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MANNY ARRIVES AS THE
YAWKEY ERA CRASHES & BURNS
The Sox smash 8 HRs in a
doubleheader sweep
August 4, 2001 ... Steeled
by clutch starts from veterans David Cone and Tim Wakefield and all
the offensive punch they needed, including eight home runs, the Sox
swept a day-night doubleheader from the Rangers, 10-4 and 6-2, to
spring back from the canvas after being laid flat in the three-game
disaster by the Angels.
Facing a
Texas team that had won nine of 11 entering the twinbill, Wakefield set the pace
in the nightcap, surrendering only two runs on four hits in seven innings. He
got some timely help from a makeshift Sox lineup, particularly Lansing, whose
first homer, a solo shot in the sixth, tied the score, 2-2. Four straight hits
in the seventh by Dante Bichette, Scott Hatteberg, Shea Hillenbrand, and Daubach
produced two more runs, giving the Sox a 4-2 edge.
The Sox
regained the wild-card advantage by winning the opener, thanks to Cone (7-1) and
an impromptu power surge that featured six home runs, their most in one game
since swatting seven in Detroit July 24, 1999.
And Lansing
gained a large measure of respect from a crowd that booed when he was announced
as Garciaparra's replacement by hitting his second homer of the night, a two-run
shot in the eighth that made it 6-2. In 16 games since the All-Star break,
Lansing has hit .379 (22 for 58) with five homers and 10 RBIs. He said he has
improved by studying film during the break and regaining more strength in his
left thumb, which he injured in June sliding into second base in Toronto.
Trot Nixon
and Troy O'Leary each smashed a pair of homers in the opener. Carl Everett,
emerging from a 1-for-18 slumber since his return from a knee injury, crushed a
three-run shot in going 3 for 5. And Daubach chipped in with a 430-foot blast
into the bleachers.
Facing the
prospect of starting three games within a 24-hour span, the Sox desperately
needed to spare their bullpen from excess labor. And they got almost everything
they could ask from Wakefield and Cone, who lasted 5 2/3 innings in the opener.
Wakefield made things hard for himself by allowing the leadoff batter to reach
base five times. The Rangers scored first after he walked Rafael Palmeiro
leading off the second. Palmeiro motored to third on Gabe Kapler's single off
the Wall and scored on Ricky Ledee's sacrifice fly to right.
The Rangers
went up, 2-0, in the fourth. After Wakefield walked Kapler leading off, he stole
second - one of four steals against Wakefield - and scored when Ledee's shot to
left scraped off the Green Monster for a double.
In the
bottom on the fourth, the Red Sox got their first run when Chris Stynes doubled
to left leading off against Doug Davis and scored on Nixon's single to right.
The Sox were
trailing, 2-1, in the sixth when Lansing evened the score by smashing the first
pitch he saw from Davis into the screen over Lansdowne Street. And the Sox never
looked back.
In the
opener, Cone became the first pitcher since Clemens in 1986 to have the Sox win
12 straight games behind him. Cone figured prominently in the turnaround. With
his trademark knack of getting into jams and pitching out of most of them, Cone
did the same last night, allowing only three runs on nine hits, a walk, and
three hit batsmen. He also unleashed two wild pitches and prompted three visits
from pitching coach Joe Kerrigan. But Cone not only ran Boston's record to 12-0
in his last 12 starts, he improved his record to 6-0 after the team has lost.
The Rangers
scored their first run off Cone when second baseman Jose Offerman and right
fielder Nixon misplayed a pop up by Palmeiro in the third. Texas scored two more
in the fifth on a single by Mike Lamb and a sacrifice fly by Kapler. Cone
pitched out of his biggest jams in the first and sixth innings.
But Texas
starter Rick Helling was no match for Cone. Before the Sox were done with him,
he was leading the league in home runs (27) and runs (96) allowed. Before it was
over, Helling and the Texas bullpen had allowed their most homers in a game
since June 24, 1989. The Texas staff leads the league with homers allowed (146).
The sweep
helped the Sox, who had lost seven of their last 11, climb within 4 1/2 games of
the Yankees in the American League East. But the Sox ended their long day's work
with a one-game lead in the wild-card race over the Indians, who fell to the
Mariners, 8-5. |
