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The Bloody Sock Game – Schilling and Red Sox force a deciding game 7 in ALCS

On October 19, 2004 — In a game known as the “Bloody Sock Game” which features two reversed calls by the umpires, the Boston Red Sox, who were just three outs from being swept in Game 4, become the first team in baseball history after trailing any series 0-3 to force a Game 7. Curt Schilling, playing with a dislocated ankle tendon being held in place three sutures put in the day before, gives up one run over seven innings, in Boston’s 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

One of the plays featured Alex Rodriguez, who is ruled out for interference after slapping the ball from Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s glove. The ball rolled up the first-base line into the short right field and Derek Jeter who was on first came around to score. However, the umpires ruled correctly it was interference and as a result, Jeter, is ordered back to first with two outs rather than one, killing a potential rally.

The other was a Mark Belhorn 3-run homerun that was initially ruled a double but was clearly an opposite-field home run that cleared the wall by 5 feet and landed in a fan’s chest and bounced back onto the field. The umpires gathered and got that call correct as well.

 

League Championship Series Game 6

Boston Red Sox 4, New York Yankees 2

Date – October 19, 2004
Venue at Yankee Stadium I
Attendance: 56,128
Game Duration: 3:50

LINE SCORE: WP: CSchilling LP: JLieber SV: KFoulke

BOS A 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 11 0
NY A 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 – 2 6 0

Starting Lineups

Boston Red Sox
1 Johnny Damon CF
2 Bill Mueller 3B
3 Manny Ramirez LF
4 David Ortiz DH
5 Trot Nixon RF
6 Kevin Millar 1B
7 Jason Varitek C
8 Orlando Cabrera SS
9 Mark Bellhorn 2B
Curt Schilling P

New York Yankees
1 Derek Jeter SS
2 Alex Rodriguez 3B
3 Gary Sheffield RF
4 Hideki Matsui LF
5 Bernie Williams CF
6 Jorge Posada C
7 Ruben Sierra DH
8 Tony Clark 1B
9 Miguel Cairo 2B
Jon Lieber P

 

Box Scores:

Baseball-Reference
Retrosheet

Play by Play

RED SOX 1ST: Damon was called out on strikes; Mueller was hit by
a pitch; Ramirez flied to right; Ortiz grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 0, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 1ST: Jeter flied to right; Rodriguez lined to shortstop;
Sheffield popped to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 0,
Yankees 0.

RED SOX 2ND: Nixon grounded out (second to first); Millar
singled to right; On a bunt Varitek singled to third [Millar to
second]; Cabrera singled to left [Millar to third, Varitek to
second]; Bellhorn grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Cabrera out at second]; 0 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Red Sox 0, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 2ND: Matsui flied to center; Williams popped to third;
Posada flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 0, Yankees
0.

RED SOX 3RD: Damon singled to left; Mueller grounded into a
double play (shortstop to first) [Damon out at second]; Ramirez
flied to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 0, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 3RD: Sierra struck out; Clark flied to left; Cairo
doubled; Jeter flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox
0, Yankees 0.

RED SOX 4TH: Ortiz grounded out (catcher to first); Nixon
grounded out (second to first); Millar doubled to left; Lieber
threw a wild pitch [Millar to third]; Varitek singled to center
[Millar scored]; Cabrera singled to left [Varitek to second];
Bellhorn homered [Varitek scored, Cabrera scored]; the ball
was caught and dropped by a fan in the LF seats; it dropped onto
the field and was initially called in play by LF umpire Jim
Joyce; after Red Sox manager Terry Francona came onto the field,
the umpires huddled and reversed the call to a home run;
Damon flied to left; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 4TH: Rodriguez singled to center; Sheffield singled to
third [Rodriguez to second]; Matsui popped to first; Williams
grounded out (first to pitcher) [Rodriguez to third, Sheffield
to second]; Posada grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 0.

RED SOX 5TH: Mueller grounded out (first to pitcher); Ramirez
flied to center; Ortiz flied to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red
Sox 4, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 5TH: Sierra struck out; Clark struck out; Cairo grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 4,
Yankees 0.

RED SOX 6TH: Nixon was called out on strikes; Millar grounded
out (third to first); Varitek flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 6TH: Jeter grounded out (second to first); Rodriguez
flied to right; Sheffield flied to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. 
Red Sox 4, Yankees 0.

RED SOX 7TH: Cabrera flied to center; Bellhorn flied to right;
Damon grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red
Sox 4, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 7TH: Matsui grounded out (first unassisted); Williams
homered; Posada popped to second; Sierra struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 1.

RED SOX 8TH: Mueller grounded out (first unassisted); Ramirez
singled to right; HEREDIA REPLACED LIEBER (PITCHING); Ortiz
flied to right; KAPLER BATTED FOR NIXON; QUANTRILL REPLACED
HEREDIA (PITCHING); Kapler singled to shortstop [Ramirez to
second]; Millar grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 1.

YANKEES 8TH: KAPLER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); ARROYO REPLACED
SCHILLING (PITCHING); MIENTKIEWICZ REPLACED MILLAR (PLAYING 1B);
Clark struck out; Cairo doubled to right; Jeter singled to left
[Cairo scored]; Rodriguez grounded out (pitcher unassisted)
[Jeter stayed at first]; Alex Rodriguez swatted at Bronson
Arroyo's arm to dislodge the ball from the glove; Doug
Mientkiewicz blocked 1B umpire Randy Marsh's view of the play,
who called Rodriguez safe even though he had not touched the
bag; the ball rolled down the line into RF; Derek Jeter scored
on the play and Rodriguez ended up at 2B; the Red Sox complained
about the interference so the umpires huddled for the second
time in the game and called Rodriguez out and returned Jeter to
1B; Yankees manager Joe Torre was very upset; fans threw junk on
the field including baseballs; after a long meeting between the
umpires, MLB security and NYC police, police in riot gear were
placed along the stands on both sides of the field for the rest
of the game; Sheffield popped to catcher; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 2.

RED SOX 9TH: Varitek singled to center; Cabrera forced Varitek
(second to shortstop); STURTZE REPLACED QUANTRILL (PITCHING);
Cabrera stole second; Bellhorn walked; REESE RAN FOR BELLHORN;
Damon popped to shortstop; Mueller popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Red Sox 4, Yankees 2.

YANKEES 9TH: REESE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); FOULKE REPLACED
ARROYO (PITCHING); Matsui walked; Williams struck out; Posada
popped to third; Sierra walked [Matsui to second]; Clark struck
out; the Red Sox become the first team to come back from a
3-0 deficit in a 7-game series; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Red
Sox 4, Yankees 2.

Final Totals      R   H   E  LOB
 Red Sox          4  11   0    7
 Yankees          2   6   0    6

Other Resources & Links

Retro Sheet PBP & Box Score

Baseball-Reference Box Score