One Great Night
By Steve Marsi
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Boston yesterday.
In the first of three games against fellow playoff hopeful Anaheim, the Red Sox turned the contest into a laugher early and hung on for a 10-7 victory, while first-place New York suffered a 22-0 defeat at the hands of Cleveland. Just like that, the Yankees’ lead in the A.L. East was trimmed to 3 1/2 games, while Boston’s margin over Anaheim in the Wild Card standings grew to 2 1/2.
After Johnny Damon reached on an error and Mark Bellhorn walked to begin the first inning, Manny Ramirez freed the beast with an opposite-field slice into the Angels’ bullpen. Bill Mueller, who contributed outstanding defense on the hot corner along with three hits, doubled in Orlando Cabrera to make it 4-0.
Ramirez went yard again in the second inning, this time on a solo shot (his league-leading 36th) that sailed into the bleachers in deep center, a rarity at Fenway. The left fielder now ranks 47th on the all-time home run list with 383, having passed former Boston outfielder Jim Rice.
The Sox chased Anaheim starter John Lackey in the fourth after loading the bases, and extended their lead to 6-0 on a balk by new pitcher Ramon Ortiz. After the Angels got on the board in the sixth, Boston answered with four more runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Doug Mientkewicz and a three-run home run by Dave Roberts. The lefty speedster’s first homer in a Red Sox uniform curved around the Pesky Pole in right field to put Boston up 10-1. Meanwhile, Curt Schilling was his typical brilliant self, getting big outs when he needed them and allowing only one run through seven innings.
Around this time, the playoff atmosphere in the stands dissipated. Jovial fans divided their attention between the game, the left-field scoreboard (where the Indians kept piling up runs on the Yankees) and people-watching in the bleachers (at least in my case). Eighth inning highlights included a sensational leaping catch by Damon against the centerfield wall, Cleveland increasing its lead on New York to 16-0, and the flirtatious girl in front of me putting a seat between herself and an out-of-town Sox fan who had clearly taken an interest in her, uttering breathily that she "didn’t trust herself right now."
Mike Timlin got the final out of the eighth inning after relieving Schilling (17-6), who tied Mark Mulder for the major league lead in victories. Boston carried a 10-3 lead into the ninth before the Angels made it slightly interesting. Reliever Mike Myers surrendered three singles and a grand slam to backup shortstop Alfredo Amezaga, suddenly bringing Anaheim within striking distance at 10-7. Keith Foulke replaced Myers and gave up a double to Garrett Anderson, but recorded the final three outs for his 25th save.
Aaron Sele (8-1) will start tonight for Anaheim in place of Ortiz, who was forced into long relief duty last night. Bronson Arroyo (7-9) looks to extend his string of quality outings for the Sox. Boston (77-53) has now won 13 of its last 14 games.
Thanks, Mike: As a fantasy owner of Foulke, I would like to extend my gratitude to Myers, whose disastrous zero-out, four-hit, four-run stint in the ninth turned a blowout into a save situation for my ace closer. Myers deserves praise for his selflessness in taking this one for the team.
In a Pinch: When was the last time you saw successive pinch hitters for the first, second and third guys in a team’s batting order? That’s what Angels manager Mike Scioscia did last night, emptying his bench in the eighth with his team down 10-1. Amezaga, Adam Riggs and Curtis Pride pinch-hit for David Eckstein, Darin Erstad and Vladimir Guerrero, respectively, and actually helped give Anaheim a boost.
Welcome Back: I always enjoy when mediocre players from my childhood – an era with no cable TV in my parents’ home, when only baseball cards and box scores taught me about the game – return to the big leagues as coaches. Hence, I was happy to see "Fettuccini" Alfredo Griffin on the Angels’ coaching staff last night. Undoubtedly he will do a fine job instructing the next generation of pasta, Alfredo Amezaga.
