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HR #26 |
A SAD END TO A
RECORD SEASON ...
Papelbon sets a Sox record
July 2, 2006 ...
With Jonathan Papelbon setting a club record for saves by a rookie
(25) on the same day his peers voted him to the All-Star team, the
Sox won the rubber game of their set with the Marlins despite being
outhit, 9-5, making more errors than the hosts, 2-1, and stranding
only two base runners to 13 for the Floridians, yet the Sox won 4-3.
You can
overcome such disparities by hitting the ball out of the park, which the Sox did
three times against the Marlins' best young arm, Josh Johnson, who had given up
just three homers all season but was taken deep by Kevin Youkilis (leading off
the game), Jason Varitek, and Ortiz, one in each of the first three innings.
Ortiz, who hit three home runs in two days and came within a couple of feet of
two more this weekend, has 26, one fewer than Jim Thome, who has homered in each
of the last two games to keep ahead of Big Papi.
Loretta, who
learned before the game that he had been voted an All-Star by the fans,
delivered after Miguel Cabrera had tied the score in the seventh with a home run
off Julian Tavarez, who'd preceded Timlin. The Marlins scored their first two
runs off rookie lefty Jon Lester, Hanley Ramirez duplicating Youkilis's feat of
leading off the first with a homer, and Miguel Olivo singling home a run in the
fifth.
It could
have been a lot worse, as Lester did not have a clean inning in the five that he
worked. But when he wriggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second,
going shallow flyball, popup, flyball to escape unscathed, Lester not only kept
the game in hand but showed once more why his elders are so excited about him.
The kind of
know-how and experience exhibited by Cora, who started at short in place of Alex
Gonzalez and reached safely when Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla bobbled his
eighth-inning grounder. Kapler, who had replaced Coco Crisp in center an inning
earlier as part of a double-switch with Timlin, followed with his single,
practically throwing his bat at a pitch that was down and away as Cora took off.
Yesterday,
Cora played second base in place of Loretta, hit two singles, walked, and scored
three times, the second time he's scored three runs in a game. There were no
hits yesterday, just another mistake-free game in the field and doing what it
took to win a game. |
