Chuck Knoblauch made up for a fielding miscue that led to two unearned runs by drilling a three-run homer to deep center field, and the 1998 New York Yankees cruised to a 10-3 Game 7 victory over the 1978 Boston Red Sox. For the second consecutive game, Boston blew a lead, and Andy Pettitte exacted revenge as he was on the losing end of this pitching matchup in Game 3. New York will now go on to face the 1991 Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
Boston jumped out early to a 3-0 advantage with Red Sox leadoff man Jerry Remy reaching first on Knoblauch's error in the first inning. Fred Lynn followed with a bullet off the right-center field fence to bring Remy around, and he ended up scoring later on a fielder's choice. In the second, Butch Hobson smashed a home run over the right-center field wall but it was all wiped away in the next inning.
The wheels fell off for Torrez as consecutive singles by Scott Brosius and Tim Raines ignited the comeback. Derek Jeter delivered an RBI double to put New York on the board. With Torrez still searching for the first out, Knoblauch cleaned the sacks off with his prodigious blast. From this point, New York would not look back.
Boston did try to step up the pressure on Pettitte by putting runners aboard in the fifth and sixth, but inning-ending double plays squashed their hopes.
Chuck Knoblauch delivered yet again in the sixth with a clutch two-out run-scoring single and the dagger was a grand slam by Derek Jeter in the eighth to put the game on ice.
This was a tough series to lose after an incredible comeback in Game 5, but I'll dust myself off and keep grinding to win a World Series. Looking forward, I have two all-decade franchises for the 80s and 90s, and the Red Sox squads are in good shape to date. I also have an interesting 1973 playoff underway, and the Red Sox are in the ALDS after upsetting the vaunted Oakland A's. I'm up 1-0 on a surprising Kansas City Royals squad who also played giant killers by sweeping the Baltimore Orioles.
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