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MIKE NAPOLI |
"THE FUTURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"
Mike Napoli's two home runs
bring the Red Sox home
May 24, 2015 ... Mike
Napoli’s bat went flying twice in the Red Sox’ 8-3 win over the
Angels, but the emotions were different. In the second inning, with
the bases empty, he smacked a 3-and-2 fastball from C.J. Wilson into
the Monster seats. Four innings later, with a runner on first, Napoli
sent a hanging curveball from Wilson speeding at the Green Monster at
110 miles per hour.
He held his bat in the air as he watched the ball sail, then flipped it before
rounding the bases for a two-run homer. Back in the dugout, teammates couldn’t
help but crack smiles. His two home runs and three RBIs lifted the Red Sox to a
much-needed victory after dropping three straight.
Since returning to Fenway Park a week ago, Napoli’s gotten nothing but results.
The blast opened the floodgates for the team’s most runs scored in nearly a
month. The last sight a Red Sox lineup that had been hitting a league-worst .197
against lefthanders needed to see was Wilson.
Beyond the way Wilson had been pitching over his past six starts (2.71 ERA in 39⅓
innings), he had the kind of history against Boston — from the 3-1 record at
Fenway to the 2.64 ERA against the Sox as a starter — that gave Farrell more
than enough to think about.
Coming up with answers meant making tweaks. It meant moving Pedroia into the
leadoff spot and giving Betts (and his .171 average against lefties) a rest. It
meant plugging Shane Victorino into the two hole. It meant giving Pablo Sandoval
and extra day of rest. Napoli returning to form only helped plans run more
smoothly.
Kole Calhoun’s two-run double in the first gave Wilson a lead to work with and
put the Sox in a hole.
Left calf soreness forced Victorino to leave the game in the third inning, and
Farrell had to call on Betts to pinch hit for the first time in his career with
runners on second and third. Betts shot a line drive to right field to tie the
game at 2. Betts went 2 for 4 with another RBI single in the eighth inning.
Xander Bogaerts’s two-run single in the seventh and Blake Swihart’s RBI single
in the eighth — a slow roller to right that scored Brock Holt from first — gave
the bullpen more than enough cushion to work with.
Knuckleballer Steven Wright (2-1) went 6⅓
innings, giving up just two runs on four hits. Alexi Ogando, Junichi Tazawa, and
Koji Uehara combined for 2⅔
innings of effective relief, as the only run the Angels could muster against
them came on Mike Trout’s RBI single in the eighth.
The scoring outburst, paired with effective pitching is what the Sox have been
waiting to see consistently. |
