No. 2004.10.17 · Wild Card Era
Roberts Steals Second
Down three games to none and a run in the ninth, the Red Sox sent Dave Roberts in to run. He stole second against Mariano Rivera, and Bill Mueller singled him home.
October 17, 2004, Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park. The Yankees led the series three games to none and the game, 4–3, in the ninth. Mariano Rivera was pitching. Kevin Millar walked. Dave Roberts came in to run for him.
Roberts stole second. Bill Mueller singled to center, and Roberts scored the tying run. The game went to the twelfth, where David Ortiz won it. Boston won the next three games as well. No club had come back from a three-games-to-none deficit in a league championship series.
The steal is a baserunning play, not a mistake by the runner. It is in this catalog because of the situation it interrupted: the inning of a pitcher who had been close to automatic, with the series one game from over, and a pinch runner put on base for the single purpose of taking the next one. Rivera had already walked the leadoff man. The stolen base made the walk into the tying run.
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