 Fenway Park in 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | October 2, 1978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Fenway Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Boston, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 32,925 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | ABC WPIX (NYY) WSBK-TV (BOS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | ABC: Keith Jackson and Don Drysdale WPIX: Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White WSBK-TV: Ken Harrelson and Dick Stockton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS WINS (NYY) WITS (BOS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | CBS: Ernie Harwell and Win Elliot WINS: White, Rizzuto, Messer and Fran Healy WITS: Jim Woods and Ned Martin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1978 American League East tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1978 regular season. The game was played at Fenway Park in Boston on the afternoon of Monday, October 2 between the rival New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to determine the winner of the American League's (AL) East Division.
The tie-breaker was necessitated after the Yankees and Red Sox finished the season tied for first place in the AL East with identical 99–63 (.611) records. Entering the final day of the season on Sunday, October 1, the Yankees had a one-game lead; they lost 9–2 to Cleveland while Boston shut out Toronto 5–0 to force the playoff.[1] The Red Sox were the home team by virtue of a coin toss. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker counted as the 163rd regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.
Ron Guidry started for the Yankees, while Mike Torrez started for the Red Sox. The Red Sox took a 1–0 lead in the second inning with a home run by left fielder Carl Yastrzemski and extended their lead to 2–0 in the sixth on a run batted in single by right fielder Jim Rice. The Yankees took the lead in the seventh when light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent lifted a three-run home run over the left field wall to give the Yankees a 3–2 lead. The Yankees added two more runs, giving them a 5–2 lead. The Red Sox scored two more runs, but the Yankees ultimately won the game when relief pitcher Goose Gossage got Yastrzemski to pop out to third baseman Graig Nettles to earn the save. Guidry was the winning pitcher, while Torrez received the loss.
With the victory, the Yankees finished the regular season with a 100–63 (.613) record and clinched the AL East championship, en route to winning the World Series. This was the first tie-breaker to be contested after the introduction of divisional play in 1969. The 1978 Yankees are the last team to win the World Series after playing a tie-breaker, due to the elimination of tie-breaker games beginning with the 2022 season, because of postseason expansion.
- ^ "Guidry vs. Torrez in Yankee-Bosox playoff". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). wire services. October 2, 1978. p. 19.