Red Sox rally from five-run deficit to beat Tigers,6-5,and knot series at 1-1

But for the man who stepped in the box, such a moment couldn’t be expected in such a situation. Not when the Detroit Tigers had so handled the Boston Red Sox. Not when the totals, almost incomprehensible to that point in this American League hampionship Series, showed the Red Sox with 31 strikeouts and four hits.Wholesale Shirts cheap ShirtsYet the 38,029 who hung on Sunday night at Fenway Park — through yet another no-hit bid, this one from formidable Detroit right-hander Max Scherzer — recognized the moment for what it was, a chance, and one better than most. Down by four runs, with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, it was David Ortiz in the box, and that still means something throughout New England, throughout baseball.“I tell you what, man,” Ortiz said. “Postseason is something that it can work both ways for you. It can go well if you stay calm, or it can go bad if you try to overdo things.”Calm? Ortiz rocked the Tigers with a game-tying missile of a grand slam in the eighth, and the night ended with a scene that seemed unfathomable for so long. The Red Sox danced across the infield chasing Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who delivered the walk-off yibiao-lingeriesingle in a 6-5 victory that evened a series that had felt so one-sided. The next three games are in Detroit, and with Justin Verlander — a former MVP, a postseason stud — in line for the Tigers in Tuesday’s Game 3, what realistic chance did Fenway have of hosting its Red Sox again this year? 

But for Ortiz, and that first-pitch swing against the change-up of Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit.“Coming against Benoit right there, I felt something good was going to happen,” Saltalamacchia said. “I think everyone felt like something good was going to happen.”If that was, indeed, the case, it was only because of Ortiz’s presence,Wholesale Jewelry cheap Jewelry his history, his flair — and all of that is significant. But even with Ortiz — who in 62 previous postseason games with Boston had 14 homers and authored some of this storied franchise’s most cherished moments — saying this was expected would be ignoring all that preceded it.China Fork CarriageFor so long, Scherzer was in line to be Sunday’s hero, and his seven-inning effort in which he allowed two hits and struck out 13 would be a gem in any ballpark in any series against any team. But consider the totality of what Detroit starters Anibal Sanchez and Scherzer did to the Red Sox over the weekend here, and what happened in the final two innings seems more unlikely. They held Boston hitters to two hits in 41 at-bats, a .049 average. They recorded a stunning 25 of their 39 outs by strikeout.Ortiz, too, had gone hitless with four strikeouts and one walk in his first seven plate appearances of this series. So when Detroit built a 5-0 in the top of the sixth on the back of a solo homer from Miguel Cabrera and a two-run shot from Alex Avila off Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz, Fenway sagged. The Red Sox, baseball’s best offensive team during the regular season,Buy Cheap Ralph Lauren Bikinis didn’t yet have a hit, and as Scherzer carved them up, they looked very much to be pressing — Ortiz included.