The Red Sox had their ace reliever on the mound with a 4 run lead in the 9th. But Jonathan Papelbon blew the save and blew his cool in a meltdown against the Oakland A’s on Saturday. Watch the Fireworks from Fenway here:
Papelbon Gets Tossed
Papelbon was ejected for arguing balls and strikes – and showing too much emotion to home plate umpire Tony Randanzzo, who tossed him from the game – ironically after a called strike. Then Papelbon did the unthinkable – he charged home plate and bumped into Randanzzo – which will probably earn him a suspension. Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek was also ejected by the same umpire. For Varitek, it was his 5th ejection – for Papelbon it was his first. The A’s rallied to tie the score at 7 and take the game into extra innings.
But in the bottom of the 14th J.D. Drew had a walk off single to lead the Red Sox to an 8-7 victory. A tough loss for the A’s – who came from behind but came up short. Now the Red Sox face the prospect of losing the services of their top reliever, who couldn’t put out the fire and showed himself to be a true hothead.
