Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Carlos Beltran lined out to second to start. Old friend Luis Alicea lined out to Crawford and Mark Quinn grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Royals starter Brian Meadows in the bottom of the first inning although Chris Stynes grounded out to short to start. Trot Nixon walked, Carl Everett singled to left and Manny Ramirez crushed a 3 run bomb over the Monster to put the Sox up early. Troy O'Leary grounded out to second and Scott Hatteberg took strike three to end the inning with Boston ahead 3-0.
The Royals exploded in the top of the second inning as Jermaine Dye walked to start. Mike Sweeney doubled home Dye and took third on a passed ball. Dee Brown singled home Sweeney but Joe Randa struck out swinging. Hector Ortiz singled to center and Luis Ordaz singled to left. Brown ran around third and O'Leary's throw came home....SAFE! Brown was safe at home to tie the game with the runners moving into scoring position. Beltran singled home both runners to put the Royals on top. Alicea singled to center and Quinn also singled to center to score Beltran. That was it for Crawford who got hammered for 6 runs in just 1 1/3 innings. "El Guapo" Rich Garces came in and struck out Dye swinging before Sweeney grounded out to second to end the inning with the Royals ahead 6-3.
"I'm gonna tell ya right now, you suck Crawford" - Kerrigan
Shea Hillenbrand tried to start a rally in the bottom of the second with a double to left but Brian Daubach struck out swinging. Mike Lansing flied out to right and Stynes grounded out to short to end the inning.
Brown grounded out to second to start the top of the third before Randa flied out to left. Ortiz popped up to second to end the inning. Nixon popped up to short to start the bottom of the third before Everett singled to right. Ramirez flied out to center and Everett was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning.
Ordaz walked to start the top of the fourth and moved to second on a grounder to Stynes by Beltran. Ordaz moved to third on a grounder to second by Alicea and Quinn struck out swinging to end the inning. O'Leary popped up to short to begin the bottom of the fourth before Hatteberg flied out to right. Hillenbrand grounded out to third to end the inning.
Pete Schourek came in for the top of the fifth and Dye grounded out to short to start. Sweeney flied out to right and brown struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fifth as Daubach took strike three to start. Lansing singled to right but Stynes flied out to left. Nixon walked but Everett struck out swinging to end the inning.
Randa was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to open the top of the sixth before Ortiz grounded out to short. Ordaz doubled to right and Beltran walked, but Alicea forced Beltran at second to end the inning. Meadows was chased quickly in the bottom of the sixth when Ramirez plastered his second home run of the day to cut the lead. Tony Cogan came in to pitch and Sox manager Jimy Williams sent in Darren Lewis to pinch hit for O'Leary. Lewis flied out to right but Hatteberg was hit with a pitch. Doug Henry came in to pitch and Hillenbrand singled to center. Daubach lined out to right and Lansing lined out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 6-4.
Rod Beck came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh inning as Quinn flied out to left to start. Dye struck out swinging but Sweeney doubled to left. Brown singled to right and Sweeney came around third. Nixon fired home...SAFE! Sweeney was safe and the Royals had their 3 run lead back. Randa walked but Ortiz grounded out to second with the Royals ahead 7-4.
Suddenly the Sox roared back in the bottom of the seventh as Stynes and Nixon stroked back to back singles to chase Henry. Jason Grimsley came in and Everett singled to right to load the bases. Ramirez hit a double play ball to Alicea who flipped to second to force Everett but Ordaz threw wide of first for an error that scored both Stynes and Nixon. Ramirez moved to third on the grounder to short by Lewis but Hatteberg launched his first home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Hillenbrand doubled and Daubach was intentionally walked to get to Lansing. Lansing grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-7.
Craig Grebeck took over at short with Rolando Arrojo now on the mound for the top of the eighth. Raul Ibanez pinch hit for Ordaz and grounded out to first to start. Beltran took strike three and Alicea struck out swinging to end the inning. Rey Sanchez took over at short with Cory Bailey now on the mound for the Royals in the bottom of the eighth. Stynes grounded out to first and Nixon flied out to right but Everett walked. Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Derek Lowe came in for the save in the top of the ninth and Quinn took strike three to start. Suddenly Dye hit a home run all the way to Rockport's break wall to tie the game. Sweeney singled to left and Brown banged into a double play to end the inning with the game tied 8-8.
The Sox blew a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth as Lewis took strike three to start. Hatteberg flied out to left but Hillenbrand singled to left. Daubach walked to put the winning run at second...but Grebeck grounded into a force to end the inning.
Randa singled to left to start the top of the tenth and moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Ortiz. Sanchez flied out to right but Beltran walked. Alicea flied out to left to end the inning. Jose Santiago came in for the bottom of the tenth and Stynes flied out to right to start. Nixon grounded out to second and Everett grounded out to first to end the inning.
Lowe returned for the top of the eleventh inning and Quinn singled to right to start. Dye singled to left but Sweeney flied out to right. Brown struck out swinging but Randa hit a home run all the way to the Klingon Homeworld to put the Royals up for good. Ortiz grounded out to third to end the inning but Lowe had allowed 4 runs to give the Royals an 11-8 lead.
David McCarty took over at first with Roberto Hernandez now pitching the bottom of the eleventh. Ramirez singled to center and Jason Varitek pinch hit for Lewis. Varitek flied out to center and Hatteberg banged into a double play to end the game. The Royals had won it 11-8 in 11 innings.
The Good:
Carl Everett was 3 for 5 with a walk and a run scored.
Manny Ramirez was 3 for 6 with two home runs, 5 total rbis and 3 runs scored.
Shea Hillenbrand was 4 for 5.
Rich Garces tossed 2 2/3 innings.
Pete Schourek tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Rolando Arrojo tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Troy O'Leary was 0 for 2.
Darren Lewis was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Paxton Crawford allowed 6 runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
Rod Beck allowed a run in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Chris Stynes was just 1 for 6 with a run scored.
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 but walked twice and scored 2 runs.
Scott Hatteberg was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and hit a 2 run homer.
Brian Daubach was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked twice.
Mike Lansing was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Something has to be done about Lowe and the bullpen in general. Lowe has been an unmitigated disaster as the closer and Rod Beck has looked shaky as well. Its a shame because most of the Sox losses this month have been due to the bullpen. Crawford threw his first stinker of the season and the bullpen did the best they could. The offense did what they could and they definitely have a black hole at shortstop with the lack of production coming from Lansing and Grebeck. Nomar Garciaparra can't come back fast enough. The Sox had a pretty good month and kept pace with the New York Yankees but all the blown saves may come back to haunt them come September. The Sox finish the month of April with a 16-9 record and now travel to Seattle to play a set with the red hot Mariners. Pedro Martinez (2-0) takes on John Halama of the Mariners tomorrow night at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Safeco Field.
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