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May 3, 2005 ... Doug Mirabelli, in just his 19th at-bat of the season, cranked his second clutch home run of the year, this one a fifth-inning grand slam that propelled the Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the Tigers. The backup catcher was the designated hitter in place of David Ortiz, who needed a rest. This seemed to be a good night for that in the stat-gazing eyes of manager Terry Francona, who probably noticed Ortiz's .100 career average (1 for 10) against Mike Maroth, the 1998 third-round pick of the Sox, traded to Detroit a year later for Bryce Florie. John Halama, making his 10th appearance but first start with the Sox, was expected to be on an 80-pitch count. But he worked efficiently, didn't walk anyone, and gave the Sox as much, insomuch as innings (five) and pitches (87), as they possibly could have expected out of someone who'd thrown no more than 34 pitches in any previous outing this season. Halama gave up just two runs, a long home run to the second batter he faced, Ivan Rodriguez, and a Marcus Thames RBI double in the fourth. Detroit led, 2-1, after four innings, until Doug Mirabelli came to bat with the bases loaded in the fifth. All five Sox to bat before him in the inning had reached but none had scored, thanks to two force outs, one at third and one at home. Mirabelli, on a 2-and-1 changeup from Mike Maroth, launched a grand slam that landed in Row 1 of the seats in left-center, beyond the outfield fence and bullpens. Before that at-bat, the Sox had left at least one man on base in the previous 12 innings, and 19 base runners total. They were hitting just .200 (5 for 25) in the series with runners in scoring position. The slam gave Mirabelli 12 career hits against the Tigers, six of them home runs. Mirabelli now has three career grand slams, this one erasing a one-run deficit and lifting the Sox to a 5-2 lead. The Sox have already hit four grand slams this season after hitting six all of last year. This year's slams: Manny Ramirez twice (April 16 vs. Tampa Bay and April 18 vs. Toronto), David Ortiz (April 15 vs. Tampa Bay), and Mirabelli. Mirabelli hit seventh in a rather unique Sox lineup. Ortiz had been the only Sox player to hit cleanup this season. Without him, Jason Varitek, who began the night hitting .317 with six home runs, batted fourth. Mirabelli went into last night's game hitting just .188. He'd had only 16 at-bats, fewest of any Sox player who's spent the whole season on the roster. Yet he's now delivered two clutch home runs - the shot that supplied a 2-0 lead in the home opener against the Yankees and the slam last night. Maroth struggled with his control. He walked six, tying a career high, after walking just four in his five previous starts this season. The lone downer of the evening was Edgar Renteria, the owner of two Gold Gloves (2002, 2003), making his fifth and six errors of the season. In the first inning, he fielded a routine grounder, took an exceedingly long time to release the ball, and, when he did, threw low and past first baseman Kevin Millar. In the fifth, Renteria fielded a Rodriguez grounder up the middle but dropped the ball attempting to transfer it to his throwing hand. He made 11 errors all of last season and has averaged 19 in his nine-season major league career. Keith Foulke earned the save, his fifth, but not without allowing a leadoff homer in the ninth, the fourth home run he's allowed in the last eight days. Matt Mantei (one) and Mike Timlin (two) combined to give the Sox three innings of scoreless relief before handing the ball to Foulke, who went into last night having allowed 10 earned runs this season. The Sox' closer allowed just 20 all of last season, and the same in 2003. Foulke's ERA, which was 7.50 to begin the evening, has been below 3.00 at the end of each season since 1999. Foulke has five months to shave that ERA, but he's dug himself quite a hole. He entered the game needing 18 straight scoreless innings to reduce his ERA to 3.00, but the ninth-inning homer to Thames ruined that plan. |
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