Jacoby Ellsbury has been a bright spot in what has been a month disastrous for the Boston Red Sox. And Sunday night, just may have saved the season for his team.
His three-run homer in the top of the 14th inning against the Yankees lifted the Red Sox to a 7-4 victory and a split of a doubleheader. More importantly, prevent them from falling into a tie with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL wild card, Boston, who led by nine games in early September.
Ellsbury, who also hit a pair of homers in a 6-2 loss to the Yankees earlier in the day, now has seven homers and a .350 batting average in September, in which his team has spent six -18. It is also the seventh player in major league history to have at least 30 homers, 30 steals, 100 RBI, 100 runs and 200 hits in a season.
But none of that probably would have minded so much if Ellsbury had not reached 31 home run Sunday night to give the Red Sox a one-game lead over the Rays with only three remaining matches of the season.
“This is a huge win. It allows us to control our own destiny,” Ellsbury said. “We know if we win out that we're in. We don't have to scoreboard-watch or anything like that. We know if we play like we can, it's in our hands. We know what's at stake, so it's definitely a huge win for us.”
