The Sox wasted no time scoring against old pal Pat Rapp in the top of the first. Jose Offerman singled, Trot Nixon walked and Brian Daubach walked to quickly load the bases. Nomar Garciaparra beat out a double play ball to score Offerman but came up lame. Carl Everett singled in the hole at short to score Nixon to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Troy O'Leary also beat out a double play ball but Mike Stanley whiffed to end the inning. Andy Sheets replaced the injured Nomar in the bottom of the first and the O's struck back against spot starter Tim Wakefield. Brady Anderson led the frame off with a solo home run to immediately cut the lead 2-1. Delano DeShields and BJ Surhoff walked but Albert Belle banged into a double play. Harold Baines walked but Cal Ripken Jr grounded out to end the inning. 3 walks and a home run by Wakefield, not good.
Rapp settled down in the top of the second. Jason Varitek whiffed, Wilton Veras grounded out and Offerman lined out to end the inning. Wakefield got Jeff Conine to ground out to begin the bottom of the second. Charles Johnson flied out but Mike Bordick doubled. Anderson flied out to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third. Nixon whiffed but Daubach singled. Sheets whiffed but Everett doubled Daubach to third. O'Leary walked to loaded the bases and Stanley drew a bases loaded walk to put the Sox up 3-1. Varitek whiffed to end the inning. The O's nearly answered in the bottom of the third. DeShields grounded out but Surhoff singled. Belle popped up but Surhoff swiped second. Baines whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox knocked out Rapp in the top of the fourth. Veras singled but Offerman grounded out. Nixon singled and Daubach scored Veras with a single to make it 4-1. O's manager Mike Hargrove had seen enough and lifted Rapp for Jose Mercedes. Sheets barely beat out a double play and Everett walked to load the bases. O'Leary flied out to end the inning. Wakefield promptly crapped his pants in the bottom of the fourth. Cal Ripken Jr homered to cut the lead 4-2. Conine popped up but Johnson doubled. Bordick walked and Anderson cleared the bases with a double, chasing Wakefield and tying the game. The much maligned Rheal Cormier (1-0) was brought in to put out the fire and he did. Surhoff looked at strike 3 to end the inning.
Both teams settled down in the fifth with the game tied. Mercedes got Stanley to ground out to open the top of the frame. Varitek singled but Veras popped up. Offerman grounded into a force to end the inning. Cormier matched Mercedes in the bottom of the fifth. Belle grounded out, Baines flied out and Ripken Jr grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox broke the game open in the top of the 6th. Nixon doubled and moved to third on Daubach's ground out. The O's moved the infield in and Sheets got his first hit of the season with a base hit to break the tie, 5-4. Moved by Sheets' effort, Everett stepped up and crushed a 2 run home run out of the park onto Eutaw Street to make it 7-4. O'Leary doubled to chase Mercedes and BJ Ryan was brought in for a beating. Stanley popped up but Varitek walked. Veras doubled home the runners and advanced to third on the bad throw by Bordick. A wild pitch scored Veras to make it 10-4. Offerman whiffed to end the inning but the Sox had scored 6 runs to break it open.
More than enough cushion for Cormier. He retired Conine on a pop up to begin the bottom of the sixth. Johnson whiffed and Bordick flied out to end the inning.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the seventh. Nixon singled and Daubach walked. Sheets flied out but moved Nixon to third. Everett beat out a double play ball to score Nixon to make it 11-4. O'Leary popped up to end the inning. Tim Young got the ball to begin the bottom of the seventh and Darren Lewis took over in center for Everett. Anderson and DeShields struck out as Rich Amaral pinch hit for Surhoff and grounded out to end the inning.
Ryan Minor replaced Bordick in the lineup and took over at third. Mark Lewis replaced Ripken Jr in the lineup and took over at short. Amaral moved to left field and Calvin Maduro took over on the mound for BJ Ryan. Stanley walked to lead off the top of the eighth. Varitek flied out and Veras grounded out but Offerman singled. Nixon flied out to end the inning. Young returned for the bottom of the eighth and Belle greeted him with a double. Baines flied out, Lewis popped up and Conine struck out to end the inning.
Mike Trombley took over for the O's in the top of the ninth. Daubach flied out and Sheets grounded out but Lewis singled. O'Leary whiffed to end the inning. John "Way Back" Wasdin took over to close the game out in the bottom of the ninth. Johnson doubled but Minor struck out. Johnson moved to third on a groundout by Anderson and DeShields popped up to end the game. The Sox had won 11-4
Hero of the night is Andy Sheets. His herculean single broke a scoreless tie and led the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 2 for 6 with 2 runs scored. Trot Nixon was 3 for 5 with a walk and 3 runs scored. Brian Daubach was 2 for 4 with 2 walks, a run scored and an rbi. Carl Everett carried the Sox offense by going 3 for 4 with a walk, run scored and 4 rbi's. Darren Lewis was 1 for 1 as a pinch hitter. Wilton Veras was 2 for 5 with 2 rbi's and a run scored. Rheal Cormier earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of perfect relief. Tim Young struck out 3 in 2 innings of scoreless relief. John Wasdin pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Tim Wakefield didn't have it today. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and four walks.
The Ugly:
Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 1 but drove in a run before leaving with a hamstring injury. Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 5 but walked and scored a run. Mike Stanley was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored a run. Jason Varitek was just 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Final Thoughts:
It was a great win with a lot of offense but losing Nomar Garciaparra is not what the Sox need right now. Hopefully he'll just need to miss a few games because he's too important to lose. Still, the Sox bullpen stepped up tonight after Wakefield weas ineffective and FINALLY Andy Sheets got a hit. The win improved the Sox to 19-12, 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. Tomorrow night Pedro Martinez (5-1) takes the mound opposite Sidney Ponson.
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