By Codie Walsh
Wednesday marked the end of the MLB regular season. Two games made this a historical night.
At the beginning of September, Boston held first place in the American League, ahead by nine games. Through continued losses Boston went from being in first to a wild card contender; they ended up tying season records with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays went on to clinch the wild card, which would be decided by either the final game of the regular season or a one game series.
Boston was supposed to win against the Orioles. Baltimore was able to get the lead in the bottom of the second inning, but Boston quickly came back to tie and lead by the top of the fifth. Going into the ninth, Boston still led three to two. In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs (the last chance for Baltimore to take the lead), Chris Davis hit a double to deep right field. The Orioles decided to have K Hudson run for Davis with Nolan Reimold at the plate. Reimold hit a ground rule double to deep center, allowing Hudson to score. The game was now tied three to three. Robert Andino came up to bat and was able to get a single to left and Reimold scores. The Orioles won, meaning a win would give the Rays the wild card.
The Rays were playing the Yankees. By the second inning, the Rays were already down by five. It wasn’t until the bottom of eight that the Rays were able to score, making the game seven to six. Bottom of nine, still down by one and Davey Johnson was able to hit a solo homerun to right. The game moved to extra innings. Bottom of 12 with one out, Evan Longoria was up. Longoria blasted a hit to left field, barely fair, but still a homerun. The Rays won, taking the final ticket to the playoffs from Boston. The player of the game was Longoria who had a total of 4 RBIs and hit the game-winning homerun.
