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TOO MANY INJURIES TO STAY COMPETITIVE ...
J.D. Drew powers to Sox past the Orioles
July 2, 2010 ...
With 10 players on the disabled list and minor league call-ups
arriving almost daily, the Red Sox clubhouse has been outfitted with
extra lockers to accommodate the growing crowd. The lineup Terry
Francona concocted to face the Baltimore Orioles was the 69th
combination he has used over 80 games. But Francona and those players
still healthy enough to take the field refuse to dwell for long on
the ones missing.
As players
fall, the victories are piling up. J.D. Drew had two solo home runs and pinch
hitter Daniel Nava drove in the winning run with a bloop single in the eighth
inning as the Sox beat the Orioles, 3-2, before a crowd of 38,067. On the day
the Sox placed two more players on the disabled list and welcomed three
newcomers to a roster written in pencil, the Sox won for the fourth time in five
games to move within a half-game of the Yankees in the American League East.."
Wakefield
(3-6) scattered seven hits and struck out four, matching the good work of
Orioles starter Brad Bergesen (3-5), who got two outs in the eighth inning
before Marco Scutaro doubled off the wall in left, just inside the neon yellow
foul line.
Orioles
manager Juan Samuel called in lefthander Will Ohman to face Eric Patterson, a
switch-hitter who is far weaker righthanded. Francona countered by sending up
another switch-hitter in Nava. Nava hit a ball that landed just inside the
right-field foul line behind first base, the ball placed perfectly between three
fielders who didn't have time to reach it. Scutaro, running on the swing, scored
easily.
Jonathan
Papelbon had a stress-free ninth inning for his 19th save. The crowd had time to
catch a late movie as the game lasted 2 hours 7 minutes, the quickest at Fenway
since 2002.
Credit
Wakefield for the pace. He threw 66 of his 96 pitches for strikes, tossing 19 in
a row over the plate at one point. The excellent work came on a night when he
was making his record 201st start at Fenway. Wakefield allowed a solo homer by
Nick Markakis in the fourth inning and three singles in the fifth that accounted
for another run. He is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA in his last five starts. Wakefield
pitched to Kevin Cash, who was acquired from Houston Thursday to replace the
injured Jason Varitek. Wakefield's personal catcher for much of 2008, Cash
borrowed Victor Martinez's extra-large glove to corral the knuckleball.
Drew put
Wakefield in position to get the victory with home runs in the second and fifth
innings. The first sneaked over the wall in left-center. The second was a blast
that landed well into the Monster seats. Drew had missed Wednesday's game with a
stiff neck and prior to that was limited by a strained right hamstring. The
injuries had restricted him to 10 plate appearances over the previous 11 games.
It was the
17th time in Drew's career that he has hit two home runs in the same game, and
the second time this season. He hit two homers against the Orioles in Baltimore
April 30. |
