August 20, 2007
...
Kevin Cash, the 29-year-old journeyman promoted from Pawtucket when
Doug Mirabelli went on the disabled list Friday, caught Wakefield for
the first time in a big-league game. For Cash, it was something of a
homecoming: He grew up in the Tampa suburb of Lutz, and was a member
of the Tampa Northside team that advanced to the 1989 Little League
World Series. There were 18 family members and friends in the house,
and there had to be some squirming in the first inning, when three of
the first four pitches from Wakefield bounced off Cash's mitt, and
another got away for a passed ball, allowing leadoff man Akinori
Iwamura to advance to third.
If Cash was
worse for the experience, it didn't show. After heeding a suggestion from Jason
Varitek and bullpen coach Gary Tuck, Cash wasn't charged with another passed
ball the rest of the night, and he threw out a runner attempting to steal. And
if the Sox were worse for the experience, it didn't show, either. With Wakefield
throwing another seven shutout innings, on top of the eight he spun against the
Devil Rays last Monday night in Fenway Park, the Sox cruised to a 6-0 win before
a modest gathering of 16,843 at Tropicana Field.
This is the
place that now hosts the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame but should consider
opening a wing for Wakefield, who is undefeated in nine career decisions under
the bubble roof, and is now 19-2 lifetime against the Devil Rays. Only one other
pitcher, Houston's Roy Oswalt, has a higher winning percentage against a single
opponent (minimum 20 starts). Oswalt is 19-1 against the Cincinnati Reds. But on
this night, when he allowed just four hits in seven innings, even though his
back stiffened after the fifth, Wakefield and manager Terry Francona both
spotlighted the role played by Cash.
With the Sox
breaking through for five runs in two innings against Devil Rays ace Scott
Kazmir, who in the past has handled them with almost as much ease (2.37 ERA
lifetime) as Wakefield has handled his teammates and who had allowed just one
earned run in his previous 25 innings, the Sox were in position for an easy win
as long as their new battery did not malfunction.
Even before
Wakefield took the mound, the Sox gave him a 2-0 lead, even without David Ortiz,
who was allowed to rest against a guy who had handled him with ease (5 for 34).
Dustin Pedroia hit Kazmir's first pitch of the game into left field for a
single, and Kevin Youkilis walked, setting up Mike Lowell for a two-run double
that third baseman Iwamura was unable to glove. Coco Crisp's double started a
three-run second, which featured an RBI single by Pedroia and a two-run single
by Manny Ramirez, and Lowell made it 6-0 with his 17th home run in the fifth.
Wakefield,
meanwhile, allowed just one more runner to advance as far as second base before
turning the game over to Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin, who each went
three-up, three-down to preserve the shutout.
Francona sat
David Ortiz (5 for 34 against Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir) and started Bobby
Kielty (7 for 13, 2 HRs off Kazmir) in the No. 3 hole. Kielty played left field
and went 0 for 5; Manny Ramirez was the DH.
