Al Alburquerque didn’t have much of a chance once he walked the lead off hitter. Sixty-percent of the time every time a lead off walk will turn into a run and that’s what happened tonight, as fate had it.
Alburquerque, who walked three batters two outings ago, walked Youkilis to start the ninth — a bad omen on a foggy night in Boston and a half inning after the Tigers blew their second opportunity of the game to score some runs with the bases loaded.
David Ortiz followed up the walk with a base hit to right field, setting up first and third with nobody out. Leyland had Alburquerque intentionally walk J.D. Drew to set up the force at every base, but with zero outs and the bases loaded, the Red Sox weren’t going to let this one get away from them.
Alburquerque got his only out of the outing on a bizarre play — a bloop to left field that fell between shortstop Jhonny Peralta and left fielder Andy Dirks, on which Dirks came up throwing to home plate to get the force out there, keeping the game alive.
Carl Crawford, however, singled in Ortiz’s pinch-runner Darnell McDonald for the winning run. It was Crawford’s third walk-off hit this month.
Jonathan Papelbon gets the win for the Red Sox and improves to 2-0. Albuquerque records his first loss of his MLB career.