September 9, 2007
...
The Sox have won seven of their last nine games without Manny
Ramirez, including today's 3-2 victory over the Orioles in which
Josh Beckett won his 18th game, Jonathan Papelbon rang up his 35th
save, and Coco Crisp figured in the scoring of the winning run for
the second time in four games, delivering J.D. Drew (bloop single and
stolen base) with an eighth-inning single. And while Ramirez's bat
has been sorely missed, the defensive play in the outfield has been
superb, with rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been filling in for
Ramirez in left, joining Gold Glove candidate Crisp in center and
Drew, an above-average defender, in right.
Beckett, who
gave up seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out eight in seven innings
to add another plank to an already strong candidacy for the Cy Young Award, did
not need highlight-reel defense to beat the Orioles. First baseman Kevin
Youkilis, who now has played in an AL-record 181 consecutive errorless games at
first base, made the day's best play with a diving stop of Tike Redman's
fifth-inning smash, while catcher Jason Varitek contributed to a strike-'im-out,
throw-'im-out double play when he threw out Luis Rodriguez attempting to steal
after Roberts's whiff, which also came in the fifth.
But it's the
consistency of the Sox' defense, not its ability to spin nightly web gems
(though there have been plenty of those), that has most impressed Beckett,
especially in light of questions raised by the departure of the brilliant
shortstop Alex Gonzalez and his double-play partner, second baseman Mark
Loretta, after last season
Part of
today's pick-me-up came from Dustin Pedroia, who had three hits and
successfully dodged a screaming line-drive double by David Ortiz after his
third-inning single. Both players scored when Mike Lowell, who had been 2 for
his last 20, grounded a two-run single up the middle, his 102d and 103d RBIs of
the season. Pedroia entered the game with just two hits in his previous 16
at-bats, although six of his outs in the first three games here were line
drives. And while he hasn't been as perfect afield as Youkilis, he's won the
admiration of Beckett, among others. Asked if he had questions about Pedroia
entering the season, Beckett said: "Until I got to know him. You've always got
to wonder about that, a rookie playing a position that takes a lot of talent.
Pedroia didn't lack for confidence when he was hitting a buck-70 in May.
And so the
Sox roll along. Their 87th win of the season gave them one more than they had in
2006. They took three of four from the Orioles, even in a series in which two
starters, Tim Wakefield and Daisuke Matsuzaka, didn't get past the fourth inning
and third inning, respectively. They hit only three home runs in the series, two
by Ortiz, the other by Crisp, who hadn't hit one in 54 games, but got a
game-winning pinch hit from Varitek Thursday and Crisp's two-out single off Chad
Bradford in the eighth yesterday.
Beckett, of
course, is a big part of this era of good feeling. He gave up bases-empty home
runs to Melvin Mora in the fourth and Nick Markakis in the sixth, but he was at
his bulldog best with a runner on third and two outs in the seventh, striking
out Roberts on a nasty changeup after the Orioles second baseman fouled off five
straight fastballs, including one into the Sox dugout that nearly clocked
Francona ("six inches from my temple"). He is now 18-6 overall, 10-2 with a 2.23
ERA on the road.
Rookie
Jacoby Ellsbury's single in the fourth inning gave him at least one hit in each
of the nine games he has played since his Sept. 1 recall. Just before his callup,
Ellsbury had a 25-game hitting streak snapped in Pawtucket, a club record, when
he went 0 for 4 Aug. 31. But between Pawtucket and Boston, he now has hit in 34
of his last 35 games. During his streak in Pawtucket, Ellsbury batted .377 (40
for 106). In his last nine games with the Sox, Ellsbury is batting .406 (13 for
32), a number with special resonance in New England.
