April 29, 2007
...
The Red
Sox should be feeling mighty good about themselves after beating the
Yankees for the fifth time in six meetings over two weekends, 7-4, and locking up the best record in the American League
(16-8) in the first month of the season.
Since
1996, the first year under the wild-card format in which MLB played a full
schedule in April, four teams with the best record in April went to the World
Series and five other teams won their divisions. Last season, the Tigers went
16-9 in April, the second-best record in the league, and went to the Series.
Alex
Cora, whose fifth-inning two-run home run off Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang, the
first hit of his career in Yankee Stadium, vaulted the Sox ahead of the Bombers,
4-3, after souvenir collector Doug Mientkiewicz had wiped out an early 2-0 Sox
lead with a three-run home run off Tavarez. Cora's infield out in the third
also drove home Coco Crisp, who had tripled, with Boston's second run after
David Ortiz's upper-deck shot off Wang in the first, Ortiz's seventh home run of
the season, had opened the scoring.
The Sox
bullpen continues to be a great source of shiawase (that's Japanese for
happiness) which is why Tavarez goes out of his way to keep not only Daisuke
Matsuzaka but Hideki Okajima smiling.
Julian
Tavarez's, only trouble came in the third, when he walked Jorge Posada and
Robinson Cano, then crossed up catcher Jason Varitek by throwing a slider when
Varitek was calling for a fastball, which allowed Mientkiewicz to forgo a bunt
and deliver a long ball instead.
Hideki
Okajima, who replaced Tavarez after Derek Jeter reached on Julio Lugo's throwing
error to open the sixth, had strikeouts of Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi
sandwiched around a single by Alex Rodriguez, then made a nice grab of Hideki
Matsui's comebacker to end the inning. That makes it 12 scoreless innings
over the last dozen outings for Okajima, who has allowed three hits in that
span.
In the
eighth inning, following Ortiz's single off lefthander Sean Henn, Manny Ramirez
made it 7-3 with an opposite-field home run, his 50th homer against the
Yankees. Ramirez and Carl Yastrzemski are the only two players since 1960 who
can make that claim.
Mike
Timlin was touched for a solo home run by Jeter in the eighth to make it 7-4.
Jeter's home run ended a string of 13 2/3 scoreless innings by the Sox pen,
which still has a 1.09 ERA (5 ER in 41 IP) over the last 17 games. But it was a
temporary glitch. Timlin got an inning-ending double play out of A-Rod before
Jonathan Papelbon closed out his perfect April (8 for 8 in saves) in the ninth,
setting down the side after Giambi's double to preserve the win for Tavarez. In
each of his last three starts, Tavarez has faced the opposition's ace -
Toronto's Roy Halladay twice and Wang yesterday - and the Sox have come away
with wins in two of those games.
And so
the Sox keep winning, even though Ramirez, their cleanup hitter, just posted the
worst month (.202) of his career since his rookie season. Let's see if the
Yanks, or anyone else, can catch them. History would suggest the Sox won't give
up their headstart too easily.
Manny
Ramirez's home run and single enabled him to climb over the Mendoza as he
improved his average to .202. But that still is his lowest average for any month
since he began playing for the Red Sox in 2001, and his worst monthly average
since he batted .132 in May 1994, his rookie season with the Indians. His
previous low average with the Sox was .234, which he hit in August 2001 and
again in May 2005. That doesn't include the .211 he hit in seven games (4 for
19) last September, when he was sidelined for most of the month with what the
club described as patellar tendonitis.
Entering
the day, Ramirez had considerable company among elite hitters who have struggled
this month. Among those who also have been scuffling are: Carlos Delgado, Mets
(.187), Gary Sheffield, Tigers (.190), Michael Young, Rangers (.202), and Paul
Konerko, White Sox (.207).
Ramirez
joined some elite company with the 50th home run of his career against the
Bombers. The others are Jimmie Foxx (70), Ted Williams (62), Hank Greenberg
(53), and Carl Yastrzemski (52), Hall of Famers all. Half of Ramirez's homers
have come in Yankee Stadium, not far from the Washington Heights neighborhood
where he grew up and is still revered.
Yesterday was only the second time in his big league career that Coco Crisp has
been hit by a pitch, in 2,309 plate appearances. Crisp was hit in the left shin
by Chien-Ming Wang in the fifth and scored ahead of Alex Cora's home run. Last
season, he was hit by Mark Redman of the Royals July 19.
