David Ortiz trends as Red Sox revisit his 2013 ALCS grand slam against the Tigers
A retrospective on David Ortiz's game-tying grand slam against Detroit in the 2013 ALCS is driving search interest around the anniversary of the at-bat.
Why David Ortiz is trending
David Ortiz is trending because outlets are running anniversary pieces on his grand slam against the Detroit Tigers, a swing that happened on October 13, 2013, in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. Yahoo Sports published a video retrospective on the moment, and a separate writeup recapping the at-bat went up this week as well. There's no new Ortiz news here. This is a look back at an old game, not a current event.
What's known comes straight from those two accounts. Boston trailed Detroit 5-1 heading into the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Ortiz came up with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam that tied the game. The Red Sox eventually won that night and went on to win the pennant and the World Series that fall. There's nothing unresolved to report. This is settled history getting new attention.
How the at-bat happened
Tigers starter Max Scherzer had shut Boston down for seven innings, allowing one earned run and two hits while striking out 13. Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz had given up the runs that built Detroit's 5-1 lead. Once Scherzer left the game, Boston's bullpen trouble became Detroit's. Reliever Jose Veras gave up a double to Will Middlebrooks and walked Jacoby Ellsbury. Al Albuquerque came in and struck out Shane Victorino, but Dustin Pedroia singled to load the bases.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland turned to closer Joaquin Benoit to face Ortiz with the bases full. Ortiz swung at Benoit's first pitch and drove it toward right field. Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter went up and over the bullpen wall trying to catch it, but the ball sailed past him and tied the game. A photo from that moment, a Boston police officer celebrating as Hunter tumbled into the bullpen, became one of the enduring images of that Red Sox postseason, along with broadcaster Dave O'Brien's call on the play.
How the game and the season ended
Boston finished the comeback that night on a walk-off single from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, making it a 6-5 win. The Red Sox went on to beat the Tigers in six games to take the ALCS. From there, Boston beat the St. Louis Cardinals in six games to win the 2013 World Series, the franchise's third title in nine seasons.
That 2013 championship carried extra weight in Boston, coming during a difficult year for the city. It joined the Red Sox's other recent titles in 2004, when Boston ended an 86-year championship drought by coming back from a 3-0 ALCS deficit against the Yankees, in 2007, and in 2018, which gave the franchise its fourth title of the 21st century.
Facts per Yahoo Sports, SuaraGarut.ID. Opinion is the taproom's.