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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM April 4, 2007 ... There might be icicles hanging from the gyroball this afternoon, but the change in atmospheric conditions here meant more to the Red Sox than just a precipitous drop in temperature. The 42-degree game-time readings in Kauffman Stadium (37 degrees colder than it had been at game time two days earlier) was more than offset by the thaw in the Sox dugout after they posted their first win of 2007, a 7-1 beating of the Kansas City Royals. Kevin Youkilis' two-run home run, Mike Lowell's two-run double, and two hits by J.D. Drew, including an RBI double, made an easy winner of Josh Beckett, who allowed two hits and a run in five innings and survived a rare double-bobble inning by third baseman Lowell. Beckett came out pumping fastballs in the first inning that touched 97 miles per hour, an unpleasant experience for any Royal batter who made anything less than solid contact. Beckett threw more pitches than he would have liked (94 in his five innings, only 46 for strikes) and was not happy about walking the first batter he faced, David DeJesus, after being staked to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. But DeJesus was quickly erased on a double play started by Lowell, which made Mark Teahen's subsequent bloop double a mere irritant. Lowell booted consecutive ground balls in the third inning, only the second time in his career he'd made two errors in one inning, to give the Royals a chance to climb back into the game. But Beckett picked up Lowell by whiffing Teahen on a called third strike for the second out, then benefited from a nice running catch by Drew, who tracked down Mike Sweeney's liner toward the gap in right. The Sox, who ended a string of six consecutive losses in Kauffman Stadium, scored three runs with two outs in the first off Odalis Perez to seize the advantage. David Ortiz drew a four-pitch walk and Manny Ramirez followed with a line single to left, his first hit of '07. Drew followed by hitting a sharp liner past first baseman Ross Gload into the right-field corner, scoring Ortiz. Lowell then lined a ball that landed just inside the left-field line and rolled into the corner for a double, Ramirez and Drew scoring. Perez subsequently set down nine in a row until Jason Varitek's single with two outs in the fourth. Perez departed in the sixth after Ramirez walked and Drew grounded a single into right for his second hit of the night. Reliever Joakim Soria walked Lowell to load the bases and Varitek's deep fly to right brought home Ramirez with Boston's fourth run. After a walk and sacrifice by Julio Lugo in the seventh, Youkilis crushed a pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer, his first of the season, which came off Kansas City's third pitcher, Todd Wellemeyer. The Sox' bullpen did a terrific job of shutting down the Royals for the balance of the night. After Javier Lopez gave up a two-out single in the sixth, Kyle Snyder, J.C. Romero, and Joel Piniero set down nine straight until Lowell made his third error of the night, unloading a poor throw on Jason LaRue's grounder. |
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