The Red Sox got 7 spectacular innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka and a homerun into the Monster seats by Manny was all they needed as the Sox defeated the Giants 1-0. There wasn’t really that much offense in the game as the Sox managed only 5 hits, matching Dustin Pedroia’s total from last night and the Giants had 4 hits.
Dave Roberts led off the first inning and was again greeted by Red Sox Nation with a rousing ovation. He was able to work a walk off Dice-K. With Roberts running, Randy Winn grounded out to Pedroia at second base. Ray Durham flew out for the second out of the inning, bringing Barry Bonds to the plate. Instead of pitching to Bonds, Terry Francona decided to issue him an intentional walk, putting runners on 1st and 2nd base. Noted Red Sox killer Bengie Molina grounded out to Lowell, ending the threat.
Other than Matt Cain issuing David Ortiz a walk in the first inning, the Red Sox went quietly in the first two innings. It was pretty much the same thing for Dice-K in the 2nd and 3rd innings as he only allowed a double to Pedro Feliz.
The Sox had a chance to score in the third inning but failed to do so. After Alex Cora, in for the slumping Julio Lugo, lined out to Omar Vizquel at short, Coco Crisp lined a double to deep center. Crisp advanced to third on a wild pitch by Cain but last night’s heroes, J.D. Drew and Pedroia both flew out to left.
Dice-K had an easy fourth inning, allowing only a Molina single while striking out 2 of the 4 batters, he faced.
Boston finally got on the scoreboard in the 4th inning in what turned out to be the only run of the game. Big Papi led off the inning with a strikeout and he was not happy about it. But he kept his cool and just walked back to the dugout. Cain then hung a slider to Manny, who crushed it up into the Green Monster seats, making it 1-0 Sox. Kevin Youkilis followed that with a single and went to second on another Cain wild pitch. Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek weren’t able to bring Youk home as they flied out and struck out respectively.
Dice-K got himself into a big jam in the 6th inning but was able to get out of it. Winn led off with a walk and went to second on a Durham single. With the shift on, Bonds grounded to Cora at second base for the first out of the inning. Since the shift was on, Cora was unable to turn 2. Molina lined up to short for the second out of the inning. With a two strike count, Dice-K tried throwing a fastball in to Nate Schierholtz but it him in the shoulder, loading up the bases for Rich Aurilia. Aurilia struck out on a called third strike that he thought was a little low.
Dice-K had an easy 7th inning, his final one of the day, as he sent the side down in order. Dice-K on the day was masterful. He went 7 innings, giving up 3 hits, he walked 3 and struck out 8 on 112 pitches. Cain also pitched 7 innings, allowing just the 1 run, gave up 3 hits as well, walked 1 and struck out 3 on 112 pitches.
Hideki “Darkman” Okajima made things interesting in the 8th inning as well. Winn led off with a walk and again went to second on a Durham single. After Darkman got the count to 2-0 on Bonds, pitching coach John Farrell came out to the mound for a visit. Whatever Farrell said to Darkman worked as he threw 3 straight strikes to Bonds, sending him back to the bench. Molina flew out Drew in right for the second out of the inning. Kevin Frandsen, pinch-hitting for Schierholtz, grounded into a fielder’s choice ending the last threat the Giants would mount.
The Red Sox strung together two hits in the 8th inning but they didn’t amount to anything. Cora led off with a strikeout. Crisp then singled, ending a string of 12 straight batters retired by Giants pitching. Drew followed with a single but Pedroia grounded into a double play ending the inning.
Jonathan Papelbon came in for the 9th and threw a total of 11 pitches to set the Giants down in order for his 16th save in 17 tries. With the win, the Sox maintain their 8 1/2 game lead over the Yankees, who beat the Mets today.
Tim Wakefield takes the hill tomorrow for the Sox as they go for the sweep. Gametime is 2:05 PM and the game will be televised by NESN.
Notes and Musings:
Omar Vizquel has 13 11 Gold Gloves at SS
Tim McCarver pointed out there was a lot of dents in the Green Monster. Great job there Tim.
Dice-K is averaging 109 pitches per start.
Manny now has 479 career homeruns. The HR was his 44th career HR in interleague play.
Matt Cain has made 52 career starts and is not even 23 years old yet.
The 2007 Giants team is the 2nd oldest in the history of baseball. Only the 2006 team was older.
Rich Aurilla was the first person to hit an interleague grand slam against the Angels Allen Watson in 1997.
Barry Bonds has homered in 35 different ballparks against 27 different franchises against 440 pitchers.
Terry Francona says Darkman’s best two pitches are “Okie” and the “Okie Dokie.”
July 23, 1963 was the last time there was two 1-0 games at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.
The Giants haven’t scored a run for Matt Cain in his last 18 innings. And during that time he has only allowed 2 solo homeruns.
