their fourth ticket to the postseason in five years.

Red Sox Turn a Triple Play, No One Notices

When the Milwaukee Brewers turned a triple play on Monday, it was pretty exciting stuff. Unfortunately, when the Boston Red Sox turned in three outs in a single play the following day, it was one of the most boring triple plays of all time.

It was the fourth inning with runners on first and second, and here's how it all went down: With Erik Bedard on the hill, Sean Rodriguez dribbled one up the third baseline. Jed Lowrie then stepped on the bag to start a 5-4-3 triple play right around the horn. Just like that, the inning was over and Bedard got out of all sorts of trouble.

Not quite as awesome as the Brewers' triple play from the day before, huh.


Hat tip to Baseball Nation for the animated gif, which I found after googling "Lame Red Sox triple play"

Snag, Bag and Tag

During the second game of the double-header between the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, Asdrubal Cabrera experienced something most big leaguers never get to.

A rare, unassisted triple play. Seriously? There aren't many things in the world more badass that that.

Just a bit more awesome than Cliff Lee's near-non-existent ERA.

[Examiner Ohio]