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Alright folks, good morning — or should I say, GOOD GRIEF what a night at the Garden — this is Boomer Esiason here on WFAN and lemme tell ya… that, right there, that was a comeback for the ages.
I mean, the New York Rangers were down 7–3 in the bottom of the ninth — dead in the water, the crowd’s quiet, people are already lining up for the subway. And then… BAM! They explode for four runs. Tie game. Pandemonium at Madison Square Garden.
Itsuro Bliebernicht — this guy is on another planet right now. Two bombs, four RBIs, walks twice, scores twice… he basically put the team on his back. And then Kosmo Kramer — yes, KOSMO KRAMER — two outs, bottom of the tenth, steps up, and delivers the walk-off single. The Garden erupted. I’m telling ya, the building was shaking.
And don’t overlook W. Cuylle — double in the ninth, triple earlier, that guy was huge in setting the table. Rice with the triple in the tenth, and boom, Kramer finishes it. That’s how you win playoff games. That’s how you demoralize a team like the Montreal Canadiens.
And look, Montreal had this thing in the bag. Vandelay — two homers, Del Sol with the three-run shot, they were rolling. But their bullpen absolutely melted down like a cheap snow cone in July.
So now it’s 2-0 Rangers in the series, heading to Montreal. And if you’re the Canadiens, you’ve gotta be sick about this one. You had ‘em. You absolutely had ‘em.
But this is why you play all nine innings. This is why playoff baseball — or in this weird hybrid NHL/Baseball world we’re living in — is absolutely electric.
Rangers 8, Canadiens 7. A comeback for the highlight reels.
And somewhere, deep in the Bronx, the Yankees are probably taking notes.
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