Gomes 3 Run Blast Propells Red Sox to 4-2 Win, Series Tied At 2

Red Sox left fielder Johnny Gomes, who was a late addition to the lineup after Shane Victorino was scratched late with lower back tightness, hit a go ahead 3 run homerun off of St. Louis reliever Seth Maness with 2 outs in the top of the 6th inning to break a 1-1 tie and propel the Red Sox to a much needed win to tie the 2013 World Series at 2 games apiece.  The Cards struck first in the bottom of the 3rd on a Carlos Beltran single. However, the Sox would tie it in the top of the 5th on a sacrifice fly by Stephan Drew. That set the stage for the key moment of the game. In the top of the 6th, after 2 quick outs, Dustin Pedroia singled and David Ortiz walked. Mike Matheny than pulled starter Lance Lynn in favor of reliever Seth Maness to face Gomes. It proved to be a mistake as Gomes hammered a 387 foot blast to left field, giving the Sox a 3 run lead which proved to be the difference. I personally think Matheny should have stuck with Lynn to face Gomes. He was pitching well and had only thrown 89 pitches to that point. But I am not an MLB manager. The Cards would get a run in the bottom of the 7th on a single by Matt Carpenter to make it 4-2. Then in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs and nobody on, Allen Craig singled. Matheny called on rookie Kolten Wong to pinch run, with Carlos Beltran at the plate. Wong would end up getting picked off of 1st to end the game. Now it is unlikely that St. Louis would have won the game had Wong not gotten picked off, but with Beltran, one of the greatest postseason hitters ever at the plate, all the Cards needed was a double to get them within 1 run and have the tying run in scoring position. But, a lot of things happen over the course of a game, and to blame Wong for the Cardinals loss is just not right. Both teams got decent efforts out of their starting pitchers, as Lance Lynn pitch 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 earned runs(2 off of the Gomes homerun),  and Clay Buchholz had a short but strong outing, giving up 1 run(0 earned) in 4 innings. The Sox got a big boost out of Felix Doubront, who relieved Buchholz and pitch 2 2/3 innings, giving up 1 earned run for the win.

Game 5 will be huge, and I think whoever wins will end up taking home the World Series title. Note: Up until this weekend, no postseason games had ever ended on a obstruction call of a pickoff. Both of those things happened in games 3 and 4.

Well that's it for this article. It should be a great rest of the series. Thanks for reading.