Division Series Boston began the playoffs by sweeping the
AL West champion
Anaheim Angels. The Red Sox blew out the Angels 9–3 in Game 1, scoring 7 runs in the fourth inning. However, the Sox' 2003 offseason prize pickup
Curt Schilling suffered a torn
tendon when he was hit by a line drive. The injury was exacerbated when Schilling fielded a ball rolling down the first base line. The second game, pitched by
Pedro Martínez, stayed close until Boston scored four in the ninth inning to win 8–3. In Game 3, what looked to be a blowout turned out to be a nail-biter, as
Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam off
Mike Timlin in the top of the seventh inning to tie it at six. However,
David Ortiz, who was noted for his
clutch hitting, delivered in the 10th inning with a game winning two-run homer, off
Jarrod Washburn, sailing over the
Green Monster. The Red Sox advanced to a rematch in the
2004 American League Championship Series against their bitter rivals, the
New York Yankees.
League Championship Series Despite high hopes that the
Red Sox would finally vanquish their nemesis from
the Bronx, the series started disastrously for them.
Curt Schilling pitched with the torn
tendon sheath in his right ankle he had suffered in Game 1 of the ALDS and was routed for six runs in three innings.
Yankee starter
Mike Mussina retired the first 19 Red Sox that came to the plate before
Mark Bellhorn broke it up with a double with one out in the top of the seventh. Despite the
Sox' best effort to come back (they scored seven runs to make it 8–7), they ended up losing 10–7. In Game 2, already with his Yankees leading 1–0 for most of the game,
John Olerud hit a two-run home run to put the New York team up for good. The Sox were soon down three games to none after a 19–8 loss in Game 3 in Boston. In that game, the two clubs set the record for most
runs scored in a League Championship Series game. At that point in the history of baseball, no team had come back to win from a 3–0 series deficit (only the 1998
Atlanta Braves and 1999
New York Mets had ever gotten as far as a Game 6). In Game 4, the Red Sox found themselves facing elimination, trailing 4–3 in the ninth with Yankees
closer Mariano Rivera on the mound. After Rivera issued a walk to
Kevin Millar,
Dave Roberts came on to
pinch run and promptly
stole second base, this being what many consider the turning point in the series. He then scored on a
Bill Mueller RBI single that sent the game to extra innings. The Red Sox went on to win the game on a two-run home run by
David Ortiz in the 12th inning. In Game 5, the Red Sox were again down late, this time by the score of 4–2, after a
Derek Jeter bases-clearing triple. But the Sox struck back in the eighth, as Ortiz hit a homer over the
Green Monster to bring the Sox within a run. Then
Jason Varitek hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Roberts, scoring the tying run. The game would go for 14 innings, capped off by many squandered Yankee opportunities, who were 1 for 13 with runners in
scoring position. In the top of the 12th inning, knuckeballer
Tim Wakefield came in from the bullpen, without his
personal catcher,
Doug Mirabelli. Varitek, the starting catcher, had trouble with Wakefield's tricky knuckleballs in the 13th: he allowed three passed balls in the top of the 13th. The third and last of those gave the Yankees runners on second and third with two out. The Red Sox were spared, however, as
Rubén Sierra struck out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 14th, Ortiz would again seal the win with a game-winning RBI single that brought home
Johnny Damon. The game set the record for longest postseason game in terms of time (5 hours and 49 minutes) and for the longest ALCS game (14 innings), though the former has since been broken. With the series returning to
Yankee Stadium for Game 6, the improbable comeback continued, with
Curt Schilling pitching on an ankle that had three sutures wrapped in a bloody white sock (red with a blood stain). He struck out four, walked none, and only allowed one run over seven innings to lead the team to victory.
Mark Bellhorn hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Originally called a double, the umpires conferred and agreed that the ball had actually gone into the stands before falling back into the field of play. A key play came in the bottom of the eighth inning with Derek Jeter on first and
Alex Rodriguez facing
Bronson Arroyo. Rodriguez hit a ground ball down the first base line. Arroyo fielded it and reached out to tag him as he raced down the line. Rodríguez slapped at the ball and it came loose, rolling down the line. Jeter scored and Rodriguez ended up on second. After conferring, however, the umpires called Rodriguez out on interference and returned Jeter to first base, the second time in the game they reversed a call. Yankees fans, upset with the calls, littered the field with debris. The umpires called police clad in
riot gear to line the field in the top of the 9th inning. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees staged a rally and brought former Red Sox player
Tony Clark, who had played well against the Red Sox since leaving the team, to the plate as the potential winning run. Closer
Keith Foulke however, struck out Clark to end the game and force a Game 7. In this game, the Red Sox completed their historic comeback on the strength of
Derek Lowe's one-hit, one-run pitching and
Johnny Damon's two home runs, including a grand slam in the second inning off the first pitch of reliever
Javier Vázquez, and defeated the New York Yankees, 10–3. Ortiz, who had the game-winning RBIs in Games 4 and 5, was named the
Most Valuable Player of the series.
Major League Baseball (MLB), the
National Basketball Association (NBA), and the
National Hockey League (NHL) are three major American sports leagues with best-of-seven games playoff series . Coming back to win a seven-game series when down by three games had until this point only been accomplished by four NHL teams in the history of all three leagues: • The
1942 Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) came back from being down by three games to the
Detroit Red Wings to win the
1942 Stanley Cup. • The
1975 New York Islanders (NHL) did the same when they came back to beat the
Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975
Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. • The
Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), during their
Cinderella run to the
2010 Stanley Cup Final, came back from three games down to defeat the
Boston Bruins to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. • The
Los Angeles Kings defeated the
San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2013–14 NHL Playoffs on their way to winning the
2014 Stanley Cup. The Red Sox became (and remain) the only team in MLB history to overcome a three-game deficit in the postseason.
2004 World Series The Red Sox faced the
St. Louis Cardinals in the
2004 World Series. The Cardinals had posted the best record in the major leagues that season and had previously defeated the Red Sox in the and Series, with both series going seven games. The third time would be the charm, however, as the momentum and confidence Boston had built up in the ALCS would overwhelm St. Louis. The Red Sox began the Series with an 11–9 win, marked by
Mark Bellhorn's game-winning home run off
Pesky's Pole. He later on said that he "just did what he needed to do." It was the highest scoring World Series opening game ever, breaking the previous record set in . The Red Sox would go on to win Game 2 in Boston, thanks to another sensational performance by the bloody-socked Schilling. The Red Sox won both these games despite making 4 errors in each game. In Game 3,
Pedro Martínez shut out the Cardinals for seven innings. The Cardinals only made one real threat, putting runners on second and third with no outs in the third inning. However, the Cardinals' rally was killed by pitcher
Jeff Suppan's baserunning gaffe. With no outs, Suppan should have scored easily from third on a
Larry Walker ground ball to second baseman Bellhorn, who was playing back, conceding the run. But as Bellhorn threw out Walker at first base, Suppan inexplicably froze after taking several steps toward home and was thrown out by Sox
first baseman David Ortiz as he scrambled back to third. The double play was devastating for St. Louis. The Red Sox needed one more game to win their first championship since the
1918 World Series. In Game Four, the Red Sox did not allow a run. The game ended as
Édgar Rentería, who would become the
2005 Red Sox starting shortstop, hit the ball back to
Keith Foulke. After Foulke lobbed the ball to
Doug Mientkiewicz, the Sox had won their first World Championship in 86 years (this was the second time that Rentería had ended a Series, as he had won it for the
Florida Marlins in the
1997 World Series). The Sox held the Cardinals' offense (the best in the NL in 2004) to only three runs in the last three games, never trailing in the Series.
Manny Ramírez was named
World Series MVP. The Red Sox won Game Four of the series on October 27, 18 years to the day from when they lost to the
New York Mets in the
1986 World Series, which was also the team's most recent World Series game loss. The Red Sox performed well in the 2004 postseason. From the tied eighth inning of Game 5 of the ALCS against the Yankees until the end of the World Series, the Sox played 60 innings, and never trailed at any point. This was only the fourth World Series ever played in which the losing team had never held a lead, with the others being in
1963,
1966, and
1989. by President
George W. Bush following the side's winning the 2004 World Series. To add a final, surreal touch to the Red Sox championship title, on the night the Red Sox won, a
total lunar eclipse colored the moon over
Busch Stadium to a deep red hue. The Red Sox won the title about 11 minutes before totality ended. Many Red Sox fans who were turned away due to no tickets for the game were allowed to watch the final inning from inside Busch Stadium after being let in free of charge.
Fox commentator
Joe Buck famously called the final out, saying: The Red Sox held a parade (or as Boston mayor
Thomas Menino put it, a "rolling rally") on Saturday, October 30. A crowd of more than three million people filled the streets of Boston to cheer as the team rode on the city's
Duck Boats. The parade followed the same route the
New England Patriots took following their victories in Super Bowls
Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 and
Super Bowl XXXVIII earlier in 2004. Following their World Series win, the Red Sox replaced the dirt from the field as a "fresh start." They earned many accolades from sports media and throughout the nation for their season. Pitcher
Derek Lowe said that with the win, the chants of "1918!" would no longer echo at
Yankee Stadium again. The Patriots win in the Super Bowl meant the Red Sox World Series win made Boston the first city to have Super Bowl and World Series champions in the same year in 25 years, when the
Pittsburgh Steelers won
Super Bowl XIII, followed by the
Pirates winning the
1979 World Series. The Patriots winning
Super Bowl XXXIX in the ensuing offseason made Boston the first city to have two Super Bowls and one World Series championship over a span of 12 months since Pittsburgh in 1979–1980. == Awards and honors ==