Tied at five in the top of the eighth inning with a runner on first and the rain coming down, John McDonald ripped a double to left field where Jason Bay relayed it to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who then fired a bullet to the plate where Tek was patiently waiting for rookie Travis Snider, a 230-pounder who was barreling his way down the line looking for the Jays’ go-ahead run.
Tek was able to stand his ground, and with his left leg firmly in place at the outer edge of the plate, he spun off Snider as he slid in and was able to tag him out for the inning’s second out. That out proved to be an important one as the Sox would plate one run in the bottom half and go on to win 6-5.
“He got his leg out and he fended him off,” Francona said after the victory. “He obviously was going to beat the throw but he didn’t give him a chance to get his leg in there and it saved the game and we’ve seen him do it before.”
But all of the credit on that crazy play can’t go just to Varitek. All parties involved deserve some props.
“A lot of things have to work,” said Francona, “timing, and you’ve got to have a clean cut-off, you’ve got to get a clean throw he can handle. But he’s strong and he’s got a pretty sturdy lower-half and we have seen him do that before and he’s willing to do that and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
