Torii Hunter said it felt like running into an outfield wall when his Bentley got rear-ended before the game against the Seattle Mariners. Then he braved the outfield wall to make a game-saving, ninth-inning catch.
Hunter nabbed what might have been Richie Sexson’s third home run of the game in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-4 win over the Mariners on Friday night.
Meanwhile, no leaping outfielder could come close to catching the shot David Ortiz hit.
The slumping Ortiz hit a third-inning grand slam over the Green Monster in Boston’s 11-3 win over Texas.
Ortiz entered the game hitting just .111, the lowest of any regular in the majors. His slam was his seventh with the Red Sox, and seventh at Fenway – tying a record held by Ted Williams and Jim Rice.
“I’m sure he’s going to feel good about it,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “Obviously we do.”
Hunter, dealing with a stiff neck and back after his fender bender, sprinted toward the wall and made a leaping catch above the center-field wall with two outs in the ninth inning. Had he not made the catch, Sexson’s two-run homer would have given the Mariners the lead.
“That was sweet, man,” Hunter said. “You can’t beat taking a home run away. That probably could have been the game-winner, so I’m pretty excited about that – winning the game with my glove. Things started off pretty rough today and it was pretty frustrating, so I went out there and tried to take it out on them in the game.”
In other AL games, it was: Baltimore 8, New York 2; Detroit 8, Toronto 4; Chicago 9, Tampa Bay 2; Cleveland 4, Minnesota 0; Oakland 13, Kansas City 2.
Hunter also doubled his first three times up, driving in three runs with his first two-base hit about 5 hours after getting rear-ended by a driver talking on a hands-free cell phone. The seven-time Gold Glove winner was waiting at a stop light when the accident occurred. No one in either vehicle was seriously injured.
“I haven’t had an accident in 15 years. Then I come to L.A.,” said Hunter, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Angels in November. “I tried to treat myself a couple of weeks ago, and look what happened. The air bags didn’t even deploy. You know, I’m kind of disappointed that I got rear-ended in a Bentley, and they didn’t deploy. I won’t feel safe in that no more.”
Sexson, who already had driven in four runs with a pair of homers against lefty Joe Saunders (3-0), hit a towering drive off Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. Hunter, known for his home run-stealing catches, timed his leap at the wall perfectly and came down with the ball and a big smile.
“I think it was over the fence, but not by much,” Hunter said. “He hit it pretty high. There was a little angle out there at the outfield fence, so you didn’t know if you were going to hit that fence first before the ball got close to it. But I just tried to jump up and time it. If it was close, I was getting it.”
Rodriguez, pitching for the fifth time in six days, barely earned his seventh save.
“That was the greatest catch I’ve ever seen,” said Rodriguez, who has had only one clean ninth inning in his nine appearances. “It was a great experience for me to be a part of it. He saved me right there. That was an unbelievable catch. It doesn’t surprise me because I’ve seen him do that on the highlights on TV.”
Ortiz’s slam – his first hit at Fenway this season – erased Boston’s 1-0 deficit against starter Luis Mendoza (0-1) in the third after Jed Lowrie doubled and Jacoby Ellsbury and Pedroia walked. It was his second homer of the season.
“It’s just a matter of time,” Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. “It was a big lift for him.”
Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-0) stayed unbeaten and Dustin Pedroia hit his first homer, a two-run shot that capped Boston’s five-run fourth inning.
The Red Sox won for the sixth time in seven games.
Orioles 8, Yankees 2
Jay Payton and Melvin Mora had two RBIs apiece in a seven-run sixth inning, Daniel Cabrera took a four-hitter into the seventh for host Baltimore.
Cabrera and Phil Hughes were locked in a 1-1 duel before the Orioles sent 11 men to the plate in their most productive inning of the season. Baltimore got seven hits, all of them singles, against three pitchers.
Indians 4, Twins 0
Cliff Lee pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, Casey Blake homered and had three RBIs, and visiting Cleveland beat Francisco Liriano and the Twins.
Liriano (0-2) lasted five innings, giving up three runs and four hits with five walks and three strikeouts in his second start.
Tigers 8, Blue Jays 4
Edgar Renteria hit a two-run home run, Kenny Rogers won for the first time since July and Detroit handed Toronto its sixth consecutive home defeat.
The Blue Jays have not won at home since April 6, when they completed a three-game sweep of Boston. It’s Toronto’s longest home losing streak since an eight-game skid from April 5-17, 2004.
White Sox 9, Rays 2
Jim Thome hit his 511th career home run and Javier Vazquez won his third consecutive start to help visiting Chicago win for the 10th time in 14 games.
The White Sox designated hitter tied Hall of Famer Mel Ott for 21st place on the all-time list with his fourth homer of the season, which hit an overhanging catwalk. Thome has reached base safely in all 26 games he has played at Tropicana Field.
Athletics 13, Royals 2
Bobby Crosby homered and drove in five runs, Chad Gaudin had his strongest outing of the season and host Oakland snapped a three-game losing streak.
Emil Brown and Ryan Sweeney added three hits apiece for the A’s, who broke out of a week-long offensive slump with their highest run total of the season, including a four-run sixth inning against Royals starter Brian Bannister (3-1).
Add A Comment