The Boston Red Sox have played some long, long games this year.
Theoretically, Thursday’s win was one of them. But in another way, it was the shortest.
The Red Sox and Kansas City Royals picked up their suspended game from Aug. 7 at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon. The game resumed in the bottom of the 10th, and Josh Taylor kicked things off by pitching a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Christian Vazquez roped a one-out double, then pinch-runner Chris Owings came home two batters later on a single down the left-field line by Brock Holt, giving the Sox the 5-4 win.
Following the winning hit, Holt uncorked an interesting celebration, sprinting home and sliding.
After the game, Holt explained the reason for his celebration.
“I don’t know what got into me whenever I did that,” Holt told reporters, via MassLive. “I was just trying to dodge the guys coming in. And I saw home plate there and just went for it. So pretty cool, man. Just the moment kind of took over.”
It was a somewhat bizarre afternoon, and it only took 12 minutes to complete. But the unique circumstance resulted in quite the memory not only for those in attendance but the players as well.
“That was probably the most fun all of us have had playing baseball,” Holt said, via the Red Sox Twitter account.
Unusual it might have been, it certainly was a cool 12 minutes.
Here are some other notes from Aug. 7/Thursday’s Red Sox-Royals game:
— The win was the Red Sox’s sixth walk-off victory of the season, and they’re now 8-5 this year in extra innings.
It’s been a while since their fifth walk-off, which came June 24 against the Chicago White Sox.
— It’s been a great year at the plate for Vazquez, who furthered some career highs Thursday.
The catcher’s double in the 10th was his 22nd two-bagger and 41st extra-base hit.
— Taylor entered the game in a bizarre situation. The game was suspended with a 2-1 count and nobody on base, so that’s where it picked right back up. But Taylor settled in right away, getting a lineout on the first pitch he threw upon the conclusion of the suspension.
Taylor now has tossed nine straight scoreless outings, dating back to August 6.
— With the win, the Red Sox now trail the second wild-card spot by 6 1/2 games. They head to San Diego to kick off a three-game set with the Padres that will begins Friday.
