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THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Sox get it done vs the Angels
August 31, 2004 ... Regardless of where you were sitting in a sellout crowd of 35,040 in Fenway Park -
even if you were behind home plate, with Curt Schilling's unblinking gaze boring in at you for the better part of 2 1/2 hours - it was nearly impossible to tear your eyes away from left field.
That was true at the beginning of the night, when the Red Sox once again let Manny Ramirez trot alone to his position, much to his apparent delight, judging from the way he gave his now-famous "Shazam" double-point to the fans in his neighborhood.
And it was still true at the end, and only partially because of the MVP-type performance turned in by Ramirez, whose three-run home run in the first and solo shot in the second sent the Sox on their way to a 10-7 defeat of the Anaheim Angels, their closest pursuers in the wild-card race. The
Sox are now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Angels, which means they still will be ahead after the Halos leave in two days.
The Sox, who were ahead by nine runs until the Angels scored two in the eighth and the light-hitting Alfredo Amezaga hit a grand slam in the ninth off Mike Myers, bade a reluctant farewell to a sizzling August with an impressive display of almost everything that went right in the 21-win
month:
Ramirez's show of power allowed him to tie and then pass Jim Rice on the all-time home run list (383 and counting) with a drive into the Angels bullpen in the first, then a first-pitch shot into the center-field bleachers.
Schilling set down a dozen Angels in a row after dodging early trouble, went 7 2/3 innings without walking a batter, and emerged with his 17th win against just six losses (9-1 in Fenway). The Sox are 20-7 in Schilling's starts.
There were big hits all the way down the order, including Roberts' home run in a four-run seventh that made it 10-1. Bill Mueller had three hits, and the Sox had 16 in all.
All the happy faces in the Sox room offered ample proof of how the Sox are feeling. They have won 13 of 14, and 19 of 23. Most of those wins came against the bottom-dwellers in the American League, but not last night. In the Angels, the Sox were facing a team that was almost as hot as they
were, having had a nine-game winning streak end Sunday. The Angels tied a franchise record for wins in August with 19. |
