THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
Alfonzo's HR wins for the Giants

June 19, 2004 ...  Alan Embree, who surrendered a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to pinch hitter Edgardo Alfonzo let the Giants stun the Red Sox, 6-4, before 42,499 at SBC Park.

No need to remind Pedro Martinez, who coughed up the other four runs in the first inning before he found himself. And absolutely no need to remind David Ortiz, who ran the Sox out of a chance to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning by unsuccessfully trying to stretch a single into a double.

Embree retired the first two batters in the eighth before A.J. Pierzynski lined a single just over the leaping shortstop Cesar Crespo and the Giants sent out the righthanded-hitting Alfonzo to bat for Damon Minor. Righthanded closer Keith Foulke was warming up for a potential matchup with Michael Tucker a batter later.

Embree has struggled since the Sox rested him for a while. In his last seven outings since May 30, he has allowed eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings for a 15.42 ERA.  Yet the Sox had a chance to get him off the hook when Ortiz rifled a ball down the first base line with one out in the ninth. However, the lumbering Ortiz never hesitated rounding first and was easily gunned down as he belly flopped into second.

As misguided as Ortiz's base running was, it posed a stark contrast to Barry Bonds blatantly jogging out a grounder in the eighth on a play that should have been close if he had hustled. An inning earlier, Ortiz started the tying rally with a leadoff single. Ramirez singled him to second and Gabe Kapler drew a two- out walk to load the bases for Pokey Reese. At that, Francona sent out Nixon to hit. The Giants countered with righthander Matt Herges, who had never faced Nixon. They also had available lefthander Scott Eyre, whom Nixon had reached base against six of eight times (2 for 4 with four walks). With all the maneuvering complete, Nixon battled Herges to a 3- and-1 count before he flared an opposite-field hit to left-center.  Two runs scored easily, and when Bonds misplayed the ball for an error, Kapler scored the tying run.  David McCarty then singled in the pinch to keep the rally alive, but Herges got Mark Bellhorn to fly out and prevent any further damage, clearing the way for Alfonzo's shot in the bottom of the inning.

Martinez's early struggle hardly helped, though he settled down and pitched five scoreless innings after the rocky first. And the results were less than rosy.

The Hanley Ramirez watch remains on hold while the system's top prospect recovers from a sprained wrist.  Ramirez has plenty of company on Single A Sarasota's injured list, including David Murphy and third baseman Chad Spann, a fourth-rounder in '02 who hit .312 last year as Augusta's player of the year. The list also includes lefthander Jon Lester, the team's top pick in '02, among others. 

The way Sarasota's Jon Papelbon seems to have toyed with hitters in the Florida State League, it may have seemed as if he were due for a promotion after the All-Star break. The hard-throwing righthander, who was a reliever at Mississippi State before the Sox selected him in the fourth round last year and converted him to a starter, is 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA and has fanned 81 batters in 62 innings. The Sox want him to stay in Sarasota to work with pitching coach Al Nipper on his off-speed stuff.

Arizona State shortstop Dustin Pedroia, the team's top pick in this year's draft, has yet to sign as both sides wait for other second-rounders to sign to determine a market value. Early signs indicate Pedroia could command about $600,000