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ORLANDO CABRERA |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Red Sox clinch the wild card
September 27, 2004 ... The Red Sox played their way into the postseason, at least the wild card, though
they remain alive for the division title - with a 7-3 triumph over the Devil Rays before 17,602 at the Trop. The American League East remains in play, after all. And there's the highly unsettled matter of which team they will face when the playoffs begin.
The clincher-in-chief was Bronson Arroyo, the rising star from the back of the rotation, who survived an early dustup to improve to 10-9 by limiting the Rays to two runs over 6 innings before a posse of bullpen men, including finisher Keith Foulke, did the rest.
Manny Ramirez unleashed a gargantuan 458-foot blast for two more runs and the Sox picked up a solo shot from Jason Varitek to help seal the victory.
The Sox appeared to have no answer for Kazmir, who struck out six in 3 innings and did not allow a ball out of the infield. But soon the Sox didn't need an answer. After Kazmir plunked Ramirez on the left thigh, he hit the next batter, Kevin Millar, in the back, triggering a nonviolent benches-clearing standoff, and plate
umpire Bruce Dreckman tossed the rookie lefthander and Piniella. The game was never the same. When Kazmir departed, the Rays led, 2-0, thanks in part to Arroyo plunking Huff, which enabled a run-scoring rally for Tampa Bay.
David McCarty started things by singling to left-center, and Sosa contributed by walking Kevin Youkilis. A batter later, Damon did his thing, cracking a 3-and-2 pitch from Sosa into the right-field stands to catapult the Sox to a 3-2 advantage with his 19th homer, a season high for him. Then the Sox rolled on. Mark Bellhorn,
who fanned and popped out against Kazmir, followed Damon's homer by whistling a double down the first base line. And Ramirez responded by crushing a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over the wall in dead center, making it 5-2. The homer was Ramirez's 43d, tying him for the fifth-most in a season in Sox history with Ted Williams (1949)
and Tony Armas (1984). Ramirez also joined David Ortiz (40 homers) in combining for 83 long balls, the most by a pair of teammates in club history. |
