Sox Complete Historic Comeback
Boston blew away decades of defeat with four sweet swings on a cool New York night. Meanwhile, St. Louis needed one sweet swing to extend their series with Houston to a deciding seventh game.
Boston 10, New York 3
Believe it, New England — the Red Sox are in the World Series. And they got there with the most unbelievable comeback of all, shaming the New York Yankees, the Evil Empire to the south.
David Ortiz, Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe made sure of that.
Just three outs from getting swept out of the AL championship series three nights earlier, the Red Sox finally humbled the dreaded Yankees, winning Game 7 in a 10-3 shocker Wednesday night to become the first major league team ever to overcome a 3-0 postseason series deficit.
Cursed for 86 years, these Red Sox just might be charmed.
"All empires fall sooner of later," Boston president Larry Lucchino said.
There is no torture this time, no hour of humiliation. Better yet to Boston fans, it's the Yankees who are left to suffer the memory of a historic collapse.
"It's very amazing," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
Boston didn't need any of the late-inning dramatics that marked the last three games, leading 6-0 after two innings.
Ortiz, the series MVP, started it with a two-run homer in the first off broken-down Kevin Brown, and Damon quieted Yankee Stadium in the second inning with a grand slam on Javier Vazquez's first pitch.
After Derek Jeter sparked hope of a comeback with a run-scoring single in the third, Damon put a two-run homer into the upper deck for an 8-1 lead in the fourth.
Lowe, pitching on just two days' rest, silenced the Yankees' bats and their boasting fans, who just last weekend assumed New York's seventh pennant in nine years was all but a lock. He allowed one hit in six innings then Pedro Martinez started the seventh, his first relief appearance in five years.
Three hits and two runs got the crowd going, but the rally stopped there and Mark Bellhorn added a solo homer in the eighth for a 9-3 Boston lead.
Cheering of Red Sox fans could be heard in the ninth, and when pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra grounded to second baseman Pokey Reese for the final out, Boston players ran on the field and jumped together in a mass huddle to the first-base side of the mound.
"The greatest comeback in baseball history," said Red Sox owner John Henry.
The game was in New York, but the party was definitely in Boston, reports CBS News Early Show Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. Thousands of fans filled the streets around Fenway Park.
Yankees players slowly walked off, eliminated on their home field for the second straight season.
"I'm embarrassed right now," Alex Rodriguez said. "Obviously that hurts — watching them on our field celebrating."
"I want to congratulate the Boston team," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said. "They did very well. They have a great team."
"They had a lot of heart. They never gave up," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "That team never dies. I give them a lot of credit."
On a cool, crisp night in the Bronx, the historical pattern was broken, and the World Series will start at Fenway Park on Saturday night against St. Louis or Houston.
The Yankees had a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning of Game 4 on Sunday night, only to have Bill Mueller single home the tying run off Mariano Rivera and Ortiz hit a 12th-inning homer against Paul Quantrill.
They held a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning of Game 5 before Ortiz's homer off Tom Gordon and Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly off Rivera, and Ortiz's winning single off Esteban Loaiza in the 14th.
Then Curt Schilling, his right ankle held together by three sutures, beat the Yankees 4-2 Tuesday night to tie the series 3-all.
"We stuck together," Damon said, "and erased history."
Now that the Babe's team has been beaten, Boston can try to reverse The Curse, win the Series for the first time since 1918 and bring happiness to the Hub which can scarcely believe the tumultuous turn of events.
From Fenway Park to Faneuil Hall, from Boston Common to Beacon Hill, the 11th pennant for the Red Sox, the first since 1986, will be remembered as perhaps the sweetest.
None of the previous 25 major league teams to fall behind 3-0 even forced a series to seven games. The wild-card Red Sox became only the third of 239 teams in the four major North American sports leagues to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and win, joining hockey's 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders.
St. Louis 6, Houston 4
Jim Edmonds skipped around the bases, jumping into a cluster of St. Louis Cardinals waiting for him at home plate.
Now, waiting for all of them is Roger Clemens in an all-or-nothing Game 7.
Edmonds blasted a two-run homer in the 12th inning and the rejuvenated Cardinals turned Busch Stadium into a red frenzy, beating the Houston Astros 6-4 Wednesday to even the NL championship series at 3-all.
"We all watched TV as kids. We all hear all the stuff you guys say and write and show us. I finally get to play in a Game 7," Edmonds said.
"I think how much better does it get? Game 7 vs. Roger Clemens," he said.
After Jeff Bagwell's two-out single in the ninth off Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen tied it at 4, Edmonds won it with a one-out shot off Dan Miceli.
Bagwell didn't even bother watching as Edmonds' shot sailed way over the St. Louis bullpen in right field. The star first baseman simply walked across the field while the Cardinals streamed out of the dugout.
"A very winnable game for us, so I'm disappointed," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "Haven't given much thought to tomorrow's game, only that I had scheduled the Rocket to go."
Clemens came out of retirement for the sole purpose of pitching his hometown Astros into their first World Series. Now, the 42-year-old ace will get that chance Thursday night when he starts against former Boston teammate Jeff Suppan.
"What's there to say?" Clemens said, excusing himself to go watch Game 7 of the ALCS in which Boston beat New York 10-3. "We've got to win tomorrow."
It will be will Clemens' fourth career start in a Game 7 — he's 1-0 in those outings after getting knocked out early last year in the ALCS for the Yankees.
"I've never seen him pitch when he wasn't tough to beat," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "It shapes up to be a terrific matchup."