An Epic at Fenway

Brother, where do we start with Wednesday night's game?

The Red Sox fell behind with Paul Byrd on the mound, 3-0. It looked the Angels had this game, as Joe Saunders was cruising after five shutout innings. But the Red Sox scored five runs and knocked him out, and it looked like the red Sox might be on their way to another win.

But Jason Varitek mishandled a third strike after Kendry Morales struck out, and it kept the sixth inning alive. And the Angels took advantage and scored four runs off Ramon Ramirez to make it 7-5.

The Red Sox tied it up in the eighth on Jacoby Ellsbury's single, but Daniel Bard gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth after two were out and no one on base.

Brian Fuentes came in to close out the ninth for the Angels and got the first two outs. But three straight hits loaded the bases, and brought up Nick Green.

He took a 3-2 pitch that looked like strike three for sure. But the ump called it ball four and it was tied again. (I bet Mike Scioscia is still complaining about it and with good reason. Amica Pitch Zone on NESN had the pitch nearly down the middle of the plate.) And Alex Gonzalez, who continues to be a godsend with the bat, hit a bloop single to left to give the Red Sox a thrilling 9-8 win and a seven-game winning streak. (I thought Juan Rivera would and could catch that fly. He didn't make the best effort to grab it.)

Texas dropped another at home, and got just one hit as Oakland won, 4-0, so the Sox are now a strong 6 1/2 games ahead of them in the Wild Card, and the Magic Number for the playoffs is now at 11.