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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM April 6, 2007 ... The Red Sox bats never showed up in a swiftly executed 2-0 loss to the Rangers, with Tim Wakefield left to wonder why he ever sets foot in Texas. Red Sox batters managed just two hits off Rangers starter Robinson Tejeda, plus a Ramirez single off closer Akinori Otsuka, while being shut out for the first time in 2007. That wasted an afternoon in which the Rangers also had just three hits, but got the best of Wakefield with an excuse-me RBI single by repatriated slugger Sammy Sosa in the first, and an unearned run, tied to an error by rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia, in the second. Wakefield, who is 4-11 in 29 career appearances here. Overall, he's 7-14 against the Rangers, the most games he has lost against any opponent. Meager support is not a new phenomenon for him, either. The last time a Sox pitcher allowed just three hits and lost was Sept. 11, 2005, when Wakefield was outdueled, 1-0, by Randy Johnson in Yankee Stadium. In Wakefield's 11 losses last season, the Sox scored six runs while he was in the game. Five times they didn't score at all. Michael Young reached on a force play in the first (Frank Catalanotto drew a walk) and strolled home with the Rangers' first run when Mark Teixeira singled and Sosa, mounting a comeback at age 38 after his career had faded to black following a star turn at the congressional steroid hearings, made an accidental connection with a Wakefield knuckler and popped a bloop single into right field. The Rangers made it 2-0 in the second after Brad Wilkerson reached on Pedroia's error to open the inning. Wilkerson stole second, and scored on Gerald Laird's single to left, where Ramirez approached the ball as something less than a pressing matter before launching an accurate but belated throw. Laird stole second and advanced to third on Kenny Lofton's fly out, but got no farther as Wakefield caught Catalanotto looking, one of his four strikeouts. The Rangers did not collect another hit or advance another base runner past first base. But on a day when the 55-degree temperature represented the Rangers' coolest opener ever, Tejeda had the Sox popping up with regularity. Of the 21 outs he recorded, 16 were either popups or fly balls. J.D. Drew lined a single off Tejeda's foot in the second. Coco Crisp doubled over the head of left fielder Wilkerson in the fifth, and Ramirez lined an opposite-field single off FOD (Friend of Daisuke) Otsuka in the ninth. That was it. Tejeda, who just turned 25, is held in enough regard that he was named to the Dominican Republic entry in the World Baseball Classic, then was acquired by the Rangers from the Phillies just before the opener last season by general manager Jon Daniels, who gave up outfielder Dave Dellucci, who'd hit 29 home runs the year before. Tejeda pitched himself back to Triple A Oklahoma City last season, but after his recall had a 1.42 ERA in his last four starts, and in his final tune-up this spring allowed just one hit in five scoreless innings. He threw just 77 pitches in seven innings yesterday. Brandon Moss, so impressive in spring training, got Pawtucket's season off to a great start with a first-inning grand slam in a 7-4 win over Charlotte Thursday. Doug Mirabelli was 0 for 3 in his first appearance of 2007. Francona let Mirabelli hit in the seventh with two outs and Coco Crisp aboard on a walk from Texas starter Robinson Tejeda. |
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