Ramon Martinez (3-2, 5.46 ERA) pitched arguably his best game of the season. Ray Durham flied out to begin the top of the first and Jose Valentin struck out. Frank Thomas walked but Magglio Ordonez grounded out to end the inning. The Bosox quickly pounced on Chicago starter Cal Eldred in the bottom of the first. Jose Offerman flied out and Trot Nixon popped up, but Brian Daubach doubled. The injured Nomar Garciaparra doubled home Brian to give the Bosox a 1-0 lead. Troy O'Leary lined out to end the inning.
Paul Konerko and Chris Singleton both struck out to start the top of the second. Carlos Lee grounded out to end the inning. Carl Everett and Mike Stanley both grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the second inning. Jason Varitek struck out to end the inning.
The Chisox threatened in the top of the third inning. Herbert Perry flied out but Josh Paul singled. Durham doubled and the defense made up for yesterday's disaster. Valentin lofted a ball to Nixon who gunned down Paul at the plate (who tried to bowl over Varitek) to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Inspired by Trot's effort, the Bosox tacked it on in the bottom of the third. Wilton Veras and Offerman flied out but Nixon doubled. Daubach then smashed his 6th home run of the year go give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Nomar popped up to end the inning.
Ramon pitched himself out of trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Thomas singled and Ordonez walked to put the pressure on but Konerko popped up. Singleton moved both runners with a ground out but Lee grounded out to end the inning. O'Leary popped up to begin the bottom of the fourth. Everett struck out and Stanley grounded out to end the inning.
Ramon was feeling the effects of the downpour but battled through the top of the fifth. Perry flied out but Paul struck out. Durham lined out to end the inning. Good effort by Ramon. The Bosox offense attacked in the bottom of the fifth. Varitek doubled and Veras singled him to third. Konerko then played a game of "OLE!" as the error led to Varitek scoring, Veras to reach third and Offerman to reach first. Nixon drove home Veras with a sac fly to make it 5-0. Daubach whiffed but Nomar walked to chase Eldred. Sean Lowe got O'Leary to pop up to end the inning.
The rain had gotten to Ramon, who had to leave the game due to a sore hamstring, most likely to pitching in mud the whole game. Tomorrow night's starter for the suspended Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield, was brought in to pitch in the downpour. Bad idea Jimy Williams. Sure enough, Wakefield's knuckleball didn't knuckle at all. Valentin singled and advanced to second on the Thomas ground out. Ordonez clobbered a 2 run bomb to cut the lead 5-2. Konerko singled but was erased on the force by Singleton. Chris swiped second and scored on the Lee single and that was it for Wakefield. "El Guapo" Rich Garces waddled in from the bullpen and got Perry to pop up to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the 6th but fell victim to some bad luck. Everett walked and stole second, then Stanley walked. Chisox catcher Josh Paul decided to kill some ants up along the first base line, missing Konerko on a pickoff throw completely and allowed the two runners to advance. Varitek hit a ground ball too hard to second which couldn't advance the runners and Veras singled off the foot of Everett...unfortunately Everett was ruled out. The Bosox complained but the umpires held their ground. Offerman walked to re-load the bases and chase Lowe from the game. Kelly Wunsch was brought in to pitch and Williams once again made a peculiar decision to pinch hit Trot Nixon with the light hitting Jeff Frye. Frye grounded out to end the inning, big surprise.
The Chisox had the Bosox on the run. Their starter was out of the game and their offense was more than capable of getting back into the game. Unfortunately the rain made the field very slippery and it began to come down harder. Fearing player safety, the umps called for a rain delay. When the rain didn't let up, the umps said to hell with it and called it completely. The Bosox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the night is a tough one in a 6 inning game. I'll have to go with Brian Daubach. He was 2 for 3 with a 2 run blast and 2 total runs scored.
The Good:
Trot Nixon was 1 for 2 with a walk and an rbi. Nomar Garciaparra was 1 for 2 with a walk and an rbi. Jason Varitek was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Wilton Veras was 2 for 3 with a run scored. Ramon Martinez earned his 3rd win of the year with 5 shut-out innings on 3 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Rich Garces picked up his first save of the season by retiring the only batter he faced in the top of the 6th.
The Bad:
Jeff Frye was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter. Troy O'Leary was 0 for 3. Tim Wakefield got lit up for 3 runs off 4 hits in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was 0 for 3 but walked. Carl Everett was 0 for 2 but walked and stole a base. Mike Stanley was 0 for 2 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Darren Lewis would have played right field in the top of the seventh had the game not been called.
Final Thoughts:
Not the ideal way to wrap up the homestand but a win is a win. The Bosox went 6-3 to inch closer to first place despite the offense struggling and still no clear number 2 starter behind Pedro. Speaking of which, Tim Wakefield starts for Pedro tomorrow as Martinez serves out his ridiculous suspension. The win improved the Sox to 18-11, 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East.
No comments:
Post a Comment