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ADAM LaROCHE |
SWEPT AWAY BY A "RALLY MONKEY" ...
Adam LaRoche making a great start
July 27, 2009 ...
Adam LaRoche has become the darling of Fenway Park, just as Jason Bay
did a season earlier.
Easy to
like, of course, when all a player does is hit. On a team with an offense that
had grown stagnant, LaRoche has swept in the past three games, his first three
with the Red Sox, and demonstrated why the Sox were interested in getting him,
even though it might siphon playing time from Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis.
LaRoche proved that again, with two more doubles. He wasn't alone, either, as
the rest of the offense joined him in a 14-hit effort as the Sox took the first
of a four-game series from the A's, 8-3.
LaRoche had
doubles in his first two at-bats against the A's. Although he was stranded on
second in the second inning, the double in the fourth was more effective. After
Bay walked and Drew singled, LaRoche drove in Bay with a double off the Wall to
give the Sox a 3-0 lead. A single by Jason Varitek and a sacrifice fly by Jed
Lowrie added two more runs in the inning for a team desperate for offense.
LaRoche has
been good for the panicky types. In his first three games with the Sox, LaRoche
has five hits, including two multiple-hit games. Of course, if he wants to match
Bay's beginning, he has a long way to go. Bay started his Sox career with a
seven-game hitting streak, in which he had 12 hits, as the Sox won five of those
games.
LaRoche is
on his way. He was helped by a sudden outpouring of offense, led by Pedroia's
first-inning home run and Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning triple, and by another
excellent outing from Beckett. The latter should hardly come as a surprise from
a pitcher who is 7-0 with a 2.58 ERA at home this season. The former was more of
a shock, given the team's recent performance.
But the
offense backed Beckett, who held Oakland scoreless until the sixth, when he
loaded the bases with two outs by walking Jack Cust. Kurt Suzuki took advantage,
singling to left to score the first run for the A's. The A's had just two hits
over the first five innings. With the bases still loaded, though, Beckett caught
Ryan Sweeney for a strikeout to end the inning.
Beckett did
well enough that he got not one, but two ovations. He had already gotten a cheer
as he walked off the field after the seventh inning. He got another from the
37,955 in Fenway Park in the eighth, when a triple by Scott Hairston brought
Francona out of the dugout to take out one dominant arm and put in another in
Daniel Bard.
Ellsbury is
9 for 18 with four extra-base hits in his last four games. |
