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BRIAN JOHNSON |
A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
GET THE JOB DONE ...
Brian Johnson's Fenway debut
is a beautiful complete game shutout
May 27, 2017 ...
When Brian Johnson walked out to the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park,
it was a year and a week from the day he decided it was time to step
away from baseball. He was beset with anxiety about his stalled
career so crippling that it affected all aspects of his life. He was
short-tempered with friends and family and often unable to sleep. The
game he loved had become a burden. The Red Sox placed Johnson on the temporary inactive list
and had him report to the team’s spring training base in Florida for counseling.
Baseball was pushed to the side as he put the pieces back together. But, in
time, he picked the ball back up and eventually pitched in a dozen minor league
games before the season ended.
Then today, Johnson showed just how far he had come. The
lefthander threw a five-hit shutout, beating the Seattle Mariners, 6-0, before a
sellout crowd of 36,985. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Sox. He
allowed five singles, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out eight. Of his 109
pitches, 85 were strikes. In what was only his third game in the majors, the
26-year-old was brilliant. Only once did the Mariners advance a runner beyond
first base.
The fans cheered when Johnson came out of the dugout for
the ninth inning with 100 pitches under his belt. He got caught up in the drama
and had to step back off the mound to catch his breath. The moment had the
feeling of a no-hitter, perhaps because so many in the park knew his history.
Johnson was aided by a series of excellent defensive plays
in the outfield. Mookie Betts reached over the bullpen wall in the fourth inning
to take a home run away from Nelson Cruz. Jackie Bradley Jr. went back to the
wall in center to make a leaping catch off a drive off the bat of Robinson Cano
in the sixth inning.
Then in the ninth, it was Bradley who sealed the game. He
made a diving catch to take a hit away from Cruz for the second out then a
running grab in the gap against Kyle Seager to end the game. When Bradley made
his final grab, Johnson pumped his fist and hugged catcher Sandy Leon as his
father and brother stood and cheered in the stands.
The Sox gave Johnson run support right away. Xander
Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, and Leon had RBI singles off Rob Whalen.
It was the first shutout for a Sox pitcher since Steven
Wright last August 5th and the first at Fenway for a Sox pitcher since Rich Hill
in 2015. Not since Pedro Martinez in 1998, also against Seattle, had a Red Sox
pitcher thrown a shutout in his first game at Fenway.
It gets better. Johnson had not thrown a nine-inning
complete game since his junior year at the University of Florida. His catcher
that day, Mike Zunino, was 0 for 3 for Seattle today. |
