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BOBBY JONES |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Sox lose in 13 innings
April 8, 2004 ... Terry Francona got plenty of use out of his lineup card in the finale of a four-game opening
road series against the Orioles, marking it every which way in an urgent attempt to help the Sox prevail amid a prolonged 2-2 standoff at Camden Yards. But all the ink ultimately went for naught as Bobby Jones walked four batters in the bottom of the 14th inning to lift the O's over the Sox, 3-2, before the frenzied stragglers
from a crowd of 31,121 in a chilly rain.
Jones issued the decisive walk with one out on his eighth pitch of the at-bat to Larry Bigbie, forcing in Javy Lopez, who walked leading off the inning.
Both teams had a number of chances to snap the stalemate as they played deeper into the night. The Orioles took a shot in the 12th when Bigbie singled leading off against Jones and scampered to second on a sacrifice by Brian Roberts. But Jones got Melvin Mora to fly
out, then intentionally walked Miguel Tejada before he escaped by inducing Rafael Palmeiro to ground out. The Sox also benefited in the 11th when Jay Gibbons tried to advance from first base into scoring position on a fly to center and was ruled out for leaving the base too early.
Francona used every position player but Brian Daubach and every reliever but Ramiro Mendoza, though he was unable to prevent the Sox from returning home 2-2 for their opening trip. The Sox and Orioles were deadlocked since Ellis Burks slugged a solo homer, his first for
the Sox in 12 years, to erase a 2-1 Baltimore lead in the sixth inning. Sox starter Tim Wakefield held on long enough to carry the Sox into the bottom of the sixth before he was lifted with a runner on first and one out for Alan Embree.
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ELLIS BURKS |
In his 500th career appearance, Embree fanned two straight batters to end the sixth and clear the way for a Sox rally in the seventh. With one out, the Sox loaded the bases on walks by O's starter Matt Riley. But on came lefty B.J. Ryan, who got Damon to line to short
and Bill Mueller on a soft liner to first to extinguish the threat.
Embree and Mike Timlin then combined to hold off the O's in the bottom of the seventh before Scott Williamson followed suit in the eighth and ninth. The Sox, who erupted for 10 runs on 14 hits the night before, mustered only six hits through 13 innings. Wakefield kept
them in contention by surrendering only the two runs on three hits and five walks. But Riley was similarly nasty, yielding only two (one earned) on three hits and four walks over 6 innings.
The Sox were not expected to reach their homes until the wee hours after last night's 13-inning affair. Trot Nixon threw for the first time in about two weeks in a session at the University of Miami supervised by therapists. |
