Week 15

The Sox had their ups and downs during a long day of baseball, but when all was said and done, they clinched second place in the division.

The day featured a rare away-away doubleheader, with the regularly-scheduled game against the Dodgers followed by a makeup against the Orioles. Both games were trimmed from 9 to 7 innings by agreement of the teams.

Red Sox 5, Dodgers 3
Sunday, August 24 @ Fisher Park Field, Upper Allen Township

With the game tied at 2 in the top of the sixth, Matt LaBuda tripled deep to right-centerfield leading off the inning. John Lindholm and Jerry McKeon followed with singles and later came around to score a pair of important insurance runs.

Curt LaCoe earned the win in relief, but not before another strange chapter in the Dodgers-Sox rivalry was written. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Dodgers appeared to have cut the lead and seized the momentum when the first batter of the inning hit a drive well over leftfielder Kirk Strous' head and easily circled the bases before the Sox could get the ball back into the infield. But the Sox appealed that the batter had missed second base, and the base umpire was right there with the call, turning the play into the first out of the inning and wiping the run off the board. LaCoe then got the last two outs to escape with the win.



Curt LaCoe delivers against the Dodgers.


Orioles 9, Red Sox 6
Sunday, August 24 @ Creekview Park

In the nightcap against the Orioles, the Sox put up 4 runs in the top of the first, but quickly gave them back and more. The Sox flubbed a few plays, but the Orioles hit the ball hard all day. Meanwhile, the Sox had a frustrating game at the plate, making decent contact but failing to get the big hit to take advantage of some good opportunities. Give credit to the Orioles for a solid all-around game.

While the Sox were stumbling against the Orioles, the Dodgers were losing to the Mets. As a result, the Sox locked up second place in the division. A win against the Orioles would have kept alive a shot at edging out the Angels for first place. Instead, the Sox will line up against the Dodgers when the playoffs begin after the regular season finale.



Lance Strous squeezes a pop up.



Kirk Strous tracks down a fly ball.