August 27, 2003
...
Only three runs down after four innings? Three swings of the bat were
all they needed to smack down the Toronto Blue Jays and calm their
jittery fandom after the Red Sox had pulled off their latest unlikely
comeback, knocking out ace Roy Halladay and his Canadian playmates,
6-3, on a three-run homer by Jason Varitek, a two-run blast by
Walker, and a solo shot by David Ortiz before a delighted (and
relieved) capacity crowd of 34,206 at Fenway Park.
At the very
least, what they've got going is implausible. After losing, 12-9, to these same
Jays Tuesday, the Sox didn't figure to have a better shot with Halladay, the
league co- leader in wins (17), up against 38-year-old John Burkett, who was
pitching on three days' rest for the first time in five years and was 0-2 with a
14.73 ERA against Toronto this season. And certainly not after Burkett fell
behind, 2-0, after just four batters when Carlos Delgado cracked a soaring shot
into the Monster seats above the 379-foot mark in center field.
But after
climbing out of a 7-1 chasm a night earlier, a 3-0 gap was a mere pothole for a
Boston club that now has won 11 games after trailing by three or more runs.
Walker, who thought he had one Tuesday but barely made it to second when the
ball fell short, belted his first since July 24, after 112 at-bats without one.
And Ortiz (his career-high 21st), went out of the yard for the fifth time in his
last six starts. So it goes for this Home Run Derby sideshow doubling as a
baseball team. With Walker's homer (his 10th), nine Sox have hit 10 or more this
season. That hadn't happened in the club's 103-year history. With 196 already in
the book and 29 games remaining, this bunch is odds-on to surpass the franchise
record of 213 set in 1977.
Once Burkett
wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by getting designated hitter
Greg Myers to ground to second, the evening turned around abruptly. Halladay,
who'd allowed only three singles, walked Kevin Millar on four pitches. Then,
after Trot Nixon fanned, Bill Mueller nicked Halladay for a single to right. Up
came Varitek, who'd only hit .163 in his previous 13 games, crushing the next
pitch into the stands in deep center and pumping his fist as he rounded first.
For four
innings, it hadn't seemed likely. Halladay had all ground balls and strikeouts.
Walker delivered the killer with two outs in the seventh, reaching for a 0-2
ball that was down and in and golfing it into the Boston bullpen to score Johnny
Damon ahead of him. Then, in the eighth, Ortiz muscled a 1-2 pitch into the
bleachers to finish Halladay and the evening.
Big, too,
was the gritty performance by Burkett, who provided a solid six innings (three
runs, seven hits), on a night when the Sox had to have a quality start. And the
bullpen, which came unhinged in Tuesday's five-run eighth, was superb, with
winner Mike Timlin (his third victory over the Jays this season), Alan Embree,
and closer Byung Hyun Kim (his 11th save, with three strikeouts) slamming the
door over the final three innings.
While the
pitching remains mercurial, the Sox hitters continue to lead the majors in
almost every category, including average, runs, hits, doubles, extra-base hits,
total bases, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Over the seven games
prior to tonight's contest, Boston was averaging eight runs with 10 or more hits
in each.
