 |
DAVID ORTIZ &
MANNY RAMIREZ |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Red Sox
rebound and crush the Phillies
June 27, 2004 ...
The Good Sox returned today at Fenway Park. While hardly a team bursting with confidence, Boston took the series with Philadelphia on the heels of a 12-3 win over
the Phillies, against whom they won two out of three.
Manager Terry Francona said the Red Sox had a "tremendous dugout" yesterday, with teammates trying to get each other going and concentrating on the moment. Francona singled out catcher Jason Varitek as "a professional winner" and "I continue to marvel at the kind of teammate he is." And
those words came on a day Varitek went 0 for 4.
Of course, the Sox can't pitch Curt Schilling every day. On a sun-splashed afternoon, Schilling went six innings and threw 110 pitches. He gave up a pair of long balls to Pat Burrell and David Bell in the second inning, and trailed, 3-0, before the Sox put up a four-spot in the third and
never looked back. Schilling, who joined a list of 10-game winners that includes Jason Schmidt, Kenny Rogers, and Roger Clemens, put on a show at key moments. He struck out Jim Thome with a man on in the fifth with a 97-mile-per-hour fastball, and in the sixth he fanned Jason Michaels and
Todd Pratt with two on to conclude his workday. Schilling, who has an ERA of 3.24, is now tied with Minnesota's Johan Santana for the league lead with 100 strikeouts, and he's also tied for first with Oakland's Mark Mulder with 111 innings pitched.
|
|
|
.jpg) |
|
THE "PICNIC IN THE PARK" |
The bullpen - Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, and Keith Foulke - had no problem holding the lead, and the Good Sox lineup did it all. There was some impressive clutch hitting, like in the third, when Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra hit back-to-back ground-rule doubles, each scoring two runs.
David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Bellhorn's three-run homer in the eighth concluded an offensive showing big enough to end the homestand at 3-3.
After the game, the Sox had a picnic with their families at Fenway. A just reward for the Good Sox, who hope they can keep the Bad Sox from showing up in New York. |
