Red Sox, Braves cap off historic September collapse with dramatic losses

One of the most exciting nights in MLB regular season history culminated in both the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves losing out on the playoffs in dramatic fashion.

Here’s a recap:

Yankees-Rays

Trailing 7-0 in the 8th inning, the Rays appeared to be done. Fans vacated Tropicana Field en masse and in disbelief at how poor the Rays had played in a must-win game.

But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

The Rays went on to score six runs capped by Evan Longoria’s three-run shot to pull within a run of the Yankees.

In the 9th inning, down to their last out and last strike, Dan Johnson, who was batting .108 and who hadn’t hit a home run since April 8th, delivered this miraculous shot down the right field line.

And of course, the comeback wouldn’t be complete without an extra innings walk-off home run. This one courtesy of Evan Longoria–sending the Rays into the postseason.

Red Sox-Orioles

During a rain delay in the 7th inning, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy had this to say about the Rays coming back to defeat the Yankees.

It was as if Shaughnessy and his terrible hair dared the baseball Gods to reverse the Red Sox fortune.

And they complied.

Tied at 3-3 in the ninth inning, and with Jonathon Papelbon on the mound, this happened.

Here are some relevant screencaps immediately following the loss (LOOZAHS).

Braves-Phillies

With the Cardinals winning earlier in the night, the best the Braves could hope for was a Game 163. They didn’t get it.

Here’s Hunter Pence’s shattered bat infield hit that effectively ended the Braves season.

As my dear friend Cartman once said, “the tears of unfathomable sadness”.

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