Game 162: Yankees settle for Wild Card; Braves and Giants are playoff-bound

Jason Varitek says goodbye in what may have been his final game at Fenway in a Red Sox uniform. (Photo: Zimbio)

On this final day of baseball’s regular season, home of Game 162 for all, much was left to be decided. The New York Yankees needed a win and a Tampa Bays Rays loss to win the American League East. The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres were playing for the National League West title; if the Atlanta Braves won and the Giants did the same, San Diego, after leading the division for most of the year, would be left out of the playoff picture. And, considering what was at stake, it was a wild do-or-die day on the diamond, with nail-biters all around as expected.

New York Yankees v Boston Red Sox

What was on the line in this series wasn’t what the schedulers had in mind. Pitting Boston against New York on the final weekend was, nonetheless, genius, as the Red Sox, though out of contention, had an opportunity to make the Yankees miserable. A win by Boston at home would not only win the three-game series but it would force New York to start the playoffs on the road and miss out on the AL East title. They were out to play spoiler against their hated rival, and they did so.

Sunday’s game was Mike Lowell’s last. He didn’t play, perusing the dugout with fellow bench players instead, but his departure was a potential recurring theme for some of Boston’s other greats. The team has plenty of decisions to make. Will David Ortiz’s team option be picked up? Will Adrian Beltre, Victor Martinez, and captain Jason Varitek be re-signed? Martinez nor Beltre played in the finale, but if this was to be the last game of Ortiz and Varitek’s career in Boston they were going to try to go out with a bang.

J.D. Drew and Jed Lowrie hit two runs homers to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead after five innings. That’s when the real fun began. In the bottom of the sixth, after John Lackey mowed down New York in the top half, Ortiz led off the inning with a bunt single down the third base line. This man, who has been the Red Sox most beloved power hitter and has 32 homers and 102 rbi’s this season, laughed off the shift put on him and bunted to third base, where no Yankee was positioned.

Fenway Park got a kick out of it. So did the Red Sox in the dugout, which soon featured Ortiz, who was immediately replaced by a pinch-runner. Fans cheered him off the field, knowing this could have been the last time Ortiz, their hero in 2004 (and thereafter) and the one player who seemed to deliver every time it mattered, would wear a Red Sox uniform. Yet, despite the emotional rush that consumed Fenway Park at the moment of his exit, their is mutual interest for this not to be a swan song, as general manager Theo Epstein expressed his desire to keep Ortiz. Beltre and Martinez are also on his list as top priorities.

But what about Varitek? The 38-year-old captain and seldom-used catcher for the Red Sox wants to keep playing, but Boston may not have room for him. They know he may be gone, and he knows it is a distinct possibility. So, not surprisingly, what transpired suggested this was Varitek’s farewell. He started, which in itself is a rarity, and was given a standing ovation as he walked to the plate in eighth inning. He hit a deep flyball that reached the warning track before being caught and, as the opposite of Alex Rodriguez ego-wise, sprinted off the field into the dugout before Boston’s huge fan-base could serenade him as he deserved. He didn’t want the fan-fare, and, presumably, he didn’t want to get overly emotional, knowing this may be goodbye.

The crowd received their chance to appreciate his 13 years in Boston, as Varitek took his position behind home-plate to begin the top of the ninth and was promptly replaced by Kevin Cash, allowing the fans to bid him adieu as he jogged off the field and into the dugout. Because of this and Ortiz’s possible sendoff, it was an emotional final game for Boston, but they ended the season in celebration. It was a celebration of what Ortiz and Varitek have meant to the team all these years, and it was also a celebration of a strong finish to an injury-riddled and mentally taxing season.

Jason Heyward (front right) celebrates with his Atlanta Braves teammates after defeating the Phillies Sunday. (Photo: Zimbio)

Boston won, as closer Jonathan Papelbon made it interesting–as he seemingly always tends to do–before getting Rodriguez to groundout to end the game. The 8-4 victory didn’t put the Red Sox into the playoffs, but it did make the Yankees settle, which was as good a plan B as any to conclude a still successful season for Boston.

Atlanta Braves v Philadelphia Phillies

Atlanta took advantage of the fact that Philadelphia was using this game as a tune-up. Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels was pulled after two innings, fellow ace Roy Oswalt pitched an inning in relief as a in-game version of a bullpen session, then the so-so arms in their bullpen took over.

After Hamels' pinch-hitter, John Mayberry Jr., crushed a two-run homer in the third inning off Braves starting pitcher Tim Hudson, the Braves cut the deficit in half with rookie of the year candidate Jason Heyward lacing a two-out RBI-triple. Atlanta was just getting warmed up, as Danys Baez entered and was immediate bashed by the Braves very motivated bats.

Three consecutive singles were hit with one out in the fourth off Baez, with the third, coming on the first pitch the ever-clutch Brooks Conrad saw, scoring the tying run. After a second out was record, Hudson chipped in, then the flood-gates really opened as Omar Infante socked a two-run triple for a 5-2 advantage.

The lead, which ballooned to six, 8-2, ended up being far from safe, as closer Billy Wagner, one of the greatest in history struggled to conclude the bottom of the eighth inning. It was his first attempt at a four-out save on the season, and one could tell, as Philadelphia teed off, scoring three runs in the eighth after scoring two in the seventh off Hudson to slim the deficit to just one. Wagner, who will retire at season’s end, struck out Raul Ibanez to limit the damage then breezed through the ninth, the inning he is used to pitching, striking out the side to put Atlanta in wait-and-see mode.

Buster Posey celebrates his solo-homer in the eight, padding an already comfortable lead for the NL West-winning Giants.

If San Francisco won, Atlanta would be in the playoffs as the wild card and would play the Giants. If not, they would meet the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff to decide the NL’s fourth team.

San Francisco Giants v San Diego Padres

This is what baseball is made of. Final game of the season, two teams deadlocked. One is in the playoffs with a win; the other is watching on television, if they can bear to. Both the Giants and Padres worked their tails off to surpass the 90-win plateau, but they were going in different directions entering the game. San Diego entered the series three games behind, needing three wins in San Francisco to have a miraculous shot at reaching the postseason. They won the first two, setting up this win-or-go home finale.

But, what has bit them all season long did so again. The Padres' offense, which has been pretty poor all year, couldn’t get to Jonathan Sanchez, who dazzled in the month of September and continued to work his magic on this third of October. His pitch count was high in the early innings. He walked some hitters. But he never let the Padres mount make much noise. So, when Freddy Sanchez singled in Sanchez, who tripled, and Aubrey Huff hit a double to score Sanchez an uphill climb loomed for San Diego.

They couldn’t make it up the hill. Sanchez continued to pitch superbly, and the relief provided by Santiago Casilla–who dominantly collected five outs– Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo and, finally, closer Brian Wilson was tremendous in completing the four-hit shutout. Prior to Wilson’s entrance, Heyward’s ROY challenger Buster Posey crushed a solo-homer in the eighth, giving the Giants more insurance than they would need.

So, with bedlam following the final out in San Francisco, the playoffs were set. Giants v Braves and Phillies v Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series, while it's Yankees v Minnesota Twins and Rays v Texas Rangers on the American League side. These series begin later this week, and if they are anywhere near as exciting as the regular season’s final day baseball fans like myself will be in for a treat.