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THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Sox can't hold on to finish the Royals
May 10, 2004 ... With a
second straight abysmal outing that was likely to inspire a groundswell of support for Bronson Arroyo's return to the rotation, Byung-Hyun Kim put the Sox on the path to ruin by surviving only 3 innings in a wretched 10-6 loss to the Indians before 35,257 at Fenway Park.
Kim's lapse helped the Yankees creep within a half-game of the Sox in the American League East as the struggling Korean surrendered six runs (four earned) on five hits, three walks, and a hit batsman before he departed to a cascade of boos. Kim's woes seemed contagious as the Indians touched each of the
first two relievers out of Boston's vaunted pen for at least a run.
The Sox dropped their second straight game as they played without Manny Ramirez, who had traveled to Miami to complete the process that makes him a US citizen. They also remained without Nomar Garciaparra, who would have helped nicely if he had duplicated the three-homer, 10-RBI night he had precisely five
years earlier against the Mariners. Brian Daubach, who replaced Ramirez in left field, filled in admirably for the slugger, knocking in three runs with a solo homer and a two-run double. Jason Varitek also launched a solo shot.
But Kim was no match for Lou Merloni and the Indians. Returning to Fenway for the first time as an opponent, Merloni was honored with a video tribute accompanied by Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown." He scored a run and knocked one in, but he was far from alone in bedeviling the Sox.
After the Tribe routed Kim, they nicked Lenny DiNardo for one run and Alan Embree for two more. Kim generally was ineffective from the moment Matt Lawton, the first batter of the game, plunked a double off the Green Monster.
Still, the Sox gave Kim another chance as they tied the score again in the third inning. Daubach provided the big knock, a two-run double off the Wall, knocking in Kevin Millar, who had singled, and Varitek, who had doubled.
Yet again, though, Kim faltered. He managed to retire only one batter in the fourth. First, Ronnie Belliard doubled down the right-field line. Then Kim dinged Broussard on the right elbow with a pitch and walked Merloni to load the bases. That was enough for Francona. On came DiNardo, who surrendered a
run-scoring single to Crisp and a sac fly to Lawton before he got out of the jam with the Sox trailing, 6-4.
Daubach countered again in the fifth inning, lacing a 90-mile-an-hour heater from reliever Chad Durbin into the Cleveland bullpen to make it 6-5. The homer was Daubach's first of the season. But the Indians quickly recouped the run in the sixth for a 7-5 lead before the Indians added another run off Embree in the seventh. |
