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SWEPT AWAY BY A "RALLY MONKEY" ... May 25, 2009 ... Mike Lowell was removed from his position at third base and installed at DH for David Ortiz, who was mostly confined to the bench in today's Memorial Day game against the Twins. While the Sox have been getting virtually no production from their DH spot, last in the American League in average, on-base percentage, slugging, home runs, and hits, that picked up today with four hits from Lowell, as the Sox narrowly won, 6-5, in front of 27,636 at the Metrodome. Though all his hits were singles, and he picked up just one RBI, it was marked improvement for a player who had had just 27 career at-bats in DH spot. As part of a two-day plan, Lowell will get a seat on the bench for the entirety of tonight's game, with Ortiz returning to his customary DH spot. And the Sox will see if the offense they generated behind a hurling Brad Penny will continue. With Penny not quite on top of his game and the Sox using a makeshift lineup, the team still battered Francisco Liriano for five runs and 11 hits over four innings, despite a slider that at times was almost devastating. Each of the first six hitters in the Sox lineup had multihit games, with Jacoby Ellsbury extending his hitting streak to 20 games, but the big blast came from Jeff Bailey. With the Sox leading by two in the eighth, the rusty Bailey, relegated to the bench with the return of Kevin Youkilis, took knuckleballer R.A. Dickey deep to extend the lead. And the Sox would need it, as Jonathan Papelbon gave up his second two-run homer in his last two outings. This one was a pinch-hit job by sudden slugger Joe Mauer (11 homers in 81 at-bats). The four-seamer dropped to earth beyond the center-field wall, scoring Jason Kubel and putting Papelbon within one run of a second blown save in a row. But Papelbon had a cushion he didn't have against the Mets Saturday. His ERA might have exploded from 0.95 to 2.57 over his last two outings, but the Sox won this one. They scored three runs in the third on Jason Bay's two-run double and Lowell's RBI single. Two more came across in the fourth on Youkilis's double. They had a chance for more, too. In the second inning, Rocco Baldelli's double left men on second and third with no outs. Three strikeouts later, two swinging and one looking, and the Twins were out of it. The Sox had new life Sunday after losing their first two to the Mets, and new life today as they began a 10-game road trip with a new DH, if just for one day. |
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