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How'd this cheese taste, Mr. Young?
SUMMARY
So much for the slugfest I predicted.
Despite the mix of two prolific offenses and two struggling starters, the Faithful were treated to a tight pitcher's duel, (both Sox runs scored on infield grounders and Texas' on a sac fly-yawn!), and a little 9th inning excitement before Jonathan Papelbon slammed the door shut on a much-needed Sox victory.
#1 Stunner: Wakefield 6.2IP, 7H, 1ER, 4BB, 4K
The slumping knuckleballer (3-5, 7.08 ERA last 8 starts) shut down the league's third-highest scoring offense, lowered his ERA from 4.52 to 4.31, and gave the shell-shocked Sox staff a big boost.
Pan's Faun: Sammy Sosa 0-4, 3K, 4 LOB
The newest 600 HR Club member looked like the second coming of Rob Deer tonight in striking out three times, including a game-changing whiff with the bases loaded on a 97-mph missile from Manny Delcarmen to end the seventh.
(yes, I'm tinkering with the names of these categories- 'hero' & 'goat' are so last-century)
RECAP
Welcome home, boys.
After an extremely lengthy (7,500+ miles) and often arduous (4-5 ending w/ 3 straight losses) road trip, the Sox had a day off yesterday to shed some jet lag and had to be looking forward to beginning a seven-game homestand tonight against two of the worst teams in the AL heading into the All Star break.
Then Texas almost ruined the homecoming.
Tim Wakefield may have held the AL's top homerun team from hitting any balls that exited the ballpark, but mound opponent Jamey Wright was just as stingy, and he added his name to the ever-growing list of sub-par hurlers who have stymied the Sox hitters this season.
Or was it more like the Sox hitters, by blowing numerous scoring chances with balls hit either into the dirt or an outfielder's glove, in reality beat themselves, and in the process made a mediocre pitcher look like a candidate to start next Tuesday's Midsummer Classic?
Perhaps a little bit of both.
Wright, in just his third start since coming off the DL on June 16th, shut down the Boston batters as effectively as Wake did the Rangers, allowing just six hits and two runs with three walks and three Ks in five innings before leaving with two on and no out in the sixth.
To no one's surprise, Texas reliever Joaquin Benoit came in and shut Boston down without allowing a run, closing yet another chapter in the lengthy book titled "Red Sox: Missed Opportunities 2007."
Although the game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, that doesn't mean there wasn't any action. On the contrary, Boston had plenty of runners on base in the early innings but in what has become a maddening, irritating habit, they couldn't get any of 'em home.
The Sox got two on in the second when Manny & J.D. Drew both singled to lead off the frame (Ramirez took third on the play), but after Lowell's dribbler to third got Manny (1-3, R, RBI)trapped in a run down, Wily Mo hit a tapper to short that forced Lowell at second and then Cora struck out to end the messy inning.
In the third Pedroia's (1-4, BB) one-out double was wasted when Youk fanned and Papi followed with a flyout to center.
Wakefield, meanwhile, was doing some artful dodging of his own; Texas had two men on in the first, one in the second, two more in the third and one in the fourth, but Wake, helped by a couple of big DPs, managed to keep the Rangers off the board.
In the fourth all the dirt-pounding finally paid off as Boston scored the first run of the game with just one ball barely leaving the infield.
Manny started the rally when Wright plunked him with a looping breaking ball, then Drew (2-3, BB) followed with a blooping double down the left field line that took a Superball bounce into the stands for a ground-rule double.
After Lowell grounded out to third, Manny held this time (deja vu or what?), but Pena followed with an infield hit to deep short that Michael Young ate rather than throw away, and Manny came home for the 1-0 lead.
But wouldn't you know the way things have been going the Rangers came right back and tied it in the top of the fifth when Adam Melhuse led off with a double, was sacrificed to third, and then came home on a sac fly by Jerry Hairsteroids Jr. to tie the game at one.
Just as the blood pressure of RSN began to rise and fingernail lengths started to shorten, the Sox would answer back with a run in the bottom of the fifth that ended up being the final run scored in the contest.
Who knew?
The inning started harmlessly enough when Mirabelli (0-3) flied out, and after Pedroia drew a walk, he was erased on a fielder's choice by Youk, who's nice hustle to beat the throw to first would prove very fortuitous shortly.
Because Papi then walked and Wright wild pitched them over a base, and suddenly Manny was standing in there with two men in scoring position and a chance to put this thing out of reach with one of his patented inside-out Fenway swings.
Would you settle for a liner off the pitcher's foot?
Manny's tracer up the middle was kicked, hackey sack style, by Wright and the ball ricocheted directly to third baseman Ramon Vazquez, who instead of throwing to first to get Manny and end the inning, chose to try and tag Papi coming by on his way to third.
He did tag Papi out, eventually, but by that time Youk had crossed the plate with the go-ahead run, and since the play called for a tag and not a force out, the run counted and Texas manager Ron Washington was left scratching his head in the Rangers dugout.
Safe to say it was one of the oddest, and cheapest, game winning RBI's Manny has ever earned.
Tensions were still running high when Wright gave up a leadoff walk to Drew and then a single to Lowell (2-4) in the sixth until Benoit came in and put out that fire, and things really got gnarly in the top of the seventh when Texas loaded the bases and threatened to steal the game.
Wakefield got two quick outs before Kenny Lofton (4-4, 4SB) notched his third hit of the game and Hairsteroids Jr walked. In came Mattapan Manny, who had just allowed his first runs of the season Tuesday in Seattle.
Delcarmen didn't help matters when he walked Young to load the bases, but then in an epic, 7-pitch battle of the Kid vs. the Legend, Manny fanned Sosa on a wicked 97-mph heater to excite the crowd and give the team hope that it could hang on for this victory.
After Okajima pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, Papelbon got the call to close it out in the ninth, and although he started the inning off in routine fashion by retiring the first two batters on six pitches, the Rangers would not go down without a fight in this one.
That pesky 40-year old Lofton almost cost the Sox the game when he barely beat Paps to the first base bag an infield grounder. Despite a vehement protest by the excitable Papelbon and a replay that appeared to show the pitcher got the speedy outfielder by a micro-step, Paps kept his composure (with some help from Pedroia) and continued to pitch.
When Lofton stole his fourth base Paps was so steamed he drilled Hairsteroids with a pitch, and just when you could envision this game unraveling into a loss and blown save right in front of our very eyes, Papelbon got Young to stare at a 96-mph blazer that caught the outside corner and put a cap on a crazy but comforting win.
So it definitely wasn't easy, and it sure wasn't pretty, but as they say 'a win is a win is a win', and after 7,500 miles and three consecutive losses, the Sox will take em hard & ugly any day.
Besides, we got Beckett going tomorrow night; we'll leave it to him to provide the pretty, easy wins.
NOTES:
- Up & down: one game after launching 17 flyball outs in the Safeco skies the Sox pounded 11 ground ball outs into the Fenway dirt
- Going down: Oki's scoreless frame lowered his ERA to 0.95, while Paps' adventurous 9th cut his number to 1.50
- Going up: Drew's two hits raised his average to .257, the highest it's been since May 13th.
- Thank you, Tito: Lugo got the night off in favor of Cora, who didn't have a great game (0-3, 2K, GIDP), but still needs top play more with Julio scraping rock bottom
- Coco also had the night off, but from a sore thumb incurred on his futile dive attempt the other day in Seattle; he should return tomorrow
- Texas was homerless for the second consecutive game after hitting at least one in each of their last nine games
- It was Fenway/Roush Racing night at the park, complete with a Red Sox emblazoned Car of Tomorrow on the field, a first pitch toss by Jack Roush and a ton of horrific cross-references by Remy & Orsillo all game long, including a brutal press box interview with Kurt Busch or someone like that. Ugh.
- It was the fourth time Lofton had four steals, the first time since 2000. Okay, we know-the Sox backstops suck at throwing guys out.
- Three cheers for a game that ended at 10:15 instead of starting at that time. Hip hip-hooray!
"He's got a ton of emotion. The guy that closes games for you, more often than not, is going to have some fire."--Tito on Papelbon's fire burning within
"I've got nothing but 100 percent adrenaline there. That's the reason why I came back in this role."--Papelbon. And that's why RSN loves you, Paps!
"I knew he (Ortiz) was in front of me. I just didn't know if he (Youk) was close to scoring or if Manny was hustling down the line."--Vazquez. it's Little League 101, dude- know the situation
RECORD: 49-29
AL EAST: Up 10 on TOR
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Sat vs. TEX 7:05
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