A TEAM "FIT TO BE TIED"
Manny leads the team
in a comeback win over Kansas City
August 2, 2005
...
The Red Sox' 6-4 win over the hapless Kansas City Royals extended
their winning streak to six games. But with the Yankees' 6-5 loss to
Cleveland, the Red Sox got their lead up to 3 1/2 games for the first
time since a July 8 win at Baltimore.
That is no
small accomplishment for a team that swept the Twins in the middle of the Manny
drama, and a team that has survived the loss of its closer, Keith Foulke, and
adapted to the appointed one, Curt Schilling, who earned his sixth save last
night.
Manny
Ramirez began life after the trade deadline by holding up a sign that read, "The
New Episode . . . "Manny Being Manny". Then he knocked in four runs giving him
97 RBIs in 98 games to pace the offense. His 29th home run in the fourth inning
reduced a 4-0 deficit to one run, and his RBI single up the middle in the
seventh gave Schilling an insurance run for what would be a shaky ninth inning.
Certainly,
much credit has to go to starting pitcher Tim Wakefield, who on his 39th
birthday was able to survive the 12th and 13th homers off him in seven starts,
as he worked seven solid innings with no walks and seven strikeouts. Former Sox
farmhand Chip Ambres, who was traded July 19 in the Tony Graffanino deal, hit a
solo homer in the third and also was on board in the first inning when former
Sox outfielder Matt Stairs belted a three-run homer. But Wakefield kept the Sox
close.
The Sox, who
eventually torture bad pitching staffs, had to wait until Royals starter
Runelvys Hernandez had left after six with the 4-3 lead to turn things in their
favor. The damage came against reliever Ambiorix Burgos. In the seventh, Burgos
walked Jose Cruz Jr., making his Red Sox debut after being acquired from the
Diamondbacks over the weekend. Cruz, once a 30-30 man, was pinch run for by Adam
Stern because he's still recovering from a back injury. Stern scored the tying
run on Graffanino's single, which got by right fielder Emil Brown, who slipped
on the grass. Damon then singled up the middle, scoring Graffanino with the go-
ahead run. After David Ortiz singled Damon to third, Ramirez gave the Sox a
cushion run with his single.
Mike Timlin
survived a shaky eighth when he put two men on with two outs before getting
Brown to fly out. Schilling preserved the two-run lead in the ninth, though it
was hardly a clean outing. He walked leadoff hitter Mark Teahen, then balked him
to second when Kevin Millar wasn't on the bag. Schilling allowed a long fly to
right by Angel Berroa for the first out, and went 3-and-2 to John Buck before
getting him fishing for a splitter. On his 27th pitch, Schilling got Ruben Gotay
on a called third strike to end the game.
The Sox went
14-13 in July, starting the month 2 1/2 games up and ending it the same way.
They hope August is the month when they run away and hide from the Yankees.
