For the second straight game the Sox were stymied by the Cleveland Indians pitching at Jacobs Field. This time it was Chuck Finley (3-0, 2.55 ERA) who did the damge as Ramon Martinez (1-2, 6.75) was effective but not good enough as the Indians won 3-2 aided by a huge defensive miscue.
Jose Offerman led off
the game with a walk but was erased on the Manny Alexander force out. Alexander
himself was erased on the Nomar Garciaparra force. Nomar then was gunned down
stealing second to end the top half. Ramon took the mound and got Jacob Cruz
and Omar Vizquel to ground out. Roberto Alomar singled but Manny Ramirez
grounded out to end the inning.
Mike Stanley greeted
Finley with his second homer of the year to lead off the top of the second.
Troy O'Leary grounded out and Carl Everett struck out. Jason Varitek doubled
down the right field line but was stranded when Wilton Veras struck out
although the Sox led 1-0. Pitching with the lead, Martinez worked a clean
inning getting David Justice to fly out, Jim Thome to whiff and Travis Fryman
to ground out.
Darren Lewis led off
the top of the third with a ground out and Offerman followed with a ground out
of his own. Manny Alexander struck out to end the frame. Martinez continued his
effective pitching by striking out Richie Sexson to begin the bottom of the
third. Einar Diaz grounded out but Cruz walked. Vizquel then grounded out to
end the inning.
Nomar led off the 4th
with a ground out and Stanley .did the same. O'Leary worked a 2 out walk but
was eliminated on a force by Everett. The Jays broke through in the bottom of
the 4th. Martinez got Alomar to fly out but Ramirez singled and Justice singled
Manny over to third. Thome brought home Ramirez with a sac fly to tie the game
but Fryman grounded out to end the inning. It was 1-1 after 4 innings.
Pitching with the game tied, Finley turned up the heat. Varitek and Veras both went down on strikes to
begin the 5th and Lewis grounded out. The Jays then took command in the bottom
half. Sexson singled and Diaz doubled before Darren Lewis dropped an easy fly
ball that Sexson scored on. Now with Diaz on third, he scored on the sac fly by
Vizquel to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Martinez recovered to strike out Alomar
and get Ramirez to ground out but the damage was done. Lewis' rare error cost
the Sox 2 runs.
The Sox anemic
offense could do nothing against Finley in the 6th. Offerman grounded out,
Alexander whiffed and Nomar lined out to center. Ramon was finished after 94
pitches and Rich Garces replaced him for the 6th. Garces got Justice to fly out
before striking out both Thome and Fryman to end the frame.
Stanley led off the
7th with a ground out and O'Leary struck out. Everett singled to bring the
tying run to the plate but there were no homers by Varitek who grounded out
instead. Garces continued his mastery on the mound by getting Sexson to ground
out, Diaz to strike out and Cruz to fly out. 3 strike outs in 2 shut out
innings by Garces would be unfortunately overlooked in a loss.
The Sox tried to
desperately rally in the 8th. Veras doubled and Lewis singled Wilton over to
third. Offerman almost hit into a double play but he beat out the throw (Lewis
out at second) to score Veras cutting the lead 3-2. Offerman was erased on the
force by Alexander and Indians manager Charlie Manuel lifted Finley after 7 2/3
for Paul Shuey. Garciaparra walked to put the tying run at second but Stanley
flied out to end the threat. Sox closer Derek Lowe took the mound for the
bottom of the 8th. Vizquel lined out and Alomar grounded out before Ramirez
worked a 2 out walk. Justice flied out to end the 8th and it should be known
the Indians didn't get a single hit after the Lewis muff.
Indians closer Steve
Karsay took the mound as David Justice moved to center field and Alex Ramirez
replaced Jacob Cruz in left. The Sox went quietly as O'Leary grounded out,
Everett struck out and Varitek grounded out to end the game.
Jackass of the night is an easy one. Darren Lewis' error cost the Sox 2 runs which ended up the difference in the game.
The Good:
Wilton Veras was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Rich Garces struck out 3 of the 6 batters he faced in 2 perfect innings. Derek Lowe pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Manny Alexander was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was 0 for 3 but walked and drove in a run. Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 3 with a walk. Mike Stanley was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo blast. Carl Everett and Jason Varitek were both just 1 for 4. Ramon Martinez took the loss but didn't pitch that bad, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 3.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox had plenty of
chances to tie it up with a bloop or a blast but in the end fell to 11-9 on the
season. With Ramon Martinez beaten, Boston looks to younger brother Pedro (4-0)
to end the slide against Charles Nagy tomorrow.
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