Ellsbury, the Hero: MVP candidate saves Boston's season against Yankees

Thanks to Jacoby Ellsbury, right, the Red Sox maintained their Wild Card lead. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

There is a lot of talk about Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Adrian Gonzalez in regards to the AL MVP. Those are the four players TBS had on their graphic during this morning’s telecast of the Boston Red Sox game against the New York Yankees. They mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury in an off-hand way, but as he showed late in the Bronx on Sunday night he is more than just an aside; he is perhaps the candidate. Because of his powerful bat, Boston’s season was saved. What better defines the term valuable than that?

The double-header’s nightcap was an epic battle, as any game between the rivals is, and Boston needed a victory in the worst way. Lose, and they get swept and see their Wild Card lead completely evaporate. Win, and they watch their confidence go through the roof, holding a one-game lead with three remaining.

Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay reiterated throughout the long night just how important a win was for Boston. A defeat would have been their 19th in 24 September games. They gave everything they had to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

With the Red Sox down 3-0 after the first inning, the Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham had this to say on Twitter: “Only question now seems to be how many games the #RedSox finish behind the Rays, one, two or three. ” Hope was lost. Confidence and optimism had become foreign words. At least that’s how Abraham felt. The team, however, played their hearts out knowing there was time to recover, time to win some games and make the playoffs.

They played with so much passion. They didn’t look down. They hustled on the basepaths, looked to get the lead runners defensively, were aligned to cut off balls headed for the wall, took pitches, and slammed coolers in the dugout when things didn’t go their way. They had an incredible amount of fight in them. And this attitude proved to be very beneficial.

Boston battled back from that 3-0 hole to surprisingly take the lead late. They hadn’t been able to erase early deficits all month. This was a perfect time for this trend to end. J.D. Drew, playing his first game in more than two months, had an rbi-single in the fifth, Adrian Gonzalez had an rbi-groundout in the sixth, and Marco Scutaro and Jason Varitek plated runs in the seventh.

John Lackey, who was deemed the worst pitcher in the American League by The New York Times’, did his part to make this lead possible. He was one of Boston’s many emotional and effective players and delivered with his best start in months. He knew the game’s magnitude, and settled down after the rough first to pitch into the seventh.

He was furious when manager Terry Francona took him out after 86 pitches; “You’ve got to be (expletive) kidding me!”, he screamed, walking off the mound. The lead was soon lost by the bullpen. He was even madder, and was still shaking his head in the dugout innings later.

He had many innings to think about Francona’s quick hook. Seven more, in fact.

There were times it seemed it wouldn’t end. This marathon had everything a fan could ask. The bullpens kept getting out of jams, while hitters swung out of their shoes trying to break the tie. Marco Scutaro was intentionally walked by Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer of all time, fueling some laughs. Dustin Pedroia slid head-first into first. Jonathan Papelbon mowed down the Yankees in his longest outing of the season. Daniel Bard and Franklin Morales almost imploded. Outfielders caught deep, loud outs. Coolers were destroyed. Curse words were uttered at a prolific rate. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected. Forty-one-thousand fans left by the 14th. And then there was Ellsbury.

The center-fielder has been one of few Red Sox hitters to have a superb September at the plate. He kept his hot stretch going with two solo-homers in the opener, giving him 30 longballs and 100 rbi’s on the season. He would have more of both by the end of the night.

Two were out and two were on in the 14th when he stepped into the box. Scott Proctor’s ERA was much larger when Ellsbury left it, and the bases were empty.

The second pitch the 27-year-old saw from the Yankee reliever was crushed over the right-field fence. A 7-4 lead was Boston’s, and a win was soon theirs, too. The biggest of the season, and who better to deliver than Ellsbury?

“I don’t care who it was, but that was kind of fitting,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said, as documented by The New York Times. “He’s an extraordinary player.”

Fresh off beating the Yankees, that extraordinary player and his team now becomes their rivals biggest fan, as New York now takes on the Rays. The Red Sox can’t just hope Tampa Bay gets beat, though. They have to take care of business against Baltimore. They can with their leadoff hitter leading the charge. And fresh off the this astronomically important and confidence-building win, it would be a surprise to few if Ellsbury the MVP candidate doesn’t play hero yet again.