September 17, 2004: Mariano Rivera proves mortal, allowing Red Sox a come-from-behind win

It had been a tight and well-pitched game throughout, with the Boston Red Sox one run behind the New York Yankees after eight innings on a Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Yankees manager Joe Torre was turning the lead over to closer Mariano Rivera, as he had done routinely for the past eight seasons.

At the end of the ’04 regular season, Rivera could look back at a fine campaign. He led the majors with 53 saves, a career best. He had closed a career-high 69 games, leading the American League. He finished third in the league’s Cy Young Award voting, with an earned-run average of 1.94.1

Rivera’s won-lost record for the year was 4-2. The two losses were to the Red Sox – on July 24, when he coughed up three runs in the bottom of the ninth at Fenway Park, capped by a walk-off home run by Bill Mueller, and this September 17 game at Yankee Stadium.

Coming into the game, the Yankees (92-54) were in first place in the AL East, 3½ games ahead of the second-place Red Sox (88-57). Boston had been 10½ games behind on August 15 but had made it as close as two games back in September.

Torre’s starter was undefeated Orlando “El Duque” Hernández. The 38-year-old Hernández had been out half of 2002, all of 2003, and the beginning of 2004 with a torn rotator cuff. He had returned to action on July 11 and posted a record of 8-0 (2.49) over two months.

In the first inning, the Red Sox loaded the bases on a one-out single by second baseman Mark Bellhorn, a walk to Manny Ramírez, and a single into right field by David Ortiz,2 with third-base coach Dave Sveum holding Bellhorn at third. Trot Nixon swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a one-hopper right back to Hernández, who threw home. Catcher Jorge Posada caught it for the out, but slipped on the plate and fell, preventing him from throwing to first for a double play. Hernández struck out catcher Jason Varitek, swinging.

Starting for Terry Francona’s Red Sox was Bronson Arroyo, who came into the game 9-9 (4.04). It was the first time Arroyo had faced the Yankees since the July 24 game at Fenway Park when he had given up eight runs, and hit Álex Rodríguez with a pitch. Scoring three times in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox won, 11-10. Arroyo had something going for himself early this night – he got first-inning infield popups from Derek Jeter, Rodríguez, and Gary Sheffield.

Both sides went down in order in the second, with only one ball leaving the infield – Posada’s fly ball to Nixon in right field.

In the third, the Red Sox put a run on the board when Johnny Damon hit a leadoff home run into the second row of the upper deck in right field. It was Damon’s 17th homer of the season.

The Red Sox were still leading 1-0 when rain fell after three innings and the field was covered. After a 96-minute delay, Tanyon Sturtze took over for Hernández in the fourth. It was three-up, three-down for Boston.

The Yankees tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Álex Rodríguez lined a double to right field that one-hopped the fence in the gap between Nixon and Damon. Sheffield singled up the middle, Rodríguez taking third. Hideki Matsui flied out to shallow right field. Posada grounded to first baseman Kevin Millar, who dove to stop the ball and threw to Arroyo covering for the out at first. A-Rod scored on the play, tying the game, 1-1.

In the fifth, Damon walked with one out and stole second, but Bellhorn struck out and Ramírez lined out. Yankees first baseman John Olerud led off the bottom of the inning with a homer deep into the right-field bleachers, giving New York a 2-1 lead. The next batter, Miguel Cairo, almost homered, too, but, as the Boston Globe reported, “Manny Ramirez made the play of the game, leaping above the left field wall to rob Cairo of a home run.”3 A single and a walk followed, but no more scoring.

The Yankees’ bullpen held the lead for the next three innings. Sturze completed 3⅔ innings of one-hit relief with back-to-back strikeouts to open the seventh. Tom Gordon got the final out of the seventh, then struck out Bellhorn and Ortiz in a clean eighth.4

Boston’s Alan Embree and Mike Timlin followed Arroyo’s two-run, six-inning outing with scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, and the game went to the top of the ninth, the last chance for the Red Sox.

Torre made the obvious call and Mariano Rivera, already with 49 saves in 2004, was brought in to close. Trot Nixon worked a seven-pitch base on balls, and Francona sent in pinch-runner Dave Roberts. Rivera struck out Varitek on three pitches, but on the third pitch, Roberts stole second base.

Millar was hit by a pitch and gave way to pinch-runner Gabe Kapler. Orlando Cabrera slapped a single into right field. Roberts scored from second, with Sheffield’s throw to the plate well off the mark, and the game was tied, 2-2.5 Kapler held at second base.

Rivera struck out Kevin Youkilis for the second out, but Damon blooped a single that fell in front of center fielder Kenny Lofton in right-center and Kapler scored. The New York Times said it was a broken-bat single, and reported that Rivera had raised his arms shouting, “Catch the ball!” to Lofton.6

The Red Sox took their 3-2 lead to the bottom of the ninth, and Francona called on his closer, Keith Foulke. Posada flied out to center. It took six pitches to designated hitter Jason Giambi and then seven to Olerud, but Foulke struck them both out on swinging third strikes, the eighth and ninth K’s of the game for Red Sox pitching.

The Red Sox had won the game, 3-2, another ninth-inning win like the July 24 game. The win went to Timlin, who improved to 5-4, with Foulke earning save number 30.

Boston was just 2½ games out of first with the win, but the Yankees won the next two games by 10-run margins, restoring their lead to 4½ games. At the end of the season, New York had its seventh straight AL East title, and Boston made the postseason as the league’s wild-card team.

Rivera faced the Red Sox again in the 2004 AL Championship Series. He had been the MVP of the Yankees’ seven-game victory over Boston in the 2003 ALCS, appearing in four games with one win and two saves and an ERA of 1.13, part of his final career postseason record of 8-1 with 42 saves and a 0.70 ERA. He seemed headed for another successful October in 2004 when he saved the Yankees’ wins in the first two games of the series.

With the Yankees three outs from a sweep in Game Four, Torre summoned Rivera to secure the one-run lead and close out the series. As in the September 17 game at Yankee Stadium, however, there was a leadoff walk, a pinch-running appearance for Roberts, and a steal of second. Roberts soon scored the tying run, and the Red Sox went on to win the game.

A night later, another late-inning rally against Rivera led to Boston’s Game Five victory, and the Red Sox were on their way to a historic seven-game ALCS triumph.

Acknowledgments 

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball_Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and YouTube.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200409170.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B09170NYA2004.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv80HEowvBU

Notes

1 Johan Santana of the Twins won the vote with a record of 20-6 and a 2.61 ERA. Curt Schilling of the Red Sox placed second (21-6, 3.26). 

2 One of the balls Ramírez hit before walking was initially ruled a home run by umpire Tim Timmons, but as Manny was rounding third and heading to the plate on his home-run trot, the call was reversed to a foul ball. See Bob Hohler, “Kim Makes Surprise Visit, May Pitch In Soon,” Boston Globe, September 18, 2004: D7.

3 Indeed, “Cairo was so sure it was a home run that he rounded the bases before he learned to his consternation from [umpire] Wendelstedt of Ramirez’s magnificent catch.” Bob Hohler, “Sox Reign in Bronx,” Boston Globe, September 18, 2004: D1, D6. Jack Curry offered an entertaining portrait of Ramírez in the next day’s New York Times. See Jack Curry, “Ramirez Ignoring 1918 with Hits and Smiles,” New York Times, September 18, 2004: D3.

4 Gordon had earned his 33rd hold of the season. He added three more holds and two wins in the remaining days of the 2004 season. He finished 9-4 with the 36 holds and an ERA of 2.21.

5 For both Roberts and Cabrera, this was their first time taking part in the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. Both had joined the team not long before, Cabrera as part of the July 31 four-team trade that sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs, while Roberts arrived the same day from the Dodgers in trade for minor leaguer Henri Stanley. “Being part of a Dodgers-Giants rivalry was exciting,” said Roberts, “but obviously this is a step above.” Shira Springer, “First-Timers Are in for a Treat,” Boston Globe, September 18, 2004: D7. The Garciaparra trade was a shock to most of Red Sox Nation, trading away one of the team’s most beloved ballplayers – and a three-time batting champion. Told that the Red Sox were 32-12 after he’d been traded, Derek Jeter simply said, “You can’t say it’s because he’s not there. They might be 40-2 if he were.” Dan Shaughnessy, “Timing Couldn’t Be Better,” Boston Globe, September 18, 2004: D7.

6 In a calmer moment after the game, Rivera admitted he’d been caught up in frustration and said of Lofton, “If he had a chance, I’m sure he would have caught it.” Tyler Kepner, “Rivera Falters as Boston Narrows the Gap to 2½,” New York Times, September 17, 2004: D1, D3.