September 20, 2013: Jon Lester’s 15th win clinches AL East for Red Sox

It was a case of worst to first. The 2012 Boston Red Sox had finished last in the American League East Division, 26 games behind the New York Yankees. They’d won 69 games and lost 93. Under new manager John Farrell in 2013, they stayed in first place from July 31 onward and dispatched their competition by winning 17 of 21 games from August 24 through September 15.

Boston clinched a playoff spot by beating the Baltimore Orioles on September 19, the first time in franchise history they had made the postseason after finishing last the year before.1 But their goal was to win the division, not just qualify for a wild-card slot.

Their first opportunity to clinch the AL East came a night later, when the Toronto Blue Jays came to Fenway Park for a weekend series. With eight games to play, the Red Sox were nine games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays followed in the standings; Toronto was last, 22 games behind. The Red Sox had won seven of their 16 games against the Jays, but Toronto had won two of the three games at their last meeting, in mid-August.

John Gibbons brought the Blue Jays to Fenway Park. His starting pitcher for the game was right-hander Esmil Rogers, who had begun the season as a reliever after several years with the Colorado Rockies and 44 games in 2012 with the Cleveland Indians. Since May 29 he’d primarily worked as a starter. His record was 5-7 with a 4.47 ERA. He had won his last two decisions.

Red Sox manager Farrell named Jon Lester (14-8, 3.75) to start. The veteran lefty had also won two of his last three starts. 

Lester retired the first three Blue Jays batters he faced. In the bottom of the first, the Jays had to make defensive changes even before Rogers pitched to the first Red Sox batter. Their center fielder, Colby Rasmus, who had hit four homers in his five previous games, had to be removed from the game and sent for x-rays. He was “beaned in the face … smoked … with a ball thrown by one of his teammates” during warm-ups before the inning.2 

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia led off for the Red Sox with a double that hit halfway up on the left-field wall. Right fielder Daniel Nava hit a fly ball deep enough to center that Pedroia was able to tag and take third. Facing David Ortiz, with a 2-and-0 count, Rogers threw a pitch that hit the dirt in front of catcher J.P. Arencibia – scored a wild pitch – and Pedroia ran home for the first run of the game.3

Ortiz walked and so did first baseman Mike Napoli. Left fielder Mike Carp lined out to short, but catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled to center. Ortiz tried to score from second but the throw from Anthony Gose easily caught him at the plate for the third out.

Lester walked one in the second, followed by first baseman Mark DeRosa’s single, but got out of the inning before Toronto could score. Rogers struck out the first two Red Sox in the bottom of the second and got the third to ground out.

In the third inning, Toronto second baseman Ryan Goins led off with a single but Lester kept the ball in the infield and got the next three batters to make outs. The Red Sox added a third-inning run to take a 2-0 lead. Nava hit a one-out double to center. Ortiz was walked intentionally. On six pitches, Napoli walked, loading the bases. Carp also drew a walk, on seven pitches, forcing in a run. Gibbons had Chad Jenkins relieve Rogers. The new pitcher got Saltalamacchia to ground into a 3-6-1 double play.

The first three Jays all reached base safely in the top of the fourth, on a walk to Kevin Pillar, an error by Will Middlebrooks at third base, and DeRosa’s single into left. On Lester’s 25th pitch of the fourth inning, Gose hit a one-hopper to third base. Middlebrooks caught it right at the bag, which he stepped on, and then threw home, getting Pillar in a rundown where he was easily tagged out. Lester struck out catcher Arencibia for the third out.

In the bottom of the fourth, Stephen Drew walked and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a one-out single, but Pedroia hit into a double play.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, left fielder Rajai Davis singled. Third baseman Brett Lawrie came to the plate. On Lester’s first pitch, even with the left-hander looking right at him, the speedy Davis took off the moment Lester started his pitch. He stole second, his 43rd stolen base of the season. On Lester’s next pitch, Davis stole third.4 Lawrie singled to center and the Blue Jays had their first run. It was 2-1 and Pillar came to bat. On Lester’s second pitch, Lawrie tried to steal second but was thrown out.

Jenkins retired the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the fifth.

Back at the plate to lead off the sixth, Pillar reached safely on an error by shortstop Drew. Lester then struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the sixth, with two outs and Saltalamacchia on second after hitting a double off the track in the left-field corner, Aaron Loup relieved Jenkins; Drew hit a ball Loup fielded and threw to first.

Heading to the bottom of the seventh, it was still 2-1 after Lester induced two shortstop-to-first groundouts and then struck out shortstop José Reyes on the 10th pitch of his at-bat. It was Lester’s eighth strikeout of the game.

In the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox faced a new pitcher, right-hander Neil Wagner, and greeted him with singles by Bradley, Pedroia, and Nava. With the bases loaded and nobody out, issuing another intentional walk to David Ortiz was not in the Blue Jays’ plans. Ortiz hit Wagner’s first pitch for a broken-bat single that dropped into center and drove in Bradley.

Jeremy Jeffress replaced Wagner, and Napoli hit into a 6-2-3 double play, with Pedroia out at the plate. There were runners on second and third, but now two outs. Mike Carp singled to left-center and two more runs scored – three RBIs in the game for Carp. Saltalamacchia struck out, but the Red Sox’ lead was now 5-1.

Junichi Tazawa took over from Lester to start the eighth. Davis led off with a double that bounded to the wall in left-center. He advanced to third base on a groundout, and then trotted home when Adam Lind, batting for Pillar, homered to left, the ball striking on the shelf just atop the wall.5 The Jays’ deficit was now just two runs, at 5-3. When DH Moisés Sierra singled between third and short, Farrell summoned in another reliever, calling on his ace closer, Koji Uehara. DeRosa flied out to center. Gose reached on an infield single. Uehara struck out Arencibia.

Darren Oliver took over pitching for Toronto in the bottom of the eighth. Middlebrooks singled into left. He remained on first as Oliver got the next two batters to make outs. With Pedroia at the plate, Middlebrooks stole second. Two pitches later, Pedroia singled over the mound and up the middle and Middlebrooks scored, giving Boston a three-run advantage. Nava popped up to second base.

Boston’s Uehara stayed in the game, asked to get five outs and preserve the 6-3 Red Sox lead. With one out, Reyes singled to left. Davis flied out to center. Lawrie came to bat. Reyes took second on defensive indifference. Lawrie struck out swinging, ending the game. It was Uehara’s 20th save of the season.

The Red Sox had clinched the AL East. Lester got the win, the 100th of his career.

Unlike the night before, when they had clinched a playoff spot, now they had won the division “and the joy was finally unrestrained.”6

There were seven regular-season games left to play, two at home and the final five on the road. The Red Sox were 3-4 in the final seven, but kept themselves tuned up and went on to win all three rounds of the postseason, winning each with one game to spare, including a Game Six win the World Series at Fenway Park to complete the worst-to-first scenario with a World Series championship.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Thomas Brown and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and YouTube.com. Thanks to Adrian Fung for supplying access to the Toronto Star.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS201309200.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2013/B09200BOS2013.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF4OR5YIE9s

Notes

1 They did it again in 2016. After finishing in last place (Toronto finished first) in 2015, the Red Sox improved from their 78 wins in 2015 to 93 in 2016, placing first in the AL East.

2 Brendan Kennedy, “Jays Bumble as Red Sox Win AL East,” Toronto Star, September 21, 2013: S2. Rasmus “was trotting out to his position before the bottom of the first inning when right fielder Anthony Gose threw him a ball for their pre-inning warm-ups. Trouble was Rasmus had no idea it was coming until it hit him just under his left eye.” It turned out to be his last game of the season.

3 Both NESN television broadcaster Dennis Eckersley and Kennedy of the Toronto Star felt that Arencibia should have blocked the ball.

4 Davis’s 45 steals in 2013 were second in the AL to Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox, who stole 52 bases.

5 Tazawa allowed nine home runs in 2013; this was the last of the nine – but, remarkably, the sixth one hit by Blue Jays batters.

6 Peter Abraham, “That’s a Wrap,” Boston Globe, September 21, 2013: C1.