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JOHNNY DAMON |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Red Sox come home and
run over Oakland
July 6, 2004 ...
The Red Sox scored 11 runs on 17 hits at Fenway Park and David Ortiz didn't have one of them. Yet he was surrounded by media after the game, probably wondering why anyone would want to speak to him. But the 11-0 win over the Oakland A's, behind Tim Wakefield, proved the Red Sox don't have to rely on Ortiz, who went 0 for 6, or
Manny Ramirez, who went 0 for 3.
It wasn't Ortiz and it wasn't Ramirez. It was Johnny Damon's 5 for 6, Bill Mueller's three-run homer, Kevin Millar's three hits and two RBIs, and Nomar Garciaparra's two RBIs. It was Wakefield's seven shutout innings. It was all of the above. It was finally a break for manager Terry
Francona, whose post-game press conferences have been dreadful for him, for Red Sox Nation, and the players.
There was finally a positive aura around a team that has already been written off by some of their fans. This wasn't the moribund atmosphere seen in New York and Atlanta the past week, where the Sox managed one win in six games. Even the scoreboard made them smile. The Yankees lost to the
Tigers, 9-1. Texas, another potential wild- card competitor, lost, 4-1, at Cleveland. The Rangers come to Fenway for a three-game set beginning Friday.
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TIM WAKEFIELD |
The Sox might make a blockbuster deal to shake things up before the trading deadline, but last night was one of those teasers for general manager Theo Epstein, a reason not to do anything. Epstein did his part trying to change the team's luck by sitting in the press box with vice president
of baseball operations Mike Port rather than in his seat behind home plate. He spent the early afternoon walking the field with Francona. And the team went out and played well.
The game plan was to lay off the curve and make him beat you with his other stuff. Zito lasted only four innings, throwing 102 pitches. Wakefield, too, seemed to feel the urgency and his message from the outset was clear: He was not going to be culpable for another loss. Whether it was
Oakland's jetlag or Wakefield's dancing knuckleball, the combination left the A's offense in gridlock. Wakefield, who evened his record at 5-5, allowed three hits and a walk, and struck out six. Lefthander Jimmy Anderson did the rest with two scoreless innings to combine on a four-hit
shutout.
Who would have thought - Ortiz and Ramirez, 0 for 9 and the Sox raked. Johnny Damon, who went 5 for 6, extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Wakefield has pitched 1,757 2/3 innings with the Sox, passing Mel Parnell for fourth in club history. |
