If the New York Yankees vaunted pinching staff couldn't stop the Boston Red Sox over their weekend series, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had even less of a chance. Sure enough, the Boston bats feasted on the inferior Rays pitching for 11 hits and 10 runs. Manny Ramirez struck two home runs while Brian Daubach and Carl Everett also went yard for the Red Sox. On the pitching side of the ball, Tomo Ohka (2-0, 2.65 ERA) pitched arguably is best game as a member of the Red Sox as he shutout the Rays through seven innings. Rich Garces slammed the door in the final two frames and the Sox enjoyed one of their easiest victories of the season with a 10-0 romp over the Devil Rays at Tropicana Field.
The Sox wasted no time getting to Rays starter Travis Harper in the top of the first inning as Trot Nixon flied out to center to start. Jose Offerman walked but was forced at second by Carl Everett. Everett swiped second and took third on a wild pitch before Manny Ramirez launched his second home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Troy O'Leary hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Ohka got the ball in the bottom of the first and Gerald Williams led off with a pop up to short. Steve Cox doubled to left and moved to third on the Greg Vaughn fly ball to center, but Fred McGriff grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox put the game away early in the top of the second although Jason Varitek grounded out to second to start. Shea Hillenbrand walked and Vaughn dropped a routine pop up by Brian Daubach in foul territory. Daubach made Vaughn pay with a 2 run blast to right to increase the lead. Lou Merloni popped up to second but Nixon walked. Offerman doubled to right and Everett cleared the bases with a 3 run shot to ice the game. Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-0.
Ohka cruised in the bottom of the second as Jose Guillen flied out to right to start. Aubrey Huff grounded out to second and Russ Johnson took strike three to end the inning.
Mike Judd came in to pitch the top of the third and O'Leary flied out to left to start. Varitek grounded out to first but Hillenbrand got a base hit to center. Daubach grounded out to second to end the inning. Old friend John Flaherty flied out to right to open the bottom of the third but Felix Martinez got a base hit in the hole at short. Williams popped up to second and Cox grounded out to second to end the inning.
Merloni got a base hit to right to start the top of the fourth but Nixon banged into a double play. Offerman popped up to second to end the inning. Vaughn struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the fourth and McGriff grounded out to second. Guillen hit a routine grounder to Offerman who dove on the ball and wrestled with it for an error. Huff grounded out to short to end the inning.
Everett struck out swinging to open the top of the fifth but Ramirez ripped a base hit to left. O'Leary forced Ramirez at second and Varitek grounded out to second to end the inning. Johnson singled to center to start the bottom of the fifth but Flaherty hit one up the elevator shaft. Martinez singled to right but Williams banged into a double play to end the inning.
Hillenbrand grounded out to short to start the top of the sixth and Daubach struck out swinging. Merloni singled to center but Nixon struck out swinging to end the inning. Craig Grebeck took over for Merloni to start the bottom of the sixth and Cox grounded out to second to start. Vaughn and McGriff stroked back to back singles but Guillen popped up to right. Huff took strike three to end the inning.
Rusty Meachem came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Offerman flied out to right to start. Everett singled to center and Huff booted a grounder by Ramirez for an error to put runners at the corners. O'Leary scored Everett with a sac fly to increase the lead and Varitek whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-0.
Ohka returned for one final inning in the bottom of the seventh and Johnson singled to left to start. Flaherty popped up to short and Johnson was doubled off first on a bullet hit to Ohka to end the inning. Tomo was outstanding, tossing 7 shutout innings and allowing just 7 hits.
The Sox got another run in the top of the eighth as Hillenbrand flied out to right to start. Daubach was plunked for old times sake and Grebeck popped up to second. Nixon doubled home Daubach to stick it to the Rays and Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-0.
"El Guapo" Rich Garces came in for the bottom of the eighth and Williams grounded out to short to start. Cox flied out to center and Vaughn struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth as Everett struck out swinging to start. Ramirez hit his second homer of the game to add to the lead. O'Leary flied out to right and Varitek popped up to Martinez in foul territory to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-0.
Garces came back to finish off the bottom of the ninth and McGriff flied out to right to start. Guillen took strike three and Huff struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-0.
Hero of the Night is Tomo Ohka. He tossed 7 shutout innings while allowing just 7 hits to earn the win.
The Good:
Carl Everett was 2 for 5 with a 3 run homer, stolen base and 3 runs scored.
Manny Ramirez went 3 for 5 with 2 home runs, 2 total runs scored and 3 total rbis.
Brian Daubach was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch, 2 run home run and 2 runs scored.
Shea Hillenbrand was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Lou Merloni was 2 for 3.
Rich Garces tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jason Varitek was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Troy O'Leary was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Its only 14 games into the season but things are looking bright for the Boston Red Sox. Tomo Ohka looks to have taken the next step in his development and Manny Ramirez has been worth every penny spent on him so far. The addition of him in the lineup makes Carl Everett even more dangerous because they won't be able to walk him with Manny behind him. Just think of how deadly this offense will be when Nomar Garciaparra comes back. Grebeck can't even hit the ball out of his hand right now which makes it a wonder why he's even on the team at this point. Chris Stynes will be coming off the Disabled List soon and it would make more sense to cut Grebeck than it would to send down Lou Merloni. At least Merloni can hit the ball even if he's not a natural shortstop. Still, if the only thing worth complaining about is the shortstop situation, you know things are going good. Ohka was outstanding and Garces hasn't missed a beat from last year. If Derek Lowe can turn things around the pitching will be where it was last year with a new anchor on offense in Ramirez, that's bad news for the AL East. The Sox look to make it four straight wins tomorrow night when Paxton Crawford (1-1) takes on Albie Lopez of the Devil Rays. The game begins at 7:15 PM at Tropicana Field.
No comments:
Post a Comment