 |
|
JOHNNY DAMON |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Blue Jays can't beat Derek Lowe
August 16, 2004 ...
There was nothing routine about the Red Sox' 8-4 win over the Blue Jays. There was a wet infield from a steady and sometimes heavy rain that led to two Orlando Cabrera errors; Doug Mientkiewicz's surprise start at second base; Derek Lowe retaliating against Carlos Delgado for leveling Mientkiewicz on a grounder in the second
inning; and Keith Foulke's two-inning save were perhaps a sign of things to come.
Manager Terry Francona inserted Mientkiewicz at second, in part because of a depleted infield and in part because he wanted a lot of lefthanded hitters facing Toronto starter Justin Miller. Though Miller, a righthander, had allowed lefties a .398 average entering the game, four of the five runs off him were knocked in by
righthanded hitters (two by Cabrera and two by Kevin Millar).
Lowe, who improved to 11-10, did the honorable thing to start the seventh, throwing at Delgado's backside after Delgado had leveled Mientkiewicz on the basepaths in the second inning. Mientkiewicz fielded Frank Catalanotto's grounder and went to tag Delgado, who was on first after a walk. Delgado slammed into Mientkiewicz, who
fell to the ground but held the ball for the out. The Sox felt Delgado's actions were excessive, and it seemed only a matter of time before Lowe would retaliate. The problem with retaliation is that it gave the Jays a runner leading off the seventh, though they still trailed, 5-1. The players were also dodging raindrops in the
early innings as the mound and the infield got wetter and wetter. Balls were bouncing funny, as each team made an infield error in the first four innings. |
