Pedro took the hill in the top of the 1st and Chuck Knoblauch greeted him with a full count single into right. Derek Jeter then sacrifice bunted Knobluach to second base and Bernie Williams moved Chuck to third with a ground out to second. Tino Martinez then struck out on a changeup in the dirt to end the inning. Orlando Hernandez (1-6, 5.43 ERA) got the ball in the bottom of the first. Trot Nixon greeted him with a solo blast over the bullpen, his 21st homer of the year to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Sadly the Sox would have just four hits the rest of the game. Chris Stynes grounded out to second on a bang bang play then Carl Everett grounded out as well. Ramirez came into the game hitting just .233 in the last 68 games. He's been dealing with a bad hamstring and its no coincidence it got worse when former Sox manager Jimy Williams started putting him in left field. Ramirez lashed a base hit past Jeter into left field. Dante Bichette lined out softly to Alfonso Soriano at second to end the inning.
Jorge Posada looked at strike three on the inside corner to open the top of the second. Pedro then struck out Paul O'Neil with a 2-2 changeup. Shane Spencer then whiffed on a full count to end the inning. Brian Daubach led off the bottom of the second with a walk. Shea Hillenbrand popped up near the first base stands as Fox analyst Joe Buck said Jimy Williams got more out of the Red Sox than anybody could have expected, agreed. Scott Hattberg nearly banged into a double play but Soriano threw the ball away, allowing Scott to reach second. Mike Lansing grounded out to end the inning.
Soriano grounded out to third to open the top of the third inning. Pedro killer Enrique Wilson poked a base hit into center. Knoblauch popped up and Jeter grounded out to short to end the inning. Nixon was robbed of a leadoff hit by Williams to open the bottom of the third. Stynes walked but was erased on the stirke em out, throw em out double play on Everett.
Pedro got Williams to ground out to second to open the top of the fourth inning. Tino Martinez grounded out to first and Posada struck out on a pitch in the dirt to end the inning. The Sox still failed to score off Hernandez in the fourth. Ramirez popped up on a full count, Bichette grounded out and Daubach looked at strike three to end the inning.
Pedro returned for the top of the fifth and blew away O'Neil to begin the inning. Spencer was hit with a pitch but Soriano flied out to shallow right. Wilson grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox once again couldn't score off Hernandez in the bottom of the fifth. Hillenbrand whiffed and Hatteberg popped up to center. Lansing popped up to end the inning.
Rich Garces began warming up as Pedro reached his pitch limit in the top of the sixth. Knoblauch and Jeter grounded out to third and Everett made a great diving catch to rob Williams of a hit to end Pedro's day. The Sox were just 9 outs from giving him a much needed win. The Sox failed to get Pedro any insurance against Hernandez in the bottom of the sixth. Nixon whiffed and Stynes grounded out but Everett walked. Manny then cracked a shot off the top of the Monster that moved Everett to third. That ball was gone in Yankee Stadium. Sure enough Bichette grounded out to end the inning.
"El Guapo" Rich Garces got the ball in the top of the seventh inning. Tino Martinez popped up to right and Posada flied out to left. O'Neil singled and stole second, but Spencer whiffed to end the inning. Hernandez returned for the bottom of the seventh and got Daubach to fly out to left to begin the frame. Hillenbrand grounded out and Hatteberg lined out to end the inning. The Sox had scored one measly run against a pitcher that hadn't won a game all year.
Rather than go to the much maligned Derek Lowe, Sox manager Joe Kerrigan brought in closer Ugueth Urbina for the six out save with Doug Mirabelli taking over behind the plate. Things looked bleak immediately when Stynes lost a routine pop up in the sun, allowing Soriano to take second on a double. Pinch hitter David Justice (for Wilson) flied out to the wall in center, moving Soriano to third. Knoblauch then singled off the Monster to tie the game, but was foolishly thrown out at second trying to stretch into a double. Jeter grounded out to end the inning but the Yankees had tied it.
Hernandez returned for the bottom of the eighth as David Justice moved to left field as Clay Bellinger moved to third. Lansing did manage to single and advance to second on the sacrifice bunt by Nixon. Stynes whiffed and Everett grounded out to end the inning. 8 innings of 1 run ball by a winless pitcher, the epitome of futile for the slumping Red Sox.
Fox was barely back from commercial in the top of the ninth when Bernie Williams blasted a solo home run into center to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. The Yankees had done it again. Urbina recovered to blow away Martinez and Posada then get O'Neil to fly out to end the inning. Mariano Rivera came out for the bottom of the ninth to close it out. Ramirez had hit a game tying homer off of him on June 4...not today! Manny whiffed and Bichette whiffed as the fans began to file out of Fenway Park. Sox manager Joe Kerrigan then made the bizarre move of pinch-hitting Daubach with Izzy Alcantara. Izzy did manage to get a base hit to represent the tying run. Darren Lewis pinch hit for Izzy....but Hillenbrand grounded out to end the game. The Yankees had won it 2-1.
Jackass of the Night is Ugueth Urbina. Staked to a 1-0 lead, he gave up both the game tying and go-ahead runs, losing the game 2-1.
The Good:
Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with a run scored off his 22nd homer of the year. Manny Ramirez was 2 for 4. Izzy Alcantara singled in his pinch hitting appearance. Mike Lansing was 1 for 3. Pedro Martinez was outstanding, gutting through 6 innings with a bad shoulder. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 6 on pure guile. Rich Garces pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Dante Bichette and Shea Hillenbrand were both 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Scott Hatteberg was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Chris Stynes was 0 for 3 and lost the ball in the sun during the crucial 8th inning...but walked. Carl Everett was 0 for 3 but walked. Brian Daubach was 0 for 2 with a walk.
Honorable Mention:
Darren Lewis pinch ran for Alcantara in the 9th. Doug Mirabelli caught the top of the ninth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing is going right for the Red Sox at the plate. Pedro Martinez shuts out the Yankees on a bad shoulder, facing a starting pitcher who hadn't won a game all year....AND THEY STILL LOST. It doesn't matter if its Jimy Williams, Joe Kerrigan or Nancy Kerrigan managing this team, they're just not that good. They miss Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra and the normal Pedro Martinez that could go 7-9 innings in the worst way. Carl Everett, Scott Hatteberg, Mike Lansing and Brian Daubach are all hitting under .265 for the season and Manny Ramirez has been hitting .230 the last 2 months. There's your problem right there. The loss dropped the Sox to 71-63, 8 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow David Cone goes for the Sox facing his old team with Mike Mussina going for the Yankees.
No comments:
Post a Comment