September 26, 2007
...
The immediate future came into focus for the Sox with tonight's 11-6
win over the Oakland Athletics. Their magic number to clinch the AL
East and win their first division title since 1995 is down to two.
And with the
Angels being routed by Texas, the last-place Rangers completing a three-game
sweep, the Sox are now virtually certain of meeting the Angels in the first
round of the playoffs. The Angels are on the verge of being eliminated from the
race for best record in the league; if that distinction falls to either the
Indians or Red Sox, the Angels will play the Sox in the first round, because the
Indians will play the AL East wild-card entry. It appears the Sox will open at
Fenway Park against the Angels Wednesday or Thursday; Game 3 and Game 4 (if
necessary) in the best-of-five series would be played Sunday and Monday in
Anaheim.
Manny
Ramirez, meanwhile, demonstrated for the second straight night that he can miss
24 games without putting a hitch in his swing. Ramirez had three singles and a
walk, scoring twice, before giving way to rookie Brandon Moss, who came in as a
pinch runner, scored on Lowell's two-run single in the sixth, then singled in a
run (his first big league RBI) and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the
seventh.
Combine
their production out of the No. 2 hole with that of leadoff man Dustin Pedroia,
who gave his candidacy for Rookie of the Year a late push with a home run, two
doubles, a walk, and four runs, and the top two places in the Sox' order
accounted for eight runs and seven hits.
Jon Lester
struck out nine in the first 4 1/3 innings, but gave up a three-run home run to
Donnie Murphy in the fourth and a solo shot to Mike Piazza in the fifth in what
might be his final appearance of the season. Lester figures to be a long shot to
make the postseason roster, especially since the club has not spoken to him
about possibly coming out of the bullpen.
Five Sox
relievers got their exercise last night, including Eric Gagne, who gave up a
couple of hits in the eighth and had Manny Delcarmen suddenly up and warming,
but recovered to strike out Nick Swisher and Piazza on nasty curveballs.
The Red Sox
honored their top minor league players in a pregame ceremony. The award winners:
pitcher of the year, Clay Buchholz; offensive player of the year, Jed Lowrie;
defensive player of the year/best base runner, Ellsbury; minor league Latin
program pitcher of the year, Stolmy Pimentel; and minor league Latin program
player of the year, Ronald Bermudez.
Brandon
Moss's RBI in the seventh inning was the first of his big league career. David
Ortiz's two doubles gave him 50 for the season, the seventh time a Sox player
has accomplished that feat. Nomar Garciaparra was the last Sox player to do it,
hitting 56 in 2002. Garciaparra also is the only Sox player to do it twice; he
hit 51 in 2000. The other Sox players to accomplish the feat are Wade Boggs, Joe
Cronin, Tris Speaker, and Earl Webb, who holds the major league record with 67
in 1931.
