ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A startling rally by the Tampa Bay Rays, a season saved by a guy hitting only .108. A total collapse by the Boston Red Sox, on one more ball that just got away.
Another big win by Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals. Another near-miss for Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves.
A frenzied finish all over the majors on Wednesday night.
“One of the greatest days in baseball history,” the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira said.
And imagine this: Teixeira’s team lost.
The final day of the regular season had already shaped up as a wild one, with the playoff picture still a blur. Boston and Tampa Bay tied for the AL wild-card spot, Atlanta and St. Louis even for the NL wild-card slot, not a single postseason pairing set.
Turned out, it took at least three TVs to watch what followed.
Minute by minute, inning by inning, the races took shape, only to then suddenly fall apart. But when Evan Longoria hit his second home run of the game, connecting after midnight at Tropicana Field in the 12th inning to lift the Rays over the Yankees 8-7, everything was all set.
“I can barely breathe, to be honest with you. It doesn’t seem real,” Longoria said.
Boston held a nine-game lead over Tampa Bay on the morning of Sept. 4, but finished 7-20. The Red Sox became the first team to miss the postseason after holding that large a lead entering September.
Closer Jonathan Papelbon took a 3-2 lead into the ninth at Camden Yards and struck out the first two batters and was later one strike away from ending it. But Chris Davis and Nolan Reimold followed with doubles that tied it, and Robert Andino hit a single that sliding left fielder Carl Crawford couldn’t quite glove to win it for the Orioles, 4-3.
The Rays, meanwhile, rallied from a 7-0 deficit, tying the Yankees on a solo homer from pinch-hitter Dan Johnson – hitting .108 coming in – with two outs in the ninth inning. A roar erupted at Tropicana Field when Boston’s loss was posted on the scoreboard. Four minutes later, Longoria homered barely inside the left-field foul pole.
The Cardinals, who trailed the Braves by 101/2 games before play on Aug. 26, made it easy on themselves as Carpenter pitched them to an 8-0 win at Houston.
An hour or so later, St. Louis was in the playoffs when the Braves blew it. Philadelphia nicked closer Craig Kimbrel for a tying run in the ninth and won, 4-3 in the 13th, at Turner Field.
“This is tough,” Braves catcher Brian McCann said. “This is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had coming off a baseball field.”
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