Usually, the most unlikely of heroes arise in the playoffs. Enter Omir Santos 42 games into the Mets regular season.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Gary Sheffield standing on first base down 2-1 to the Boston Red Sox, Santos lined a Jonathan Papelbon fastball to the Monster.
On the field it was ruled a double, but after a replay review Santos was awarded the two-run homer and a Mets 3-2 lead.
Josh Beckett”s eight inning, one run (not earned), five strikeout performance was washed away as the Red Sox could not muster anything in the ninth.
Papelbon suffered his first loss and blown save of the season.
Goat of the Game – Paps
He was throwing darts in the two previous at-bats (both strikeouts to David Wright and Jeremy Reed) but the pitch to Santos was in the wheel house.
Next Game – 5/24 vs. New York Mets – Tim Redding/Tim Wakefield
When Boston has needed Wakefield to step up and win a big game he has. Don’t expect anything less than that to happen against Redding and the Mets.