When we last checked in on tonight’s Indians-Red Sox matchup, Austin Jackson was making an unforgettable catch for one of the year’s best highlights. The rest of the night lived up to that play.
While he ended up on the losing side, Jackson’s grab is now part of the greatest game of this MLB regular season so far, with Boston taking home the win in a madcap 12-10 affair.
Jackson’s catch came with the Indians up 7-5 in the fifth inning, as both starters Chris Sale and Carlos Carrasco had uncharacteristically poor outings. In the next frame, however, Mookie Betts and new acquisition Eduardo Núñez each got RBI hits to give their side a 9-7 lead.
Carlos Santana homered in the eighth to cut that deficit in half, and then in the ninth, Sox closer Craig Kimbrel blew it. He surrendered a lead-off dong to Francisco Lindor, then allowed the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch.
Then it was Indians closer Cody Allen’s turn to choke, even though he was agonizingly close to a save. With one runner on, Allen struck out Mitch Moreland for the third out. Too bad for him, the third strike was wild, and Moreland was able to reach base.
That mistake gave Christian Vázquez all the opportunity he needed to send the Fenway fans home delirious, and he did it in the most powerful, dramatic way possible—with a high, deep walk-off dinger to center.
It’s not a stretch of the imagination to say that these two teams could be playing for the pennant in a couple months. If all the games are like this one, let’s hope that happens.