Leiter, Mets Drop Sox (6/12/99)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Bret Saberhagen was placed on the Disabled List after cutting his foot on broken glass in his swimming pool....yes of course I'm serious. Kirk Bullinger was called up from Pawtucket to take his place. Get well soon.

                                                                         OUT

                                                                    IN

The June swoon continues for the Boston Red Sox as they have now lost six out of their last seven games. The bats have been silent lately and today they were almost shut down by Al Leiter and the New York Mets. Leiter held the Sox to just 2 runs in 7 strong innings while Boston starter Pat Rapp (2-4, 5.00 ERA) was tagged for 3 runs in 6 innings. Benny Agbayani hit a third inning home run and Edgardo Alfonzo drove in a run as well. Robin Ventura drove in a run in the sixth but the Sox rallied for a pair in the seventh. Troy O'Leary and Creighton Gubanich drove in runs and the Sox had the tying run at second, but Jason Varitek failed to deliver. John Olerud took Mark Guthrie deep in the bottom of the eighth and John Franco slammed the door in the ninth as the Mets won this one 4-2 at Shea Stadium.

Leiter got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Offerman grounded out to third to start. John Valentin ate up Robin Ventura at third on a "single" but Nomar Garciaparra grounded into a double play to end the inning. Rapp got the ball in the bottom of the first and Roger Cedeno grounded out to short to start. Edgardo Alfonzo struck out swinging and John Olerud hit a broken bat grounder to first to end the inning.

Mike Stanley lined out to Benny Agbayani to start the top of the second and Damon Buford blooped a base hit to right. Troy O'Leary lined out to left and Creighton Gubanich popped up to first in foul territory to end the inning. Mike Piazza got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the second but Ventura grounded into a double play. Brian McCrae popped up to third to end the inning.

Darren Lewis' bunt attempt was snuffed out by Leiter to start the top of the third and Rapp struck out swinging. Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning. The Mets struck first in the bottom of the third as Agbayani hit a home run all the way to Yankee Stadium to start. Rey Ordonez singled to left past the diving Garciaparra and Leiter dropped down a bunt to move him to second. Cedeno dropped down a bunt to move Ordonez to third and Rey scored on the Alfonzo double to left. Olerud grounded out to short to end the inning with the Mets up 2-0.

                                                       Mets strike first

Valentin flied out to left to start the top of the fourth and Nomar grounded out to third. Stanley lined out to a diving Ventura to end the inning. Piazza flied out to the right fielding track to start the bottom of the fourth but Ventura got a base hit to right. McCrae was hit with a pitch but was thrown out trying to steal on the Agbayani swinging strikeout to end the inning.

Buford struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and O'Leary took strike three. Gubanich flied out to center to end the inning. Odonez flied out to right to start the bottom of the fifth and Leiter grounded back to the mound. Cedeno got a base hit to center and promptly stole second. Alfonzo grounded out to short to end the inning.

Lewis beat out a roller to short to start the top of the sixth and Rapp dropped down a bunt. Leiter threw wide of second for an error, but Offerman grounded into a double play directly after Fox analyst Tim McCarver had said Jose had only done it twice all year. Valentin grounded out to short to end the inning. The Mets finished off Rapp in the bottom of the sixth as Olerud lined out to right to start. Piazza grounded out to second but Ventura hit a home run all the way to Albany to increase the lead. McRae walked but Lewis slid to catch a line drive by Agbayani to end the inning with the Mets up 3-0. That was it for Rapp as he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings off 7 hits and a walk.

                                                                 Rapp got no run support

The Sox rallied in the top of the seventh as Garciaparra struck out swinging to start. Stanley flied out to left but Buford got a base hit to center. Buford stole second and O'Leary doubled to left to score him. Gubanich got a base hit to center to score O'Leary and cut the lead. Jeff Frye ran for Gubanich and Lewis walked. Jason Varitek pinch hit for Rapp but popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.

                                                        Gubanich gets the Sox closer

Derek Lowe came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Ordonez walked to start. Matt Franco pinch hit for Leiter and forced Ordonez at second. Cedeno took strike three and Alfonzo grounded out to third to end the inning.

Armando Benitez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Offerman walked to start. Valentin lined out to third but Offerman stole second on Nomar's swinging strike out. With the tying run at second....Stanley flied out to left to end the inning. Mark Guthrie came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Olerud greeted him with a home run all the way into the Long Island Sound to ice the game. Piazza grounded out to short, Ventura struck out swinging and McRae lined out to right to end the inning with the Mets up 4-2.

                                                             This one's over

John Franco came in to close out the top of the ninth and Buford took strike three to start. O'Leary got a base hit to center and Trot Nixon pinch hit for Guthrie. Nixon grounded out to short to move Troy to second but Lewis grounded out to short to end the game. The Mets had won it 4-2.

                                                            Mets win

Jackass of The Night is Mark Guthrie. His home run to John Olerud put the game out of reach.

                                                        Lefty on lefty Jackass

The Good:

Damon Buford was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Troy O'Leary was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.

Creighton Gubanich was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

Darren Lewis was 1 for 3 with a walk.

One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list but Pat Rapp tossed 6 solid innings allowing just 3 runs off 7 hits and a walk.

Derek Lowe pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

The Bad:

Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Mike Stanley was 0 for 4.

Trot Nixon was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.

Jason Varitek was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.

The Ugly:

Jose Offerman was 0 for 3 but walked and stole a base.

John Valentin was just 1 for 4.

Honorable Mention:

Jeff Frye ran for Gubanich in the seventh.

Final Thoughts:

Once again the Sox can't get it done on national television. Very concerning how they couldn't do much against Al Leiter who came into the game with an ERA over 5. Pat Rapp didn't even pitch that bad but that Guthrie home run to Olerud was a killer. Had the Sox only trailed by one you could play small ball but not with a 2 run deficit. After last night's game, tying it up in the ninth might have broke the backs of the Mets. Worse yet, the rumor is Tom Gordon might be done for the year with elbow problems and Jin-Ho Cho might replace him. Tim Wakefield is interim closer and the idea makes everyone want to hurl. One of the reasons the Sox made the playoffs last year was Gordon was as automatic as it got. If he's gone that's a huge blow to a team already struggling in the month of June. The New York Yankees aren't going away and every win counts if the Sox hope to topple them. The loss dropped the Sox to 34-26, 1.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the series tomorrow afternoon when Mark Portugal (3-4) takes on Orel Hershiser of the Mets. The game begins at 1:30 PM at Shea Stadium.