Brian Meadows got the start for Kansas City and Trot Nixon led off the top of the first with a base hit to right. Jose Offerman hit a seeing eye single in the hole at second and both runners advanced on the Carl Everett fly out to center. Manny Ramirez was intentionally walked and the gamble worked as Dante Bichette banged into a double play to end the inning. The Royals wasted no time scoring on Frank Castillo in the bottom of the first although Carlos Beltran flied out to left to start. Rey Sanchez grounded out to short but Mike Sweeney dumped a base hit to left. Somehow Bichette managed to kick the ball out of the park for an error and Joe Randa doubled Sweeney home to give the Royals the lead. Dee Brown struck out swinging to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
The Sox got the run back in the top of the second although Brian Daubach flied out to left. Shea Hillenbrand grounded out to short but Jason Varitek smacked his third home run of the season to tie the game. Mike Lansing grounded out to second to end the inning but the game was tied 1-1.
Castillo settled down in the bottom of the second as Mark Quinn grounded out to third to start. Raul Ibanez flied out to center and old friend Luis Alicea lined out to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Nixon grounded out to first to start. Offerman flied out to left and Everett struck out swinging to end the inning. Hector Ortiz singled to right to begin the bottom of the third but was forced at second by Beltran. Sanchez dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Beltran to second but Sweeney struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the fourth as Ramirez smashed his 15th home run of the season to give the Sox the lead. Bichette doubled to left and Daubach walked, but Hillenbrand forced Brian at second to put runners at the corners. Varitek then smashed a three run bomb to increase the lead. That was it for Meadows as Jose Santiago came in to strike out Mike Lansing swinging. Nixon grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 5-1 Red Sox.
Randa popped up to right to start the bottom of the fourth but Brown singled to right. Quinn doubled to left but Ibanez popped up to left. Alicea struck out swinging to end the inning.
Offerman flied out to left to start the top of the fifth before Everett grounded out to second. Ramirez doubled to left but Bichette struck out swinging to end the inning. Ortiz popped up to second to start the bottom of the fifth before Beltran popped up to short. Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Boston poured it on in the top of the sixth as Daubach doubled to left to begin. Hillenbrand singled in the hole at short to put runners at the corners and the red hot Varitek ripped a base hit to center to score Daubach. Lansing beat out a double play ball and Nixon hit a sac fly to left to score Shea with another run. Offerman grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox led 7-1.
Castillo returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Sweeney doubled to right to start. Randa flied out to right and Sweeney moved to third on the grounder to second by Brown. Quinn flied out to center to end the inning. That was it for Castillo who allowed just an unearned run in 6 solid innings and 93 pitches.
Mac Suzuki came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Everett flied out to right to start. Ramirez struck out swinging and Bichette grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Darren Lewis took over in left for Bichette and "El Guapo" Rich Garces came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Ibanez popped up to second, Alicea grounded out to first and Ortiz struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the eighth as Daubach grounded out to first to start. Hillenbrand singled up the middle and Varitek plastered his third home run of the day to increase the lead. Lansing popped up to first in foul territory but Nixon walked. Nixon took second on a wild pitch but Offerman popped up to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-1.
The Royals got a run back in the bottom of the eighth although Beltran grounded back to the mound to begin. Sanchez tripled into the centerfield gap and scored on the Sweeney grounder to second. Randa singled to right but Brown hit a routine grounder to Offerman. Jose threw his glove at the ball and dropped an elbow on the glove for an error. Quinn popped up to first in foul territory to end the inning but the Royals were down 9-2.
The Sox got that run right back when Everett pounded his fifth home run of the season to open the top of the ninth. Scott Hatteberg pinch hit for Ramirez and took strike three. Lewis grounded out to short and Daubach grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox led 10-2.
Hipolito Pichardo came in to finish the game in the bottom of the ninth and Ibanez hit a grounder to Offerman who dove on the ball and swam on it for an error. Alicea popped up to third and David McCarty pinch hit for Ortiz. McCarty walked and both runners moved over on a wild pitch before Ibanez scored on the sac fly to right by Beltran. Sanchez grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-3.
The Good:
Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Manny Ramirez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
Shea Hillenbrand was 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored.
Frank Castillo allowed an unearned run in 6 innings to get the win. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 3.
The Bad:
Scott Hatteberg struck out as a pinch hitter.
Darren Lewis was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 5 with 2 errors.
Carl Everett was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Dante Bichette was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but scored a run.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Rich Garces allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Hipolito Pichardo allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Big game by Varitek and the Sox definitely needed the win with the New York Yankees on the horizon. If Varitek is back to where he was in 1999 this offense is going to be deadly when Nomar Garciaparra returns. Nixon, Offerman, Nomar, Ramirez, Everett, Bichette, Varitek, Daubach and Hillenbrand would make even the Yankees pitchers afraid. Its only one game but if Varitek says he's healed, that's only good news. The even better news was Castillo dominating on the other side of the ball. The Sox finally have some pitchers to go with Pedro Martinez in Hideo Nomo and Castillo. If Tomo Ohka and Paxton Crawford can develop, this could be a playoff contending team in a few months. All in all it was a feel good win and hopefully more are on the way as we head to the end of May. The win improved the Sox to 25-18, 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox travel to New York to take on the damned Yankees on Tuesday night. David Cone gets the start for the Sox against Andy Pettite of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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