As for the game, with the struggles of Crawford and Ohka, it was great to see Frank Castillo (4-2, 4.17 ERA) continue to do well in the rotation. Castillo shut down the Minnesota Twins for 6 innings without allowing a run. Dante Bichette and Shea Hillenbrand got to Twins starter Mark Redman for 2 rbis in the top of the first and Carl Everett added a run in the fifth. After the Twins closed to 3-1, Hillenbrand knocked in two more runs to put the game out of reach. Once again Derek Lowe got lit up in the ninth inning but the Sox were safely ahead by enough to withstand it. The Sox made it three wins in a row with a 5-2 victory over the Twins at the Metrodome.
The Twins jumped on Redman in the top of the first inning as Trot Nixon grounded out to third to start. Jose Offerman singled to right but Carl Everett struck out swinging. Manny Ramirez walked and Dante Bichette singled home Offerman to give the Sox the lead. Shea Hillenbrand singled to center and Ramriez barrelled into catcher Tom Prince for another run. Jason Varitek grounded back to the mound but it was 2-0 Sox.
Castillo got the ball in the bottom of the first and Christian Guzman got plunked to start. Luis Rivas flied out to center but Guzman stole second. Matt Lawton walked but Corey Koskie forced Lawton at second to put runners at the corners. Doug Mientkiewicz walked to load the bases and Chad Allen forced Doug at second to end the inning.
Lou Merloni walked to start the top of the second but ran straight to second base where he was thrown out trying to steal. Mike Lansing struck out swinging and Nixon took strike three to end the inning. Jacque Jones hit a routine grounder to Offerman to start the bottom of the second but Offerman threw his glove at the ball and did a backflip for an error. Torii Hunter flied out to right and Prince banged into a double play to end the inning.
Offerman grounded out to short to start the top of the third but Everett popped up to second. Ramirez singled to right but Bichette lined out to second to end the inning, Guzman grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the third and Rivas also grounded out to second. Lawton singled to center and stole second before Koskie walked. Mientkiewicz popped up to Offerman in foul territory to end the inning.
Hillenbrand flied out to center to start the top of the fourth but Varitek singled up the middle. Merloni singled in the hole at second but Lansing grounded into a double play to end the inning. Allen flied out to center to start the bottom of the fourth before Jones grounded out to first. Hunter doubled to left but Prince took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Nixon doubled to right to start. Trot moved to third on the Offerman grounder to second and scored on the Everett base hit to center. Ramirez popped up to second but Everett stole second. Bichette walked but Hillenbrand grounded back to then mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Things got weird in the bottom of the fifth when the power went out at the Metrodrome for 18 minutes. When play resumed, Guzman grounded out to first to start the inning. Rivas also grounded out to first and Lawton hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Old pal Hector Carrasco came in for the top of the sixth and Varitek doubled to right to start. Merloni lined out to center but Lansing grounded out to third. Nixon went down hacking to end the inning. Castillo returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth and Koskie walked to start. Mientkiewicz lined out to center and Allen popped up to first. Jones grounded out to first to end the inning. That was the day for Castillo as he shut out the Twins with 97 pitches in 6 innings. He allowed 2 hits and 4 walks.
Offerman lined out to right to start the top of the seventh but Everett singled to right. Everett stole second but Ramirez struck out swinging on the play. Bichette popped up to second to end the inning. "El Guapo" Rich Garces got tagged in the bottom of the seventh as Hunter struck out swinging to start. Prince flied out to center but Guzman singled to right. Guzman swiped second and Rivas hit a routine grounder to Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand picked the ball up, threw the ball over his head like a grenade and stuck his fingers in his ears for an error to score Guzman. That was it for Garces as Rod Beck came in and Lawton grounded out to first to end the inning with the Twins down 3-1.
Nice throw Shea
This time it was Hillenbrand who reached on an error by Guzman to begin the top of the eighth. Varitek dropped down a bunt to move Shea to second but both Merloni and Lansing struck out swinging to end the inning. Darren Lewis came in for defense in place of Bichette for the bottom of the eighth and Koskie flied out to center to start.
The Sox iced the game in the top of the ninth against Travis Miller although Nixon grounded out to second to start. Offerman walked, Everett doubled to right and Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Lewis took strike three but Hillenbrand atoned for his error with a base hit to center to score Offerman and Everett. Varitek grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Derek Lowe came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Jones took strike three to start. Hunter singled to center and Denny Hocking pinch hit for Prince. Hocking singled to right and Guzman singled home Hunter to cut the lead. Guzman swiped second on the swinging strikeout by Rivas but Lawton grounded back to the mound to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2.
Hero of the Night is Frank Castillo. He tossed 6 shutout innings to keep the Twins off the scoreboard. He allowed just 2 hits and struck out a batter.
The Good:
Carl Everett was 3 for 5 with an rbi, run scored and 2 stolen bases.
Manny Ramirez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Dante Bichette was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Shea Hillenbrand was 2 for 5 with 3 rbis.
Jason Varitek was 2 for 4.
Lou Merloni was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Rod Beck tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Darren Lewis struck out in his only plate appearance.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rich Garces allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Derek Lowe allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 with an error but walked and scored 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
With the regression and subsequent demotions of Tomo Ohka and Paxton Crawford, Castillo had to step up tonight. Castillo isn't going to be a 15-20 game winning but the more starts like this, the better the Sox will look as the season progresses. David Cone is scheduled to make his Red Sox debut Thursday night and hopefully he has something left in the tank. If not, they can bring back Ohka and Crawford no problem. The offense wasn't anything special tonight but for all of Everett's clashes with Jimy Williams, he was running all over the diamond tonight, making things happen. Shea Hillenbrand is in the running for AL Rookie of the Year so far and hopefully he can keep up this kind of pace moving forward. Boston media are asking each other if Manny Ramirez can break Hack Wilson's single season rbi record and it'll be fun to see him try. All in all it was a good win, especially coming off the heels of the Oakland walkoff. The win improved the Sox to 23-15, 1.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to keep momentum going against the Twins when Tim Wakefield makes his first start of the season against J.C. Romero of the Twins. The game begins at 8:05 PM Eastern time at the Metrodome.
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