1978 American League East tie-breaker game
Bucky Dent's seventh-inning homer wins the 1978 AL East playoff at Fenway.
The 1978 American League East tie-breaker game was a one-game playoff played at Fenway Park in Boston on the afternoon of Monday, October 2, 1978, after the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox finished the regular season tied for first place. The Yankees won 5–4 to take the division title.
Quick Facts
- Game
- American League East; tie-breaker game
- Visitor
- New York Yankees
- Home
- Boston Red Sox
- Date
- October 2, 1978
- Venue
- Fenway Park
- City
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Attendance
- 32,925
- Umpires
- HP: Don Denkinger
- 1B: Jim Evans
- 2B: Al Clark
- 3B: Steve Palermo
Facts from the source article.
Background
Entering the final day the Yankees had a one-game lead, but they lost 9–2 to Cleveland while Boston shut out Toronto 5–0. The Red Sox were the home team by virtue of a coin toss. Ron Guidry started for New York and Mike Torrez for Boston. Carl Yastrzemski homered in the second inning and Jim Rice singled in a run in the sixth for a 2–0 Boston lead before light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent hit a three-run home run over the left field wall in the seventh. Goose Gossage got the save when Yastrzemski popped out to Graig Nettles to end the game.
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