Castillo got the ball in the top of the first inning and Carlos Beltran grounded out to second to start. Rey Sanchez struck out swinging and Mark Quinn grounded out to short to end the inning. Blake Stein got the start for the Royals in the bottom of the first and Chris Stynes grounded out to third to start. Trot Nixon singled to left but Carl Everett took strike three. Manny Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jermaine Dye doubled to right to begin the top of the second inning but Mike Sweeney flied out to left. Dee Brown lined out to second and Joe Randa grounded out to short to end the inning. Troy O'Leary flied out to center to start the bottom of the second inning and Jason Varitek struck out swinging. Shea Hillenbrand singled to center but Brian Daubach grounded out to second to end the inning.
AJ Hinch took strike three to begin the top of the third inning and Luis Ordaz grounded out to short. Beltran walked but Sanchez struck out swinging to end the inning. Mike Lansing grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the third and Stynes grounded out to third. Nixon singled to right and stole second before Everett walked. Ramirez singled in the hole at short to load the bases but O'Leary took strike three to end the inning.
The Royals struck first in the top of the fourth although Quinn grounded out to second to start. Dye struck out swinging but Sweeney doubled to left. Brown singled up the middle to score Sweeney with the game's first run. Randa grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
Varitek singled to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Hillenbrand flied our to right. Daubach grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Hinch grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Ordaz grounded out to third. Beltran took strike three to end the inning. The Sox roared back in the bottom of the fifth as Lansing grounded out to third to start. Stynes singled to center but Nixon popped up to short. Stynes stole second but Everett walked. Ramirez then crushed his seventh home run of the season to put the Sox on top. O'Leary followed with his first home run of the season to add to the lead. Varitek walked to chase Stein and Kris Wilson came in to pitch. Hillenbrand struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox led 4-1.
The end came quickly for Castillo in the top of the sixth as Sanchez singled to right to begin. Quinn doubled to center and Dye singled to center. Sanchez scored easily but Quinn was thrown out at home to chase Castillo after 5 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. Rolando Arrojo came in and walked Sweeney but Brown hit one up the elevator shaft. Randa struck out swinging to end the inning with the Royals down 4-2.
The Sox broke it open in the bottom of the sixth as Daubach singled to center to begin. Lansing hit a routine grounder to Wilson who bobbled it for an error. Stynes singled to left to load the bases and chase Wilson. Jose Santiago came in to pitch and Nixon punched a single to left to score Daubach and reload the bases. Everett iced the game with a grand slam to put the game out of reach. Ramirez flied out to center, O'Leary grounded out to short and Varitek grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-2.
Hinch grounded out to short to begin the top of the seventh but Ordaz walked. Beltran singled to left but Sanchez banged into a double play to end the inning. Old friend Cory Bailey came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Hillenbrand lined out to second to start. Daubach struck out swinging and Lansing grounded out to second to end the inning.
Arrojo struck out Quinn swinging to begin the top of the eighth and Dye also went down hacking. Sweeney flied out to right to end the inning. Stynes struck out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth before Nixon grounded back to the mound. Everett grounded out to first to end the inning.
Arrojo came back to close out the top of the ninth and Brown grounded out to second to start. Randa walked but Hinch struck out swinging. Ordaz forced Randa at second to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-2.
The Good:
Chris Stynes was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base.
Trot Nixon was 3 for 5 with an rbi, stolen base and a run scored.
Carl Everett was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 total runs scored and a grand slam.
Jason Varitek was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Frank Castillo earned the win with 5 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and one walk.
Rolando Arrojo earned his third save with 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a solo home run.
Shea Hillenbrand was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
If the Sox can keep up this pace for the whole season they're going to be right there with the Oakland A's and New York Yankees. The Sox seem to have found their groove offensively and the pitching has been spectacular apart from Derek Lowe this month. The best part is they've done it without Nomar Garciaparra, David Cone, Bret Saberhagen and John Valentin....all of which are scheduled to return at some point this season. Apart from Nomar, the sad part is the other three haven't been needed. Paxton Crawford, Tomo Ohka and Castillo have done great in the rotation and Hillenbrand has had a good month at third base. Still, you can never have too much pitching so if and when the injured players return is a good thing. As for this game, the Royals are considerably weaker without Johnny Damon this season so the Sox need to take advantage. Castillo did well but was running out of gas in the sixth and kudos to Sox manager Jimy Williams for pulling the plug before the Royals bopped back into it. Arrojo and Wakefield have been damn good as long relievers and Arrojo's performance now has the bullpen rested for tomorrow night's game. It was a good win and the Sox look to make it 2 in a row against the Royals when Tomo Ohka (2-0) goes up against Dan Reichert of the Royals. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment