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Hanley Ramirez literally throws away a Red Sox win

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

Hanley Ramirez, come on down, you’re the next contestant on “How to lose an MLB game in the most embarrassing way possible.”

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In the bottom of the ninth of Thursday’s game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels, Ramirez absolutely blew it on defense, allowing the Angels to escape with a 2-1 walk-off win after David Price had thrown eight scoreless innings for the Red Sox.

Boston closer Brad Ziegler was trying to navigate out of a sticky situation with the bases loaded, one out and a 1-0 lead. When Daniel Nava grounded a ball to Ramirez at first base, the Red Sox at the very least had a chance for one out at the plate. Maybe they could even a game ending double play if things went well. But well, they did not go.

Hanley Ramirez reacts after throwing away the game. (AP)
Hanley Ramirez reacts after throwing away the game. (AP)

Ramirez airmailed his throw home, and the tying run and winning run both raced around to score. After the game, Ramirez owned the mistake, but that makes it no less frustrating for Red Sox fans.

He does and so do the Red Sox, who have now lost four straight and find themselves in third place in the AL East.

TOP PERFORMERS

Mitch Moreland: Without Moreland, the Rangers might not have gotten their 3-2 win against the Kansas City Royals. Texas was trailing 2-1 when Moreland’s solo homer tied the game in the fifth, then he put the Rangers ahead for good with a solo homer in the eighth.

Tanner Roark: In the Washington Nationals’ 4-2 win against the San Francisco Giants, Roark turned in another nice performance on the mound, throwing seven innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and striking out three. To add to that, he also drove in a run with a single in second inning. Smooth.

Aledmys Diaz: Ichiro might have notched hit No. 2,998, but the St. Louis Cardinals rookie shortstop was the man in this game. He hit a two-run homer in the third, then doubled home another run in the fifth, as the Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 5-4.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

After converting 52 straight saves dating back to the last season, New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia has fallen off the wagon. On Wednesday, he blew his first regular-season save since Aug. 1, 2015 and on Thursday, he did it again. Two rough days at the office. It was actually rough all around the for Mets, who had a 1-0 lead in the ninth until Trevor Story scored on an error by James Loney. Then David Dahl scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Familia.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Cubs 3, White Sox 1: John Lackey gets the better of Chris Sale as the Cubs split their crosstown series with the South Siders. Each team won the two games in their home stadium this week.

Phillies 7, Braves 5: The Phillies homer three times, including a Maikel Franco three-run blast, to dispose of the Braves.

Twins 6, Orioles 2: Baltimore loses its third straight, but is still atop the AL East.

Brewers 6, D-backs 4: Hernán Pérez and Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a homer each and lead the Brewers’ offense, which is a sentence you probably never figured you’d read.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!