By Lucas Frankel 9-20-13
Image / WEBN Sports Photographer: Lucas Frankle
Fenway Park was rocking tonight. Boston Red Sox fans cheered into the night well after they watched their team beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3.
The players jammed into the clubhouse to pour champagne all over each other and then ran back to the field to cheer themselves and interact with the fans. And it was all because they had clinched the American League East Division.
What a difference a year makes! This was extra sweet for Boston because a year ago the team was in last place with a 69-93 record. Now they have landed in first. It is starting to look like 2007 which is when the Red Sox last won the East Division and went on to win the World Series.
It was a great night for John Lester. The starter pitched 7 innings of one-run ball, holding the last place Jays to 5 hits while striking out 8. Lester picked up his 15th win of the season and the 100th of his career.
Entering the bottom of the 7th inning, the Sox were clinging to a 2-1 lead. That’s when David Ortiz knocked in Jackie Bradley Jr. to increase Boston’s lead to 3-1, and Mike Carp followed by knocking in 2 more runs with a bases loaded single to extend Boston’s lead to 5-1. Toronto responded in the top of the 8th when Adam Lind drilled a pinch-hit 2-run home-run to bring the Jays right back in it.
Dustin Pedroia made sure that was as close as Toronto would get. In the bottom of the 8th, Pedroia singled in Will Middlebrooks to make the score 6-3. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth inning, and stuck out Brett Lawrie to end the game.
This season should help Boston fans forget the epic collapse two years ago when the Red Sox blew a 9-game September Wild-Card lead to lose out on a playoff spot on the last day of the season.
All Boston has left to play now is home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Only 7 games remain in the regular season, and the Sox have a 2.5 game lead over Oakland for the right to have the road to the World Series travel through Fenway Park.