Ryan Lavarnway Does More Than the Average Fill-In, Carries Red Sox Offense in Crucial Victory
Lavarnway's first career start behind the plate came at an unbelievably awkward time, for lack of a better term. He would be catching Erik Bedard, one of the team's newest pitchers, in the 161st game of the season, a must-win contest for a team on which he was only a bit player.
Just don't screw it up, kid.
He didn't, unless you consider the fact that he screwed up any aspirations for the Baltimore Orioles to play spoiler or for the Tampa Bay Rays to pull ahead of the Red Sox in the wild card race.
Lavarnway crushed the first two home runs of his major league career and made all the plays behind the plate in an 8-7 win over the O's that contained more drama than anything he thought he would encounter 24 hours before, when he was just riding the pine.
Amazingly, the 24-year-old Lavarnway was a picture of calm amid a tension-filled evening at Camden Yards.
"That's more than you can expect," manager Terry Francona said. "He had an unbelievable year in the minors but to come up and impact us like that in a game of this magnitude, oh my goodness. And he carried himself with a lot of poise. He called a good game, he made a couple of good throws … He really gave us a huge lift."
Lavarnway's first blast was a three-run shot that made it 5-1 in the fourth. For a guy that has hit 34 total home runs this year across three levels of the organization, these things are nothing new. Still, it was rather remarkable how level-headed he was about the whole thing.
"I was actually mad at myself before the first home run, a 3-1 pitch, I was trying to cheat and do too much with it," he said of a fastball he swung through. "And then on the 3-2 pitch I just tried to stay up the middle and it ended up going out."
It seemed at the time as if the Red Sox wouldn't need much more scoring, but they needed everything they got, including Lavarnway's second homer, which proved to be the decisive run. That came on a shot to center leading off the eighth that made it 8-4.
Lavarnway, who also got robbed of a hit with the bases loaded in the fifth, was exceptional defensively as well. The only stolen base attempt by Baltimore turned into an easy out because of a Lavarnway dart to third. And with runners on first and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth, he pounced on a swinging bunt to barely nail Matt Wieters at first base, the critical play in a lengthy final frame.
Once again, Lavarnway showed incredible maturity in assessing that play, quickly pointing out that he tripped and "looked silly." His teammates, who have scratched and clawed for everything this month, only to get very little in return, recognized the all-around effort.
"It was great. It was great. I'm proud of him," said Dustin Pedroia. "That's a big situation for a guy like that. Young guy. He did an unbelievable job."
When Francona gets to the park before Wednesday's all-in affair, he will check in on the condition of catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia (bruised collarbone) and Jason Varitek (bruised knee). It's nice to know that he has a third option that can not only hold down the fort, but perhaps even carry it to the finish line.
