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CHIPPER JONES |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Red Sox collapse in the series finale
July 4, 2004 ...
In a jarring collapse Derek Lowe utterly squandered a 4-1 lead by allowing the Braves seven runs in the fifth inning before 41,414 at Turner Field. The Braves scored two more runs in the frame against Jimmy Anderson in his Sox debut.
Lowe, who has managed only five quality starts in 16 outings and has allowed at least seven runs in six of them, surrendered a career- high eight earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings. His ERA over his last three starts is a whopping 9.37.
As a consequence, the Sox flew home trailing the Rangers by 2 1/ 2 games in the wild-card race and leading the third-place Devil Rays by only 2 1/2 games in the division. They have lost five of their last six series, hardly a recipe for success.
Lowe was not available to explain how things went so wrong so fast. After dominating the Braves for the first four innings, he began the mess by issuing a leadoff walk to Andruw Jones after getting ahead, 0-2. Lowe should have still been in command, but instead he began to falter. Lowe responded by throwing four straight balls to Eddie Perez, who entered the game batting .192, to load the bases. Then Atlanta starter Mike Hampton bounced into a fielder's choice to make it 4-
2. In rapid succession, Lowe surrendered run-scoring singles to Rafael Furcal and Nick Green, a two-run double to J.D. Drew, and a two-run homer to Chipper Jones. He threw only nine pitches to the four batters. The scenario has become frustratingly familiar for the Sox, who remain baffled
about how to reverse Lowe's fortunes. He dropped to 6- 8 with a 6.02 ERA.
A dark day for the Red Sox turned bright for David Ortiz when he learned he made his first All-Star team, joining frequent All-Stars Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling as Boston's representatives. Ramirez was the only Sox player elected by the fans. He was the second-leading vote-getter
among outfielders, trailing Anaheim's Vladimir Guerrero and leading Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. A six-time All-Star, Ramirez has been elected all four years he has played for the Sox. The only other Sox players to start at least four straight years were Wade Boggs (1986-92) and Yastrzemski
(1967-72). |
