8/7/2009 – A-Rod’s 15th Inning Exclamation Point
The Yankees were coming off their first win of the season against the Boston Red Sox after starting 0-8 against them. That was the one obstacle that remained between them and American League prominence.
A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett each turned in masterpieces on the hill and the game hit extra innings with no score involved. After an intense set of frames that had the Yanks knocking on the door, Alex Rodriguez stepped up with a man on in the 15th.
He took advantage of the first mistake he received from Junichi Tazawa, depositing it into the left-center field bullpen for a walk-off two-run homer to cap off a classic that lasted just over five and a half hours.
The Yanks went on to sweep the series at home, bury the Red Sox in the AL East, take nine of their last 10 meetings with Boston, and steamroll through the playoffs.
