Justin Verlander scattered 6 hits over 7 2/3 innings and Magglio Ordonez continued his mastery of Tim Wakefield to lead the Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the beloved Red Sox.
The Sox got on the board in the first inning on three singles. Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez singled sandwiched between outs. J.D. Drew then brought Youk home on a single of his own to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead.
Wakefield had no problems getting through the first two innings but ran into some trouble in the 3rd. After a Marcus Thames strikeout, Brandon Inge hit a blast to right field that Drew tried to catch but crashed very hard into the wall but not before the ball had left the yard. Curtis Granderson then followed that with a single and promptly stole second base. Wake got Polanco to line out then Gary Sheffield hit an infield single setting the stage for Ordonez.
Ordonez, who came into the game batting .433 (13 for 30) against Wake, took a knuckleball and flat out crushed it over the Green Monster, making it 4-1 Tigers.
Meanwhile, the Sox had trouble figuring out Verlander. His stuff is downright nasty. He has a 98 MPH fastball to go along with his changeup, that makes him very hard to hit. Wakefield then settled down and pitched 4 scoreless innings, including one where Ivan Rodriguez was gunned down by Manny at the plate.
If there’s one thing you can say about Manny, it is that he has a great arm. He unleashed a great throw to Mirabelli who had no trouble tagging out Pudge.
Wakefield walked Sheffield to start the 8th inning and that ended Wake’s night. Brendan Donnelly came in and promptly stunk up the joint. He did get Ordonez and Carlos Guillen out. Then Pudge hit a double to bring in Sheffield. Craig Monroe brought in Pudge on a single and Monroe advanced to second on the throw. Sean Casey, who came in for Thames in the 6th inning, followed up with a single bringing in Monroe and making the score 7-1. Kyle Snyder came in to relieve Donnelly and shut down the Tigers for the rest of the game.
I was surprised to see Synder in the game as he might be starting on Friday against the Braves if Josh Beckett can’t pitch due to the avulsion on his finger.
Wakefield went 7 innings, allowing 9 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk and had 4 strikeouts. His ERA went from 1.79 to 2.41.
The Sox got one more run in the 8th inning when Kevin Youkilis crushed a homerun to center that went over the wall. That chased Verlander from the game after 120 pitches.
Verlander went 7 2/3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out 7.
Notes:
Drew left the game with a contusion to his back after crashing into the wall and is listed day-to-day right now. The Red Sox are taking a wait-and-see approach with Beckett right now and will make a decision on Thursday as to whether or not he will go on the DL and miss a few starts. Best case scenario is that he misses only Friday and then returns to make his next start. Snyder would probably start in his place on Friday if Beckett can’t go.
