The Red Sox lost on Friday night and it's probably all Ben Affleck's fault
Ben Affleck's birthday jinx strikes Red Sox again
The Red Sox lost to the Astros on Friday night, but it was not the team's fault. No, they were merely victims of the same curse as Bruce Willis in Armageddon and everyone in 2003 who accidentally bought a ticket to Daredevil: Ben Affleck's birth. Ever since Good Will Hunting came out in 1997, the BoSox have been incapable of notching a win on Affleck's birthday. Last year, we gave you a rundown of all of the losses suffered under the curse of the Ben-bino.
At first, we thought this game might be the one that finally freed the team and broke the curse for good. Clay Bucholz whiffed nine batters and Yoenis Cespedes hit his first Fenway homer. The Sox were leading the Astros 3-2 in the eighth inning, until this truly bizarre play plated the tying run:
With runners on first and second, Houston's Matt Dominguez hit a one-hopper right to Xander Bogaerts, but Bogaerts was unable to get the runner out at second. Gregorio Petit was being waved home, so Dustin Pedroia threw the ball to plate. But for some reason, catcher Christian Vasquez gave Petit a lane to home, and Petit successfully evaded his tag. Pitcher Burke Badenhop was covering the base, but he dropped Vasquez's throw, allowing Petit to score and tie the game.
In the tenth inning, Houston outfielder Jake Marisnick scored two runs with a ground rule double, lifting the Astros to the win. If that's not a curse, what is?
Luckily, Affleck has a solution:
If the @RedSox lose today, I'm going to have to start cheering for the @Yankees on Aug 15th. #BirthdayJinx
- Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) August 15, 2014