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POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
The A's pitching silences the Red Sox bats
June 6, 2007
...
Tonight, the Sox lost their fourth game in a row, 3-2. It was their
sixth loss in seven games and third straight this week to the
Athletics, who have now beaten the Sox seven straight times in McAfee
Coliseum.
The intensity is missing, and so are the hits. Coco Crisp is 0 for 7 here, 4 for
his last 29 overall. Julio Lugo is 1 for 10 here, 3 for his last 22. Dustin
Pedroia, whose 14-game hitting streak came to an end Tuesday, is 1 for 10. Mike
Lowell is 1 for 9. J.D. Drew, meanwhile, remains anchored to the bench after
being lifted for a pinch hitter Monday night, a damning indictment of his flimsy
start. Drew, batting .159 in his last 33 games, sat for the second straight game
against a lefthander until drawing a walk as a pinch hitter with two outs in the
ninth against Santiago Casilla last night, his deployment in that role a marker
of how desperate the Sox were for a hit.
Tonight, the double plays remained at epidemic levels, the Sox grounding into
three more in the first five innings against lefthander Joe Kennedy. That made
it four times in the last six games that the Sox registered three or more DPs.
And the frustration spilled over when Terry Francona was ejected in the eighth
inning by plate umpire Dan Iassogna, whose antenna was already pointed at the
Sox dugout after Ortiz took furious exception to a checked-swing strike called
by Iassogna two innings earlier. There have been eight big-league managers
ejected in just the first six days of June, though Francona, while stretching
Iassogna's ears with a verbal blast after he was tossed, did nothing like Cubs
manager Lou Piniella did to earn a four-day vacation.
Oakland, meanwhile, seized the advantage against Wakefield with a rally that
began with an innocuous ground ball by Eric Chavez turned toxic when it struck
the first-base bag and bounded high over the head of Kevin Youkilis into right
field for a double. Chavez took third on a wild pitch, but it looked like he
might be stuck there when Dan Johnson rolled out to Pedroia against a drawn-in
infield. But Shannon Stewart walked and Jack Cust, whose 15 minutes of fame
seems about to expire (8 homers in his first 13 games, .154 his last 10), hit
Wakefield's first pitch into
Those were the only runs allowed by Wakefield, who was coming off four stinkers
(1-3, 9.13 ERA) but last night struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings. The Sox,
however, could do little with Kennedy, who continued a remarkable string of
performances by Athletics starting pitchers. In nine games on their homestand,
Athletics starters are 6-1 with a 1.29 ERA.
The Sox, held to three singles Tuesday night, managed just four singles through
six innings tonight. They finally broke through in the seventh, when Manny
Ramirez doubled and Youkilis tripled him home. Wily Mo Pena's infield out scored
Youkilis with the second run.
But Oakland manager Bob Geren, who cut his teeth in the Sox system, made
skillful use of his bullpen the rest of the night. Ortiz blooped a two-out
single off lefthander Jay Marshall in the eighth, but Casilla, just called up
Sunday, retired Ramirez on a flyball. Casilla, who was the winning pitcher in
Monday's 5-4, 11-inning A's win, then set down the side in the ninth, but not
before walking Drew with two outs. Jason Varitek grabbed a bat and pinch hit,
but he flied out to end it.
The last losing streak of more than three games suffered by the Red Sox occurred
August 25-30, 2006. The Red Sox have lost eight of their last nine games to the
A's, starting July 26, 2006. They have won just four of their last 15 games
against Oakland. |
