Roll On Red Sox

Week 5: The Athletics of Oakland, the great-grandchildren of Connie Mack came to town for a pair. The A’s of Moneyball vintage always seem to start slowly then go on a six-week tear and compete for a spot in the postseason pretty much every year. This year, they’ve been bit especially hard by the injury bug, so time will tell when they will get hot. Rest assured, they will go on a tear.

Game 25 vs. Oakland (Tue. N. 5/1/07): Curt Schilling (3-1, 3.27) got the call for the Sox. This was his first start since the infamous “Sockgate” commentary that thankfully died a quick death. Drew was a last minute scratch with the flu and Hinske was inserted in his place in the lineup. Schilling got the A’s 1-2-3 in the first.

Joe Blanton (2-1, 3.55) got the start for Oakland, he’s undefeated in two previous starts against Boston. Drew’s absence required a shift in the lineup. Crisp was moved to the two-hole, Youkilis was dropped to the five slot and Hinske got a rare start.

Crisp hustled an infield single with one out, and stole second. Ortiz hit a wind-blown pop fly to no-man’s land in short left. Because Chavez was out of position due to the ”Ortiz Shift”, Shannon Stewart gave chase but the ball popped out of his glove (ruled a base hit). Manny hit a long sacrifice fly to right and Crisp trotted in with the first run. (Note: this was only the second time this year that Oakland has allowed a first inning run). With two out, Youkils lopped a single over second baseman Ellis’ leap into center. Youk stole second, putting runners on second and third.

What was that? Lowell hit a grounder up the middle. Crosby made a diving stab and hesitated to throw. He then tried to nail Youkilis at third, but by the time he could make the throw, Ortiz and Youkilis had already crossed the plate. It was ruled a single, RBI and a fielder’s choice.

In the second, Piazza struck out swinging, Dan Johnson was caught looking and Crosby lined a single off the Monster. Manny made a nice play barehanding the carom and holding Crosby at first. Buck bounced a single up the middle. Schilling was fortunate to get Kendall swinging at a pitch well up and out of the zone. In the third, Ryan Langerhans (just over from Atlanta) struck out swinging. Shannon Stewart singled through the hole in short. But Schilling was able to get out of further trouble.

Crisp walked to lead off Boston’s third. Ortiz was called out on a low slider and protested Reliford’s call. Big Papi came within a whisker from being tossed. Reliford’s strike zone appears to be the size of a phone booth tonight. Manny looped a short single to center and Crisp had no trouble making it to third. Youkilis hit a bullet to left and Crisp easily scored on the sacrifice, making it 4-0.

With one out in the fourth, Dan Johnson put the A’s on the board with a long solo homer above the bullpen. Schilling quickly dispatched Crosby swinging got buck on a fly out to Crisp.

In the fifth, Schilling got out a nasty jam. With two out, Ellis ripped a grounder down the line in third. The “ball boy”, thinking it was foul, leapt from his seat and made a lunging grab. While the kid made a nice play, the third base ump had already signaled that the ball was fair. Ellis was awarded second base. Chavez came to the plate with a chance to drive in at least two and was called out on a questionable check swing. The manager came out to argue and he was ejected for his trouble.

In the A’s sixth, Crisp made a nice running catch at the wall to haul in Piazza’s long fly. In their seventh, Travis Buck whacked a line drive double off the scoreboard in left. Kendall followed with a bloop single to right, men on the corners with no one out. The pitching coach came out for a chat. Our old pal Todd Walker came on to pinch hit and lofted a short fly to center. Crisp gave chase, reached out while diving and made a spectacular catch. Buck scored on the play, but it was a “Web Gem” extraordinaire. Crisp appeared to be in discomfort following the play, which bears some scrutiny seeing where he recently returned to the lineup following five days off with an “oblique strain”.

Schilling had another very good outing. His line for the night was 7 IP 8H 2ER 0BB 7K 101P.

Okajima came on for the eighth inning. There is something disconcerting about his delivery. As the ball leaves his hand, his head goes down and away from the hitter. Given the speed with which a batted ball is struck, I pray that he does not encounter any liners back to the box. He got Chavez to ground out to second, struck out Piazza swinging, and got Johnson to pop out to third.

Speaking of old friends, it’s time to get out the fire hoses, because Alan Embree entered in the bottom of the eighth for Oakland. Despite his meltdown in 2005, he remains one of The 25, and what he accomplished in Game 7 of the ALCS assured his place in the Red Sox firmament. These days, left-handed relievers can pitch into old age and infirmity, so it’s no surprise to see him still toeing the rubber.

Papelbon’s Magic came to an end in the ninth. He allowed a base hit to start things, then Travis Buck took him deep with a long two-run homer into the right field grandstand to tie the game 4-4. Varitek called for a fastball outside with an 0-2 count, and Papelbon put it in Buck’s wheelhouse, tie ballgame. It happens to the best of them on occasion, so get over it. With one out, Papelbon gave up a base hit and threw an ungodly amount of pitches before walking Stewart. He was able to get the next two batters, but threw 35 pitches in the inning, and that’s far too many. The camera keeps panning the forlorn Papelbon in the dugout...

Justin Duchscherer (once Boston property, traded years back for Mirabelli) struck out Varitek, but Hinske banged a long double to center field. Cora (pinch hitting) was given an intentional pass to set up the force. Lugo bounced to third, moving the runners along. Crisp bounced out to first. So you know by now just how this one will turn out, don’t you?

Brendan Donnelly came on in the 10th and Piazza tagged his first pitch for a double. Johnson followed by ripping a double down the right field line. Piazza (no speed merchant these days) could’ve crawled to the plate with the lead run. With the A’s up 5-4, Crosby and Buck struck out.

Huston Street came on to close things for Oakland, and he had to confront the 3-4-5 part of the lineup. Ortiz popped out to short right, Manny struck out swinging with a full count. Youk took it deep to left and Stewart hauled it in with his back to the wall to end the ball game.

This is baseball. Every year there are a number of games the team wishes they could have back.

Meanwhile, the Yankees went down to Texas and clobbered the Rangers. Of particular note was the performance of legit phenom Philip Hughes, who was carrying a perfect game (in only his second ML start) into the late innings when he suffered a rather severe hamstring strain that will sideline him for the month of May. While this space is admittedly and unabashedly pro-Red Sox, no one likes to hear of anyone getting hurt. There will be plenty of time to boo Hughes later, but here’s best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Game 26 vs. Oakland (Wed. N. 5/2/07): Josh Beckett took the ball looking to improve his record to 6-0, the best start of a Red Sox pitcher since the Former #21 achieved that mark in 1991. It was a frustrating night for the Boston hitters, as they had a number of chances to put the game away early but failed to do so.

In the third, Lugo walked and stole second. Youkilis hit an infield single putting runners on the corners. Ortiz grounded into a 4-6 force, scoring Lugo. Manny singled. Gaudin was called for a balk, moving the runners to second and third with one out. Drew and Lowell both struck out swinging. In the fourth Crisp lined a shot that bounced off CF Langerhans’ glove putting Crisp on second (E8). (Note: The Langerhans Experiment lasted all of two days. Following the game he was traded to Washington). With two out, Lugo singled up the middle, scoring Crisp with two out. Youkilis walked. Ortiz grounded out to second. In situations such as these, when a team fails to deliver with RISP, their pitcher usually pays the following inning. And so it was: Beckett (who had been perfect over the first four) had a bad inning, allowing the A’s to tie the score. Piazza led odd with a singled to center. Johnson doubled down the left field line. Crosby and Putnam both struck out swinging. Beckett had Kendall in an 0-2 hole before Kendall ripped a single to center, scoring Piazza and Johnson.

In the sixth, Oakland went on top by a run when Stewart led off with a single to center. With two outs, Piazza singled. Johnson followed with a base hit to right, scoring Stewart. with two out. Runners on first and second and Bobby Crosby due up. Crosby grounded into a 6-5 force to end the inning. On the play, Piazza and Lowell had a nasty collision, with Piazza taking the brunt of the blow. He suffered a shoulder injury and may be lost to Oakland for up to a month, which is a shame.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox pulled ahead for good (still, they could’ve blown it wide open and failed to do so). Varitek singled to lead off. After a pitching change, Crisp doubled off the wall in left. Cora grounded out to short, scoring Varitek. Lugo hit a sacrifice fly to medium right, and Crisp came in with the lead run. Youkilis got plunked on the leg and Ortiz walked. After another pitching change, Manny walked. Drew grounded out to second, killing another golden opportunity. In the seventh, Beckett (who was laboring by this point) got Ellis on a called third strike to end the inning with two runners aboard. They pushed across solo runs in the seventh and eighth.

Cora singled, scoring Mike Lowell with two out in the seventh and in the eighth, Youkilis walked Ortiz singled and Drew singled to right, scoring Youkilis with one out. On the play, Ortiz (hustlin’ all the way) was called out at the plate, 9-4-2.

Okajima pitched a scoreless eighth, and Timlin came on for the ninth. Crosby led off with a base hit. Putnam struck out swinging. Then, on The Play of the night, Kendall smacked a liner to right center. Crisp gave chase and made a diving stab of the ball, with his body parallel to the ground, just an awesome play. Walker (pinch-hitting) singled, scoring Crosby, but Timlin was able to close things out by getting Stewart on a 6-4 force.

Game 27 vs. Seattle (Thurs. N. 5/3/07): Tonight’s game was the makeup from the April 12th rainout. Before the game, Timlin was placed on the DL with a shoulder problem. He hasn’t been the same pitcher since last spring’s World Baseball Classic. Davern Hansack was recalled from Pawtucket to take his place in the ‘pen.

Daisuke got the start against Horacio Ramirez, and Matsuzaka-san had a first inning he’d just as soon forget, giving up five runs. The Red Sox rebounded with five runs of their own and on the strength of Manny’s two late inning homers came away with an ugly 8-7 win.

In the first inning, Matsuzaka-san experienced what could only be described as his first Big League meltdown: Ichiro walked and stole second. Beltre and Vidro walked. Ibanez grounded into a 6-5 force scoring Ichiro. Sexson was plunked and Guillen doubled to right scoring Vidro and Ibanez. Johjima reached on Lugo`s error scoring, Sexson. Betancourt singled, scoring Guillen.

After Daisuke righted the ship, the Sox came back with five runs of their own in their half of the second. Youkilis led off with a walk and Lowell singled. Varitek ripped a base hit up the middle, scoring Youkilis. Wily Mo singled to load the bases. Pedroia walked, scoring Lowell. Lugo followed by a long fly to right that bounced into the bullpen for a ground-rule double, driving in Varitek and Wily Mo.

The Sox grabbed a pair in the fourth when Crisp walked and stole second with one out. With two outs Manny hit a two-run homer. The M’s came right back in the fifth to tie the score when Ibanez walked with one out and Sexson singled. Guillen singled, scoring Ibanez. With two outs, Betancourt was credited with a single that scored Sexson, but it was actually a bad throw by Lugo (over Youk’s head) that brought in the tie run.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ortiz was caught trying to get to second on Youkilis’ grounder. Realizing that the gig was up, he stopped, was tagged out and hugged the second baseman. If Leo Durocher or Dick Williams were in the dugout, one can only speculate how such on-field chumminess would go over. What do you think John McGraw would say?

Snyder and Donnelly each pitched well and kept Seattle off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the eighth, Manny hit an absolute bomb to right field, at least five rows deep above the bullpens to put the Sox on top for good. With Papelbon still chillin’ and Okjajima being rested, the call went out to JC Romero to close the game with a runner on first. He got the job done, and the Sox won ugly.

The Sox moved on the not-so venerable Baggie Dome in Minneapolis to face the Twins for the weekend. It’s generally wise not to watch or listen to the games because the Sox are horrible in this venue, having an approximate record of 3-87 there (actually, they’ve lost thirteen out of their last eighteen). It doesn’t matter what kind of team the Twins have, when Boston comes to town they morph into the 1927 Yankees.

From ’61-’82, they played in a cow pasture in Bloomington that is now The Mall of America. “The Met” was a great venue for Vikings in snowstorm football games, but wasn’t exactly regarded one of Baseball’s Cathedrals. The best that anyone could ever say about the place would be that it was “utilitarian”.

Baseball is an “outdoor activity”, meant to be played on grass under the open sky. The “Metrodome ceiling” is in actuality a very large inflated bubble contraption, that’s a brilliant white. There is horrible lighting which causes balls are that hit up into the ceiling to get lost or stuck in overhead loudspeakers. There’s the outfield fence: it’s not exactly a “fence” per se, but more like a plastic wrap that surrounds the retractable seats for football. Baseball should hang its head in shame to allow our beautiful pastime to be exhibited under such disgraceful conditions.

Despite the location where their games are played, the Twins always seemed to have developed great players.

C Joe Mauer (Batting Title)
Earl Battey (All-Star)
1B Justin Morneau (MVP)
Kent Hrbek (All-Star)
2B Rod Carew (HOF)
Chuck Knoblauch (All-Star)
SS Zolio Versailles (MVP)
3B Harmon Killebrew (HOF)
Gary Gaetti (All-Star)
OF Bob Allison (All-Star)
Tony Oliva (All-Star)
Kirby Puckett (HOF)
Torii Hunter (All-Star)
SP Bert Blyleven (All-Star)
Jim Kaat (All-Star)
Johan Santana (CYA)
Frank Viola (All-Star)
Brad Radke (All-Star)
CL Joe Nathan

That wouldn’t be a bad crew to watch day in and day out, would it not?

Game 28 at Minnesota (Fri. N. 5/4/07): Tim Wakefield and Carlos Silva hooked up in the series opener. The Sox had chances to score with two outs in the early/mid innings and failed to deliver. Mirabelli was thrown out at the plate on a 6-2 force play (bad move) and Cora tripled in the fifth but Lugo lined out to right to kill that chance. Meanwhile, through the first five, both pitchers were really good. With one out in the sixth, Big Papi took an inside fastball and almost blew a hole in the roof, way, way back to the deepest part of the stadium. Manny followed with a baggie-double to right (somewhere Abner Doubleday or whomever invented baseball is rolling over in their grave). Alas, Manny was left stranded as well.

Mirabelli threw out Hunter trying to steal in the Twins’ fifth, which helped to keep the Twins in check. Silva was through after seven, and pitched a whale of a ballgame, allowing only the Ortiz homerun.

Wakefield was magnificent tonight, allowing just three hits and no runs. He’s always had success in the Dome (one of the few) going back to the time a few seasons back when he nearly pitched a no-hitter. Whatever may be the reason for his success indoors; his efforts tonight were a big boost to the club. Romero entered in the eighth, got two quick outs before giving up a ground rule double to Mauer. Donnelly entered the game and got the Hunter to pop out.

Drew led off the ninth with a triple off of Rincon to the gap in left center that barely evaded Hunter’s grasp. With one out, Crisp ripped a base hit through the second base hole, driving in Drew. With two out, Cora singled back up the box, but Lugo popped out to first to end the threat. Papelbon came on for the first time since his meltdown Tuesday night, and mowed down the Twins in order.

Game 29 at Minnesota (Sat. N. 5/5/07): Julian Tavarez vs. Johan Santana; on its face, surely the odds were in Minnesota’s favor. Johan is among the elite pitchers in the world (though the Sox are one of the few clubs who actually have a slight winning record against him). Any time he’s pitching in the Dome, he’s darned near unhittable. Meanwhile, Tavarez had a rough start but seems to have turned a corner.

In the first, the Sox loaded the bases but failed to deliver. Youkilis singled; Manny and Drew walked. Lowell grounded out third to kill that chance. In the second, they had another shot but failed to capitalize. Varitek and Pedroia singled, but Lugo lined to the first baseman, who stepped on the bag. Failing to capitalize on guys like Santana in the early innings is a fatal mistake.

The Twins got all the runs they needed in the second. With one out, Morneau singled followed by walks to Kubel and Cirillo. Tyner grounded into a 4-6 force, scoring Morneau. Bartlett’s base hit drove in Kubel with the Twins’ second run.

The Sox got their only run in the fourth. Peña singled and moved to second then third on two wild pitches. Pedroia hit a ground-rule double that bounced about two inches fair down the left field line before hopping into the stands, scoring Wily Mo. The Sox left runners in scoring position (RISP) in the fifth and the sixth. Both starters were through by the seventh. In the eighth, the Sox put two more runners on before Joe Nathan came on to extinguish the fire. Other than allowing one runner to reach on an error, Nathan shut the Sox down and the Twins came away with a 2-1 victory. Frustrating, to say the least.

Though the Sox lost the game, they could not have been anything but tremendously encouraged by the pitching performances of both Tavarez and Joel Piñiero, who were terrific tonight. If these guys can provide the same consistent effort moving forward, the “back-end-of-the-rotation” days will be a lot brighter.

Game 30 at Minnesota (Sun. Aft. 5/6/07): The Sox bid a fond 2007 farewell to baseball’s Most Dreadful Venue by squeaking out a 4-3 win. The next time these teams hook up will be on the final weekend of the regular season (shades of ’67, anyone?).

Ned: “Looped towards shortstop, Petrocelli’s back and he’s got it! And it’s pandemonium on the field, listen…” October 1, 1967.

Schilling got the call for Boston against the Fourth Reincarnation of Sidney Ponson. Hard to believe this guy’s still around in the bigs, but there he was, larger than life on the mound. The lineup was shuffled around a bit as Manny and Lugo were given the day off. Crisp was put in the leadoff spot, and the move immediately paid dividends. He led off the ball game with a single to center, but was caught stealing. Cora was plunked and Ortiz walked. With two out, Drew doubled, scoring Alex Cora but Ortiz was called out at home on the play. The Sox picked up another run in the third when Pedroia doubled to lead off. With two out Ortiz received an intentional pass. Youkilis smacked a base hit to right, scoring Pedroia. In the fourth, they had two more runners on base and failed to execute, but in the fifth, they put two more up on the board to take a 4-0 lead. Cora loff with a base hit and Ortiz walked. Youkilis reached on a 5-4 force, Drew reached first on Ponson`s throwing error, and Cora came in the back door. With two out, Varitek singled scoring Youkilis.

Meanwhile, Schilling was simply cruising along through the first six innings, as if he were on a leisurely Sunday drive. Then came the seventh, where he fell apart and nearly cost the Sox a win in the process. With one out, Redmond singled and Luis Rodriguez walked. With two outs, Castillo singled to load the bases. The normally weak-hitting Jason Tyner singled, scoring Redmond and Rodriguez. Schilling was yanked at that point in favor of Hideki Okajima. Hunter greeted him with a single, scoring Castillo. Okajima was able to get out of the jam when Morneau grounded out to second. So what appeared to a victory already in the bag turned out to be a nail-biter. In the Twins’ eighth, Okajima gave up a harmless single to pinch-hitter Josh Rabe, but held things in place for Papelbon: Bartlett struck out swinging, Castillo grounded out to short and Tyner hit a liner to third to end it. This was a nice win for Boston, especially coming off a tough loss in a venue, which has for the most part been a house of horrors over the years.

The Red Sox now have a record of 20-10, in first place in the AL East, 5½ games up on the Yankees.