bullpen saves Tim
Wakefield
June 29, 2007
...
With Brendan Donnelly on the disabled list and Mike Timlin
struggling, the Red Sox have been trying to find another strong arm
out of the bullpen to support Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon.
They got a huge lift when Manny Delcarmen struck out Sammy Sosa with the
bases loaded to preserve a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers at
Fenway Park.
Tim
Wakefield (8-8) gave the Red Sox 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits
and four walks, leaving with two on and two outs. Delcarmen, throwing 95-97
miles per hour, walked No. 3 batter Michael Young on a full count, then started
2 and 0 on Sosa.
Although
Sosa has lost bat speed, there was no question what was coming. It was
Delcarmen's best fastball against Sosa's hardest swing. Delcarmen won. The Sox
bullpen excelled, as Okajima had a 1-2-3 eighth. Papelbon secured his 19th save
by retiring Michael Young on a called third strike.
The Sox
snapped a three-game losing streak, with Wakefield in the role of stopper. The
Sox offense scored on balls that did not get out of the infield. One run came on
Wily Mo Pena's infield single in the fourth. The other scored on a Manny Ramirez
grounder in the fifth that hit off Texas starter Jamey Wright's foot and bounded
to third baseman Ramon Vazquez, who instead of throwing to first tagged David
Ortiz going to third, but only after Kevin Youkilis had scored. Youkilis made a
huge play by running hard to touch the plate.
There was
evidence in this tale of two seasons that Wakefield was back in the groove. He
allowed only one run through five innings. In his first seven starts through May
10, the veteran knuckleballer was 4-3 with a 1.79 ERA and allowed as many as
three runs only twice. In his last eight starts, he was 3-5 with a 7.08 ERA,
giving up five earned runs or more in five.
The first
six innings weren't flawless. Wakefield allowed a single to the first batter of
the game - Lofton, who stole four bases - and gave up two hits but wiggled out
of a jam in the first. He surrendered a one-out double to Marlon Byrd in the
second, put two on in the third, then allowed a ground-rule double in the fourth
and a leadoff double in the fifth to Adam Melhuse, who came home on a sacrifice
fly by Jerry Hairston to tie the score, 1-1. Wakefield walked a batter in the
sixth, allowed an infield hit (to Lofton), and walked one in the seventh. But in
the end, with Curt Schilling on the disabled list and Julian Tavarez shaky his
last time out, Wakefield came through.
Delcarmen
has been up twice this season and seems to be the guy who has to go back to
Triple A when a veteran is ready. Delcarmen, however, has not given the Sox'
brass a reason to keep him. Donnelly is eligible to return Monday, though that
could be delayed. Delcarmen will be vulnerable, but the fact he was asked to
pitch in a 2-1 game speaks volumes about how the Sox are beginning to feel about
him.
Delcarmen
allowed two runs in the fifth inning Tuesday against Seattle, but had pitched 3
1/3 scoreless innings for the Sox prior to that outing. He had thrown 15 2/3
scoreless innings in his last 10 outings at Pawtucket. It was a huge moment for
the Red Sox' homegrown kid. One he hopes will keep him in the big leagues.
Coco Crisp
had a night off for precautionary reasons. He bruised his left thumb diving for
a ball Wednesday. The man he replaced, Johnny Damon, is hitting .250 with 5
homers and 26 RBIs with the Yankees. Crisp has four homers and 22 RBIs. Crisp
has played 122 straight errorless games, and his only error with the Sox came
July 21, 2006. He has handled 215 chances in 2007, second among major league
outfielders behind Ichiro Suzuki's 231
Mike Lowell,
who went 2 for 4 last night, said his wrist injury is improving steadily. The
third baseman could be chosen as Alex Rodriguez's backup for the All-Star Game,
but hasn't thought much about it.
