Ramírez's hitting streak was close to being down for the count when he came to the plate in the home 10th, his afternoon to that point consisting of two strikeouts, a double play, and a base on balls. But given a reprieve when Wily Mo Peña (two-run triple) and Doug Mirabelli (two-run home run) erased the last of a 7-3 deficit in the sixth, and with the Sox bullpen buying him time with 4 2/3 scoreless innings, Ramírez rapped a ground-ball single through the left side.
That hit accomplished three things: It extended the longest hitting streak in the American League to 27 games, it led to the winning run when Orioles left fielder Brandon Fahey couldn't pick the ball up and was charged with an error, and it made a winner of Papelbon, who'd grown weary of the taste of blown saves, having given up leads in each of his last two outings.
``It wasn't like I was devastated or thought the world was coming to an end," said Papelbon, whose Red Sox remained two games behind the Yankees in the East. ``I know what's up.
``The fans, they don't really understand. It's good for them to understand everything is going to be just fine. I had all the confidence in the world in myself. The great ones -- [Mariano] Rivera, [Trevor] Hoffman -- they go through bumps in the road. What distinguishes the great player from the average player are the ones who get out of ruts quick. That's my whole goal."
That goal became eminently more reachable because of yet another astonishing play by Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who cut down Fahey when he imprudently tried to stretch his 10th-inning double into a triple after deciding Ramírez was slow in retrieving his opposite-field hit into the corner.
``I really don't want that play to be overlooked because that was an unbelievable relay," said Mike Lowell, who took the throw at precisely the spot Fahey aimed his headfirst slide. ``The only way he's out is if he does it that quick and throws it right on the money. If he throws it high and slides in, he's safe."
Merely serendipity that Gonzalez, who caught the ball, turned and threw, seemingly all in one motion, was able to put the ball in the only spot where it mattered?
