July 16, 2007
...
It may not be the best way to measure Kason Gabbard's progress with
the Red Sox. But tonight's 4-0, three-hit, complete-game win over the
Kansas City Royals is a better barometer. Gabbard was the guy, you
may recall, that Terry Francona encountered in a Fort Myers eatery in
spring training a year ago, belatedly determined that he was a
player, and sent over a beer and a apology when he figured out who he
was.
The Sox
clubhouse was a stress-free comfort zone for all parties tonight after three
home runs and rookie Gabbard's mistake-free pitching. He went to only one
three-ball count all night, on his only walk of the game. He made fast work of
the Royals, who tend to be taken lightly but last August knocked the Sox akimbo
with a three-game sweep in Kansas City before the Yankees finished them off in
the better-remembered, five-game massacre.
Gabbard
allowed just three hits, singles by Emil Brown in the fifth and seventh and by
pinch hitter Reggie Sanders in the eighth, in pitching the third complete game
of the season by a Sox pitcher, earning him a standing ovation from a crowd of
37,099 sent home in a tidy 2 hours 18 minutes. The others were by Daisuke
Matsuzaka and Curt Schilling, whose place Gabbard has done more than just keep
warm in the Sox rotation.
Schilling
was the major newsmaker before the game, the Sox announcing after he threw two
simulated innings that he'll go out on a rehab start Saturday in Pawtucket, with
another five days later for the PawSox in Toledo. But he was (happily) upstaged
last night by Gabbard, who said he'll worry about the future when it gets here.
Last night, he preferred to savor the first complete game of his professional
life.
|
.jpg) |
|
DUSTIN PEDROIA |
Gabbard was
supported by solo home runs in the fourth inning by Dustin Pedroia (No. 4) and
Manny Ramirez (No. 13), and a two-run home run by David Ortiz (after a Pedroia
single), his 16th, in the sixth. It was the fourth time this season that Ramirez
and Ortiz have homered in the same game, but the first time in the Fens.
Pedroia, who
was given a day off Sunday, also made the night's biggest defensive play,
charging Tony Pena Jr.'s bases-loaded chopper over the mound, and throwing out
the swift son of the former Sox catcher by an eyelash to end the fifth. The
Royals, who did not have a hit until Brown grounded a single through the right
side with one out in the fifth, had loaded the bases when Gabbard walked the
next batter, Esteban German, then hit John Buck in the ribs with a 1-and-2 pitch
with two out.
Gabbard
became the first Sox rookie to throw a nine-inning shutout since Paul Quantrill
July 4, 1993 at Seattle. He is the first Sox rookie since Roger Clemens July 26,
1984, to throw a nine-inning shutout at Fenway, and the first lefty rookie to
spin a shutout at Fenway since Roger Moret Sept. 24, 1971. Not bad for a kid who
had three arthroscopic surgeries on his left elbow four years ago, doctors
moving the ulnar nerve.
Gabbard said
the surgeries cost him some velocity on his fastball, but may have helped him
focus on making his off-speed pitches even more effective. The swings and misses
last night came with regularity, as he outdueled Royals rookie Brian Bannister,
named the AL's Rookie Pitcher of the Month in June, beating out Daisuke
Matsuzaka among others, by going 5-1 with a 2.75 ERA in six starts. Bannister
was cruising until Pedroia's fly ball landed in the Monster Seats to give the
Sox a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Ramirez, who has driven in eight runs in five
games since the break, drove a ball over the Wall in left-center. In the sixth,
Ortiz launched a full-count fastball into the seats near the Pesky Pole to
account for the rest of the scoring.
Gabbard, who
wound up throwing 107 pitches, said he knew he'd get a chance to go the distance
when no one came over to talk to him in the eighth. Maybe they just didn't think
he was the type to have a conversation.
The Sox
won't commit to a target date for Schilling's return. But after he threw 31
pitches in two innings of a simulated game against four Sox batters yesterday
afternoon (Alex Cora, Eric Hinske, Doug Mirabelli, and Wily Mo Pena), the Sox
set the dates of two rehab starts for the 40-year-old righthander. He is
scheduled to pitch Saturday in Pawtucket in a 6:05 start against the Louisville
Bats. Assuming all goes well, five days later he will then join the PawSox in
Toledo (the big club will be in nearby Cleveland) for a second go-round.
Manny
Ramirez has hit more home runs (82) in the fourth inning than in any other.
Runner-up is the sixth (64). If Ramirez needs any extra incentive to pick up the
pace, there is this: He came into tonight's game with a lower OPS (on-base
average plus slugging percentage) than former teammate and occasional Manny
mouthpiece Kevin Millar. Millar began the night at .861; Ramirez was at .858,
153 percentage points less than the 1.011 career OPS he brought into the season.
The Sox
began the night with a .270 average with runners in scoring position, but since
going 11 for 38 with runners in scoring position against the Yankees the first
three days in June, the Sox were batting just .237 (77 for 325) with RISP.
Ramirez, a .328 lifetime hitter with RISP, was at .258 entering play last night,
while J.D. Drew, lifetime .289 with RISP, was at .225
