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October 5, 2005 ... The Red Sox were leading the White Sox, 4-0, in the fifth inning of a proverbial must-win game when the White Sox rallied to score five times en route to a 5-4, Game 2 victory. Chicago's winning runs came on a two-out, three-run homer by Tadahito Iguchi moments after a potential double-play grounder skipped through the legs of Sox second baseman Tony Graffanino. And now the Red Sox trail the best-of-five series, two games to none, and must win three straight to extend this title defense into the second round. The Red Sox got David Wells four runs in the first three innings against Chicago lefthander Mark Buehrle. Johnny Damon led off the game with a single to left, Edgar Renteria followed with a double to left, and both scored on a hard single to left by Manny Ramirez. Buehrle had only thrown 13 pitches and he was down, 2-0. In the third, Damon singled, took third on a double by David Ortiz, and scored on a single to right by Jason Varitek. Trot Nixon plated Ortiz by grounding into a force play and Wells had a 4-0 lead. That was it. Buehrle, the American League's All-Star starter this season, settled down over the next four innings before handing the ball over to rookie fireballer Bobby Jenks. Meanwhile, Wells cruised into the fifth with a two-hit shutout. It looked like this would be a victory for deep dish over thin crust, a win for burly over Buehrle. Wells smothered these White Sox, who hit five homers and scored 14 runs in Game 1. Then came the horror. Old friend Carl Everett started the trouble with a single to right and scored on a double to left by Aaron Rowand. Rowand came home on a single to center by Joe Crede. Suddenly, Wells was struggling. His pitch count was in the mid-60s and he was having trouble putting hitters away.
No. 9 batter Juan Uribe fouled off several pitches, then hit a grounder in the direction of Graffanino. It might have been a double-play ball. Maybe not. With Crede streaking toward second, Graffanino appeared to lift his head just as the ball reached him. When it scooted between his spikes, the White Sox had runners on first and third with one out and new life. Graffanino made only three errors in his 51 games with the Sox after he was acquired from the Royals on July 19. The play was remarkably similar to the infamous grounder that skipped between the legs of Buckner to hand the Mets a victory in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. After the error, people started to get loose in the Red Sox bullpen and pitching coach Dave Wallace visited the mound. Graffanino also visited Wells and the pitcher gave the chagrined infielder a playful pat on the back with his glove. Wells got Scott Podsednik to pop to third and it looked like he might be out of trouble. Enter Tadahito Iguchi. The rookie second baseman crushed Wells's 1-and-1 pitch deep to left for a three-run homer and a 5-4 lead. US Cellular Field erupted. Before the homer, certainly before the error, there was a feel of inevitability about this one. The resilient Red Sox were going to show the ChiSox who was boss and come home with a split. But all that positive energy was drained out of the Boston dugout when Iguchi rounded the bases. Jenks came on in the eighth and pitched hitless ball until Graffanino attempting to atone for his error cracked a double to left with one out in the ninth. With a chance to tie it, Damon popped to the catcher on a full count and Renteria grounded to short. Fireworks exploded in the South Side sky as 40,799 sang, "Hey, Hey, Na, Na, Kiss Him Goodbye." |
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