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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE June 29, 2004 ... The Sox extended their troubling pattern of following an uplifting victory with an ugly loss by stumbling in an 11-3 snoozer before 55,231 in the opener of a significant three- game series against the Yankees in the Bronx. Thanks in part to Millar's miscue and a pair by shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, the Sox surrendered four more unearned runs, extending their major league lead to 58. They have committed 65 errors this season, a full 20 more than their opponents, and their latest blunders hardly could have come at a more inopportune time as they tried to narrow their gap with the division-leading Yankees. With starter Derek Lowe providing little help - the Bombers torched him for nine hits, including a three-run homer by Gary Sheffield and a two-run shot by old friend Tony Clark, and a walk over five innings - the Sox slipped 6 1/2 games off the pace as they continued to hover closer to the third-place Devil Rays than the leaders. The lapse by Lowe and the defense wasted Damon's solo homers in the first and third innings and David Ortiz's solo jack in the sixth. Each of Damon's homers gave the Sox a lead they were unable to hold, partly because they went 2 for 9 with runners on base against Javier Vazquez and his bullpen. Other than their home runs, the Sox put only three runners in scoring position and went hitless in those situations. Vazquez, whom the Sox once coveted, improved to 9-5 with a 3.42 ERA, while Lowe ended an otherwise strong June by dropping to 6-7 with a 5.47 ERA. The loss abruptly removed the luster from the best start (6-1) through seven games of a season for the Sox against the Yankees since 1912. The Yankees made it look easy by exploiting the Sox errors and banging around Lowe and reliever Lenny DiNardo. Lowe had never allowed nine runs in a game. Johnny Damon slugged the 13th homer of his career leading off a game and his first since Aug. 1, 2002 in Texas. His solo shot in the third inning gave him his first multi-homer game since April 10, 2003 in Toronto and the sixth of his career. Bill Mueller continued his rehab assignment by going 2 for 4 with an RBI in Triple A Pawtucket's 5-4 loss at Norfolk last night. Count Mike Timlin as another Red Sox who is not a fan of Yankee Stadium. Late in the afternoon, before any of the Sox came out for stretching and hitting, Timlin was playing catch with his 7-year- old son in front of the Boston dugout when he was told by a security officer that the child was not allowed on the field. |
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