September 22, 2004: Red Sox win second straight walk-off over Orioles, move closer to clinching wild-card spot

On Tuesday night, September 21, the Boston Red Sox won a thriller over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park, snapping a three-game losing streak. Neither team had scored until the bottom of the eighth inning, as Curt Schilling faced off against Baltimore’s top starter, Rodrigo López. Finally, López departed after walking the first two batters of the eighth, the second walk on just four pitches. He had perhaps tired or had had his rhythm disturbed.1 Baltimore manager Lee Mazzilli called on Jason Grimsley in relief. Grimsley got Manny Ramírez to ground out, but both runners advanced so David Ortiz was walked intentionally. Pinch-hitter Kevin Millar’s sacrifice fly off reliever B.J. Ryan gave Boston a run without a base hit.

The Orioles answered in the ninth on catcher Javy López’s two-out two-run homer off closer Keith Foulke, putting Baltimore ahead and depriving Schilling of his 21st victory. In the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Youkilis walked and Bill Mueller doubled. A foul popup and a strikeout followed, but then Jorge Julio relieved Ryan and Red Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn hit a ball deep to right field, scored a single, driving in the tying and winning runs.2

Every home game all year long was sold out.3 Some 35,103 came to Fenway for the Wednesday night game on September 22, which featured 13 pitchers before it was over. Going for his 10th win, Bronson Arroyo started for Terry Francona’s Red Sox and Sidney Ponson started for the Orioles. Arroyo had won his last four decisions.

The lead changed a few times in the course of the game. Boston scored two runs in the bottom of the second, set up by three consecutive singles. Trot Nixon, Millar, and Jason Varitek all singled and the bases were loaded with nobody out. The two runs scored on outs, a 5-3 grounder by Orlando Cabrera, scoring Nixon, and a sacrifice fly to center by Mueller.

The Orioles tied it in the fourth on a one-out infield single by Tejada followed by a double into the left-field corner by B.J. Surhoff and a ground-rule double by López that bounced into the center-field seats in the triangle.4 They took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth on a one-out walk to second baseman Brian Roberts and a two-run homer into the Red Sox bullpen by right fielder David Newhan.

The Red Sox promptly tied the game again. Mueller’s leadoff double to center was followed by a single to right by Johnny Damon. Bellhorn struck out, but Ramírez hit a ground-rule double into the Boston bullpen in right-center, making it a one-run game.5 After Ortiz walked, Nixon singled to center, scoring Damon.

With one out and López on first in the top of the sixth, Francona brought in Mike Myers to relieve Arroyo. Myers struck out Jay Gibbons but center fielder Larry Bigbie doubled to left, driving in López for a 5-4 Baltimore advantage.

The lead swung the other way in the bottom of the seventh. Manny Ramírez led off with a single that dropped into center field and David Ortiz followed with a two-run homer several rows deep into the bleachers in straightaway center field. It was his 40th home run of the season, tying Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox for second in the AL behind Ramírez’s 41. That made it 6-5, Red Sox.

Scott Williamson had pitched a scoreless seventh for the Red Sox and Mike Timlin set down the Orioles in order in the eighth.

Jorge Julio took over for Ponson in the bottom of the eighth. He hit shortstop Orlando Cabrera, then walked Mueller. Despite the shaky start, Julio closed out the inning when Damon hit into a force play at second and Bellhorn and Ramírez struck out.

Keith Foulke was called on to close. He had 30 saves at this point in the season but had blown six opportunities, including the night before, when he had blown the save but come up with a win. Rafael Palmeiro pinch-hit for DH Luis López, who had been 0-for-3.6 The count ran to 3-and-2 and then Palmeiro homered, well past the Pesky Pole in right field. It was Palmeiro’s 549th career home run, his fourth as a pinch-hitter. The home run edged him into 10th place all-time.7 It was another blown save for Foulke, on back-to-back evenings, and the first time he had given up home runs in three consecutive closing situations. This game was tied, 6-6.

The Red Sox threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Ortiz led off with a single. Dave Roberts pinch-ran. He stole second, then took third on Gabe Kapler’s comebacker to Grimsley, who had taken over for Julio. Doug Mientkiewicz walked. Varitek was walked intentionally. On the ninth pitch, Cabrera hit a high bouncer to Melvin Mora at third base, who grabbed it with his bare hand and threw home for the force on Roberts. Mueller grounded out second to short, and the game went into extra innings.

Ramiro Mendoza and Alan Embree combined to get three Orioles outs in the top of the 10th. Buddy Groom and Rick Bauer combined to get three outs from the Red Sox in the bottom of the 10th.

Embree retired the Orioles in order in the top of the 11th. Bauer retired the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the inning.

Curt Leskanic replaced Embree to start the 12th, and his inning didn’t start well. He gave up a single to right field to Mora and an infield single to Tejada. Surhoff advanced both baserunners with a sacrifice. Javy López was walked intentionally. The move paid off when Gibbons hit to Mientkiewicz at first. He threw home for the force out, with Varitek then firing the ball to second baseman Pokey Reese, adeptly covering first, to complete the double play.8 

Leading off the bottom of the 12th inning was Orlando Cabrera. On a 2-and-2 count from Bauer, he homered into the Monster seats atop the left-field wall to win the game. It was back-to-back walk-off wins for the Red Sox. For Cabrera, who had only arrived from the Montreal Expos via trade on August 1 (and had just returned from a visit to his ailing wife, Eliana, in Colombia after missing games on September 20 and 21), it was his second walk-off hit for the Red Sox, the first being a game-ending double against the Blue Jays on August 17. It was the fourth walk-off home run of the season for Boston.9

In the on-field celebration of the walk-off, Cabrera “found himself trying to keep his pants on … as someone—he thinks it was Manny Ramirez—tried to pull a prank during the celebration.”10

Toronto had beaten the Yankees, so Boston picked up a game on New York. The Yankees had held a 10½-game lead on August 15; that lead had now been cut to 3½ games. The win also pushed the Red Sox’ lead in the AL wild-card race to 6½ games over the Anaheim Angels.

The Red Sox lost their next two games, but then won seven of their final nine games. They made the postseason as the wild card and won 11 of 14 games, including the World Series.

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 You Tube.org. Thanks to Malcolm Allen for supplying the Baltimore newspaper account.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200409220.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B09220BOS2004.htm

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

Notes

1 The Baltimore Sun wrote, “A subplot developed yesterday when executive vice president Jim Beattie contacted the commissioner’s office to check whether Boston manager Terry Francona had the right to request that umpires search pitcher Rodrigo Lopez’s cap for a foreign substance. Lopez carried a shutout into the eighth inning, but he walked the first two batters after being searched and was replaced. Because Lopez hadn’t aroused suspicions in the past, the Orioles viewed the move as a deliberate attempt to rattle Lopez—beyond accepted gamesmanship.” Roch Kubatko, “Cabrera’s Homer in 12th Inning Lifts Red Sox over O’s, 7-6,” Baltimore Sun, September 23, 2004: 1E. 

2 Dave Roberts pinch-ran for Youkilis and scored the tying run, with Mueller scoring the game-winner.

3 For almost 10 years, every game at Fenway Park was sold out. The streak began on May 15, 2003, and ran 794 consecutive regular-season games through April 9, 2013, the longest streak in professional sports. Adding in postseason games, Fenway had sold out 820 games in a row, six more than the Portland Trailblazers basketball team. The major-league baseball record was 455 set by the Cleveland Indians between 1995 and 2001. The 2013 Red Sox won the World Series, but somehow the streak came to its end on the rainy night of April 10, 2013, falling short by as many as 5,000 fans. See Justin Mastrodonato, “Red Sox Sellout Streak Comes to an End,” MLB.com, April 10, 2013. https://www.mlb.com/redsox/news/red-sox-sellout-streak-comes-to-an-end/c-44449444#:~:text=BOSTON%20–%20The%20sellout%20streak%20at%20Fenway%20Park%2C,to%20the%20Orioles%20on%20a%20rainy%20Wednesday%20night. Accessed July 28, 2022.

4 On his single to third base, Tejada had taken second on a throwing error by Bill Mueller.

5 Though he had a strong .373 on-base percentage, Bellhorn (who had the game-winning hit the night before) struck out 177 times in the 2004 season. He struck out three times in this game, for a total of 164, eclipsing Butch Hobson’s franchise record of 162. The major-league record for strikeouts in a season by a switch-hitter had been 160, set by Mickey Tettleton of the Orioles in 1990. Bellhorn took a different approach at the plate and struck out significantly less frequently when there were runners on base. “I don’t like strikeouts,” Bellhorn said, “but that’s kind of a product of how I go about my at-bats.” Bob Hohler, “Swing and a Hiss: Bellhorn Sets Mark,” Boston Globe, September 23, 2004: E6.

6 Palmeiro had not started for two games because of a sore hamstring. “It’s a great honor and a great feeling,” he said after the game. “I never thought I’d be in the top 10 when I started.” Jorge Arangure Jr., “O’s Go Down in the 12th,” Washington Post, September 23, 2004: D9.

7 Mike Schmidt had held 10th place, with 548.

8 Mientkiewicz had replaced Millar starting in the top of the eighth, and Reese had replaced Bellhorn starting in the top of the ninth.

9 The previous three had come on April 11, May 30, and July 24.

10 Bob Hohler, “Last Hurrah,” Boston Globe, September 23, 2004: E1.