May 3, 2007
...
The
panic set in early. No need to wait until the fourth inning when the
implosion could come in the first. And that was why no one in Japan
(or in a certain section of the Fenway Park press box) really seemed
to care about the four hits from Wily Mo Pena, or the scoreless
relief from the Red Sox bullpen, or the eighth-inning solo home run
by the suddenly superlative Manny Ramirez that finally won the game
for the Sox, 8-7, in front of a thoroughly patient 37,216 at Fenway
Park. All that mattered was Daisuke Matsuzaka.
A
combination of four scoreless innings from the bullpen and one steaming slugger
took Matsuzaka off the hook despite the home team being down by five runs in the
first inning. After four innings from Mariners starter Horacio Ramirez and five
innings from Matsuzaka, the teams were tied at a touchdown apiece.
Just
steps from the batter's box, Ramirez's arms flipped up, hands out, to celebrate
a shot that landed just beyond the bullpens in right field for the Sox' eighth
run of the evening. It was Ramirez's 475th home run, tying him for 27th
all-time, although Ramirez (as usual) didn't respond to entreaties for comment
after the game. That wasn't important.
What was
important was the homer put the Sox up, 8-7, leaving a bullpen bereft of three
pitchers (Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, and Mike Timlin) to finish off the
game. And this was against a team that (according to the Maniacal One, Chuck
Waseleski) had lost just one game this season in which they held a lead, the
fewest in the major leagues. Of course, the Red Sox had already scored 10
come-from-behind wins in 17 games prior to last night's comeback.
With
every player in the lineup reaching base - including Coco Crisp, who was the
only Red Sox to go hitless - and RBIs up and down the order, it was Ramirez's
home runs (the first landing in the front row of the Monster seats) that excited
the crowd.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, poor pitching was just as contagious on the
Mariners' side (the Sox had 15 hits and four walks). Horacio Ramirez (11 hits in
four innings) followed up Matsuzaka's implosion with one of his own, in the
second inning, as the Red Sox tied the score, 5-5, on five hits and two walks.
Julio Lugo's ground-rule double off the glove of right fielder Guillen bounced
into the stands to cut the lead to 5-4, and David Ortiz tied it with a single to
left. Then, two more came on the first Ramirez home run, in the fourth. And one
more on his second (No. 5 on the season).
That was
enough to cover for their startlingly human pitcher, the one who gave up seven
runs on five hits and five walks over five innings, the one who was hardly
helped by his defense (Lugo committed an error in the first), the one whose
struggles have spawned questions across two continents. And, yet, with an
offense behind him that has turned two potential losses to the Yankees into
wins, and one potential loss to the Mariners into a no-decision, the weight
still seems to stay with Matsuzaka, now 3-2 with a 5.45 ERA.
The Red
Sox announced that Mike Timlin, who earned his first save of the season
Wednesday against Oakland, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right
shoulder tendonitis. It's not the first time the 41-year-old right-hander has
shown the wear and tear of a 17-year major league career. He started the season
on the DL with a strained left oblique and was activated for the home opener
April 10. Now, less than a month later, he's headed back to the DL.
J.D.
Drew missed another game, his second in three days, because of the viral
symptoms he first experienced Monday. Francona said he got so excited when Drew
indicated he felt better Wednesday, he put him in the lineup. He now says that
was probably premature.
Wily Mo
Pena tied a career high with four hits, previously accomplished July 11, 2004,
in Milwaukee when he was with Cincinnati. It also marked the first four-hit game
of the season for the Sox player.
