September 28, 2007: Red Sox clinch American League East Division title

The New York Yankees had won the American League East Division nine years in a row, every year from 1998 through 2006. The last time the Boston Red Sox had won it was in 1995. On the morning of Friday, September 28, 2007, when the Red Sox hosted the Minnesota Twins in the second game of the regular season’s final series, they held a two-game lead over the Yankees with three games left to play. Two Red Sox wins or two Yankee losses, or one of each, would clinch the division for Boston.

Starting for Red Sox manager Terry Francona was right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, in his first major-league season after eight years in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League.1 “Dice-K” came into the game with a record of 14-12 (4.48 ERA). He had, though, gone 1-4 with a 8.15 ERA over his last eight starts.2 An Associated Press correspondent noted that observers were wondering whether the 27-year-old Matsuzaka was wearing down, 3 but Matsuzaka began his start with two strikeouts. Twins star Torii Hunter was up third in the first inning; he grounded out, second to first.

Under manager Ron Gardenhire, the Twins were 78-81, in third place in the AL Central Division, 16 games behind the division-champion Cleveland Indians. They’d beaten Boston the previous evening, 5-4.

The Red Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the first off Twins starter Kevin Slowey, a right-handed rookie who came into the game with a record of 4-0. With two outs, David Ortiz—who’d reached the majors with the Twins—doubled off the scoreboard in left field. It was his 52nd double of the season, and his 51st as a designated hitter, setting a new record for a DH.4 Third baseman Mike Lowell slapped a single to right, driving in a hustling Ortiz. Right fielder J.D. Drewdoubled down the left-field line, the ball taking an odd bounce and getting away from left fielder Jason Kubel, which enabled Lowell to score from first.

The Red Sox added another run in the bottom of the third. After a Dustin Pedroia single and a one-out wild pitch, Ortiz singled to right field. The single was his ninth consecutive hit and 11th consecutive time reaching base safely.5 He had been hot, boosting his batting average from .314 pre-All Star break to .348 after the break. With runners on first and third, Lowell grounded out, third to first, to bring home Boston’s third run. Lowell’s 118 RBIs led the team.6

Meanwhile, the Yankees, hoping to at least postpone Boston’s clinching, had taken a 4-1 lead in Baltimore after 2 ½ innings.

It remained 3-0 at Fenway Park until the sixth. Ortiz led off the bottom of the inning and had his hitting and on-base streaks snapped when Slowey induced him to ground out to second base. But Lowell doubled high off the wall in left and took third on an infield grounder. He scored to make it 4-0 on first baseman Kevin Youkilis’s single into right field, which just eluded second baseman Nick Punto’s effort.

In Baltimore, the Yankees—who had led by as much as five runs—also had a four-run lead, 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

The Twins finally got on the board in the seventh. Designated hitter Justin Morneau hit Matsuzaka’s second pitch three rows deep into the bleachers in straightaway center field for his 31st home run. After a strikeout and a base on balls, Matt LeCroy, appearing in the next-to-last game of his eight-season big-league career, hit Matsuzaka’s 100th pitch for a ground-rule double to right. Third baseman Brian Buscher brought Morneau home, grounding out second to first.

In the bottom of the eighth, Matt Guerrier took over from Glen Perkins, who had replaced Slowey. David Ortiz hit a one-out solo home run into the first row of the Monster Seats in left field, his 35th of the season. That made it 5-2.

Matsuzaka had contributed eight innings, and closer Jonathan Papelbon set down the Twins in order in the top of the ninth. It was Papelbon’s 37th save of the season.7

Of Matsuzaka, Torii Hunter (who had been 0-for-4 with two strikeouts) said the Red Sox pitcher had kept him off-balance with his mix of pitches. “Every at-bat I saw something different. It kind of scared me. …What’s a gyro-ball? It looked like he had one of those, too.”8

Matsuzaka allowed just two runs and six hits over eight innings, while striking out eight. Gardenhire was impressed how strong he had remained in his final inning. “I think that’s when you see a pitcher step up. He was throwing the ball a lot harder in the eighth inning than he was earlier in the game, and he really reared back and let it go.”9 Dice-K finished the season with 201 strikeouts and 204⅔ innings. He hit 200 in both categories during this September 28 game.10

With the win, the “magic number” for the Red Sox to clinch the division was down to one.

After the Red Sox-Twins game was over, several thousand fans remained in the park to watch the telecast of the Orioles-Yankees game on the center-field video message board. The Red Sox game had ended at 9:39 PM, but the Orioles game ran more than an hour later. Baltimore had come from behind and ultimately tied it, 9-9, with three runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The O’s won in the 10th, at 10:56 PM.11 The Red Sox were division champions for the first time in 12 seasons. At that point, as the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported, “the Red Sox emerged from their clubhouse, soaked in champagne, in celebration of their division championship, and saluted the rowdy fans who remained. Players ran around the perimeter of the field, high-fiving fans and spraying them with bubbly.”12

Among those who had watched the Orioles-Yankees game from seats in the ballpark were Red Sox owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner, and general manager Theo Epstein.13

For his part, watching from inside the clubhouse, Terry Francona said, “I pulled my hamstring jumping off the couch.”14

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credit: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference, Retrosheet, and YouTube.com. Thanks to Sarah Johnson for supplying access to newspapers from the Twin Cities.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200709280.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2007/B09280BOS2007.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDs8pcXw_iE

Notes

1 In December 2006, his contract had been purchased by the Red Sox. The team had paid the Seibu Lions, Matzusaka’s Japanese team, more than $51,000,000 just for the right to engage in contract talks with him and then reportedly another $52,000,000 for a new six-year deal. John Tomase, “Remembering Dice-K Mania and the Arrival of an International Sensation,” NBCBoston.com, May 12, 2021, https://www.nbcboston.com/news/sports/nbcsports/remembering-dice-k-mania-and-the-arrival-of-an-international-sensation/2378687/.

2 Daniel Malloy, “A strong Matsuzaka is Right on the Money,” Boston Globe, September 29, 2007: E5.

3 Howard Ulman, Associated Press, “Boston Wins, Waits to Claim Division,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Patriot-News, September 29, 2007: Sports 6.

4 Joe McDonald and Steven Krasner, “Ortiz is in the Swing at Playoff Time,” Providence Journal, September 29, 2007: B5. Ortiz finished the season with 35 homers and 117 RBIs, leading the American League in two categories: bases on balls (111) and on-base percentage (.445).

5 Through 2026, the consecutive hit record of 12 is held by six players: Tyler Tolbert of the Kansas City Royals (2026), José Miranda of the Twins (2024), Walt Dropo of the Detroit Tigers (1952), Pinky Higgins of the Red Sox (1938), and Johnny Kling of the Chicago Cubs (1902). In games played since 1901, Ted Williams holds the record for reaching base in 16 consecutive plate appearances, something he achieved in 1957.

6 Lowell finished 2007 with 120 RBIs, three more than second-place David Ortiz.

7 This was Papelbon’s third season in the majors, and the 37 saves represented his most to date, though he matched or bettered it five more times during his 12 years in the big leagues. His ERA for 2007 was 1.85 – higher than the 0.92 of the year before, but exceptionally good nonetheless.

8 Phil Miller, “Writers Honor Hunter,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 29, 2007: 9D.

9 Malloy.

10 He became the first rookie to do so since 1984, when both Dwight Gooden and Mark Langston had accomplished the feat. Malloy.

11 The times are as provided by Gordon Edes’ article in the Boston Globe. Gordon Edes, “Bubbling over,” Boston Globe, September 29, 2007: E1.

12 Miller. The Red Sox game began at 7:06 PM. and lasted 2:33. The Orioles game started at 7:08 and ran 3:49.

13 Of watching on the videoboard, an exuberant Epstein said, “We were like a bunch of 13-year-olds. I’ve never seen so many old men, myself included, cheer for a bunt.” Amalie Benjamin, “The drought is over – and Francona, Epstein soak it in.” Boston Globe, September 29, 2007: E1, E5.

14 Ulman. For those Twins who may have been watching, some had been with the team on October 1, 2006. As the Star-Tribune reminded readers: “Remember that day at the Metrodome? The Twins defeated the White Sox and then watched from the dugout—with about 35,000 remaining fans—as the Royals defeated Detroit, giving the Twins an unlikely AL Central title.” Joe Christensen, “Boston 5, Twins 2; Red Sox Clinch A.L. East Crown,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, September 29, 2007: C7.