Mr. Septembers: Victor Martinez and Seth Smith Propel Wild Card Leaders To Wins

Starting pitcher Paul Byrd gave the Wild Card-leading Boston Red Sox five solid innings and left with a slim 3-2 lead. As Byrd neared the end of his outing, Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jason Hammel took the mound in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds.

Both teams are fighting for their lives in this season’s final month. Boston entered play with a 1 1/2 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the Wild Card standings; if they lost, the Rangers would close to within a game.

It’s a somewhat different story in Colorado. Heading into the second game of a three-game series with the Reds, the Rockies not only held a 3 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card over the fading San Francisco Giants, but were on the Los Angeles Dodgers' doorstep, just 3 1/2 behind the NL West division leaders. It was a playoff atmosphere for both Boston and Colorado and a must-win against their respective foes.

Byrd, coming off a terrible start in which he allowed seven runs on 10 hits against the Chicago White Sox, managed to redeem himself facing the Baltimore Orioles. His effort was wasted, however, as the one-run advantage the Red Sox held was too small for Boston’s bullpen to maintain.

Relievers Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez made a mess of the sixth inning. Delcarmen’s outing went like this: single, strikeout, a fielding error (by Delcarmen), a single to load the bases and a walk to reload them and give Baltimore the tying run. Ramirez came into a tight situation. He allowed a go-ahead RBI single to Felix Pie, but kept it a to one-run deficit by striking out the Orioles 3-4 hitters, rookie Nolan Reimold and star outfielder Nick Markakis, to end the threat.

Boston quickly went to work in the bottom of the inning as Jason Varitek notched his first multi-hit game since July 30 with a leadoff single, complimenting his fourth inning RBI double. Alex Gonzalez bunted pinch-runner Joe Gathright over to second, then after a groundout by Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia tied the contest with a clutch RBI single.

Red Sox reliever Billy Wagner did what Delcarmen couldn’t, pitching a perfect frame to send his offense back to work in the bottom of the seventh.

Kevin Youkilis led off the inning with a single, then following a strikeout by David Ortiz, Jason Bay lined a single to left and Mike Lowell walked to load the bases. George Kottaras, Boston’s backup catcher, got called back into the dugout, lifted for a pinch-hitter, Victor Martinez.

Martinez, acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Cleveland Indians, provided the bat the Red Sox were looking for during his first month with the team. After batting just .175 in July for the Indians, he hit .375 with five homers, 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored in August. He carried that success into this all-important month of September. Entering his at bat in the seventh, he had a .357 batting average in the month’s first eight games.

The Red Sox acquired him not only because of his versatility (he can play first base and catcher) and offensive talent, but for his professionalism and ability to come through in clutch situations. Well, this was one of those tense moments, and, on cue, he didn’t waste any time delivering. He clobbered a first-pitch fastball from Orioles reliever Danys Baez into the left-center gap. The ball carried all the way to the wall, and bounced off the Green Monster.

Youkilis and Bay scored easily, then Brian Anderson, a pinch runner for Lowell, scampered home. Cold off the bench, told to grab a bat and hit with the bases-loaded in a tie game, Martinez plated all three runs with a double.

As Jonathan Papelbon closed out a 7-5 win for the Sox, the Rockies were locked in a tight battle with the Reds. Three members of Colorado’s bright future, 23-year-old Eric Young Jr., 22-year-old Carlos Gonzalez and 27-year-old Seth Smith helped give Colorado an early lead.

Young singled, as did Gonzalez, then Smith, a very gifted hitter with outstanding plate discipline, scored Young from third with a sacrifice fly. Gonzalez’s baserunning tacked on a second run, as he stole second during Todd Helton’s at bat, then tagged and moved to third on his sacrifice fly.

This 2-0 lead held for seven innings as Hammel shut down the Reds, allowing only one hit. Then came the eighth. He allowed back-to-back doubles to Wladimir Balentien and Darnell McDonald, cutting the lead in half. A groundout moved McDonald to third and Hammel’s masterful outing came to a bitter end.

Kevin Barker greeted Hammel’s replacement, Rafael Betancourt, with a double to tie the game. Just like that, Hammel’s chance to collect his ninth win washed away.

So did the lead. Bentancourt, Joe Beimel, and Matt Delay combined to garner the final two outs of the eighth, escaping further damage in the process, but a mistake by Delay to begin the ninth put the Rockies in a tough spot. Scott Rolen, acquired in the widely-criticized deadline deal that sent Edwin Encarnacion to the Toronto Blue Jays, blasted a solo homer to left, his second shot in a little over two months as a Red.

Colorado was in a tough spot with only three outs to work with to score one run, but they were surprisingly comfortable. As Hammel said following the game, “I honestly don’t believe we understand how much pressure there is right now and I don’t think we care.” That’s the best attitude to have, and the very same mindset they had late in 2007 when they made a miraculous run to reach the World Series.

The bottom of the ninth felt like October baseball. Francisco Cordero, Cincinnatti’s closer, retired the first hitter, but then put the tying run on base as Clint Barmes doubled to deep left field. Pinch-hitter Jason Giambi didn’t have the flair for the dramatic Martinez had hours earlier.  He walked, as did Ryan Spilborghs. Then Gonzalez struck out, putting the Rockies' fate into Smith's hands.

A very patient hitter, Smith worked the count, fighting off every 97mph  fastball Cordero uncorked. He was calmly waiting for his pitch, which turned out to be the eighth of the at bat, a tailing fastball on the outside corner. He turned on the offering and roped it on two hops to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips. The rocket ate up the former Gold Glove winner. Phillips tried to recover, but couldn’t, as Barmes and Jason Marquis, the ace of their pitching staff who pinch-ran for Giambi, scored.

The sellout crowd at Coors Field cheered for Smith and their Rockies, just as the Fenway crowd did for Martinez and their Boston Red Sox. Two hitters, and two similar results that propelled two teams that can taste playoff baseball to much-needed victories.