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July 5, 2005 ... When the season reached one of its lows Monday night when Keith Foulke let a 5-4 lead slip away in the ninth inning in a devastating loss, Sox players sensed tough times were ahead yet they decided this wasn't going to be a sob story. It was a sign of the togetherness that last season led the team to a world championship. Tim Wakefield gave the Sox eight strong innings in his 300th career start, held down a potent Texas attack in a 7-4 win. It was a game in which Johnny Damon, one of the toughest players in baseball, made a running, rolling catch of a Gary Matthews Jr. dropping liner in the ninth. Although it appeared Damon reinjured his right shoulder, he flexed it a few times and continued to play. And don't forget the offense, which produced a grand slam by Manny Ramirez, a two-run homer by David Ortiz, and a solo shot by Bill Mueller. Mike Timlin was called upon to close, and he did it in six-pitch efficiency in a 1-2-3 ninth. With the bullpen in shambles and ace Curt Schilling likely not returning until after the All-Star break, the emphasis shifted back to the offense. Certainly feeling the moment, the dynamic 1-2 punch of Ramirez (his 22d homer) and Ortiz (20th) accounted for six of the seven Sox runs over the first three innings. The Sox were smoking early against 6-foot-10-inch Texas starter Chris Young but stalled when lefthander Ron Mahay came on in the third for a 3 2/3-inning stint. He struck out five and allowed only one hit. In fact, the Sox didn't score after the third inning. Wakefield was aware of the bullpen situation and he hung in as long as he could. He and Francona even discussed Wakefield coming out for the ninth, but after throwing 115 pitches, the knuckleballer, who improved to 8-6 and to 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA in his last five starts, felt the game was in good hands with Timlin. Wakefield started strong but allowed a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings to let the Rangers creep back into the game. He allowed a two-run homer to Matthews in the fifth and Kevin Mench's RBI double and Laynce Nix's sacrifice fly in the sixth. But those were all the runs the Rangers could muster. Timlin, who allowed a run in Monday's loss, got Rod Barajas to ground to third, Matthews to line to center, and David Dellucci to strike out swinging. It seemed evident the Sox aren't ready to take just give in to their recent maladies. |
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