David Ortiz was clutch on Friday night but it went to waste . On Saturday night, Big Papi was clutch again, delivering a grand slam in the 5th inning as Curt Schilling and the bullpen made it hold up in a 10-5 win over the Angels. The win enabled the Red Sox to keep their 5-game lead in the AL East as the Skanks beat Detroit this afternoon.
Schilling wasn’t at his best tonight but sometimes that’s ok. In the first, he got Figgins to ground out leading off the inning. Orlando Cabrera then tried to hit Texy on the Green Monster but it hit off the wall for a double. Then one of the weirder plays you’ll see happened. Vlad Guerrero hit a ground ball to Kevin Youkilis at third who had to get out of the way of it due to the fact that the barrel of Guerrero’s broken bat was also coming at him. The ball got by for a single and Cabrera advanced to third. Schilling then induced a ground ball to Garrett Anderson that went Youk at first but Julio “E-6” Lugo’s relay throw was late. This allowed Cabrera to score and make it 1-0 Halos. Schilling finished off the inning with a strikeout of Fenway’s new villain, Gary Matthews, Jr.
The 2nd inning wasn’t any better for Schilling. Casey Kotchman started out the inning with a double and went to third on a Macier Itzuris flyout. Schilling then got Jeff Mathis to strikeout. With two outs, Reggie Willits singled to bring in Kotchman from third making it 2-0. Figgins then took a changeup from Schilling and planted it in the seats for a 2-run home run, giving the Angels a 4-0 lead. Cabrera followed that with a single but Guerrero hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Jered Weaver was pretty good for the Angels in the first 4 innings. He actually didn’t allow a hit until there was one out in the 3rd by Alex Cora. “E-6” followed the single with a double and just like that the Red Sox had a chance to get back in the game. But Weaver made the score hold up as he got Youk and Big Papi to fly out to Vlad in right.
Vlad gave Weaver another run in the 5th inning with one out and he took a splitter that was almost in the dirt and lined it into the Monster seats, giving the Angels a 5-0 lead. Schilling settled down after that as he got Anderson and Matthews out to end the inning. Schilling would then find himself on the bench for a little bit.
The reason? The Red Sox struck for 6 runs in the 5th. Eric Hinske got things started with a broken-bat single to Kotchman at first. Weaver had to get out of the way of the bat so he was unable to cover first base. Coco Crisp then crushed a ball to right center that almost got out but was a double nonetheless with Hinske stopping at third. Weaver then hit Alex Cora with a pitch to load up the bases for “E-6”. “E-6” delivered nicely as he hit a 2-run single that scored Hinske and Coco, cutting the lead to 5-2. Youk then singled to short left to reload the bases, this time for Big Papi. As you know from above, Big Papi absolutely crushed a fastball from Weaver into the right field seats for a grand slam and it gave the Sox a 6-5 lead. After the grand slam, Weaver then got Manny to strikeout for the third time on the night and then allowed a single to J.D. Drew that chased Weaver from the game. Darren Oliver came in and got Ironman Jason Varitek to ground out with Drew moving up one base. Oliver then had some control issues as he walked Hinske and Coco to load up the bases for Cora. However he got Cora to fly out to end the inning and the damage.
Schilling came back out after the long wait and set down the Halos in order. This was his last inning as he got the last out of the 6th, he gave his customary wave to the home plate umpire. Schilling went 6 innings, allowing 8 hits, 5 runs, and no walks. He struck out 3 Angels after striking out nobody in his last outing against the Oreos.
Mike Timlin and Hideki Okajima pitched the 7th and 8th innings for the Sox and they were outstanding again. Between the two, they only allowed 1 hit in 2 innings.
The Sox added some insurance runs in the 8th inning, all coming with two outs. Cora started off the inning with a single off of Angels reliever Justin Speier and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by “E-6”. Youk then lined out to left for the second out. With Big Papi coming to the dish, the Halos decided to intentionally walk him to face Manny, who was 0-4 with 4 K’s. Manny atoned for his 4 strikeouts with a double that scored Cora and Big Papi, giving the Sox a 8-5 lead. Speier followed that with a walk to Drew and then found himself a seat on the bench as the Angels went to the bullpen for Greg Jones. Jones didn’t fare any better as he allowed a single to Varitek that scored Manny and moved Drew to third. The Sox finished off the scoring as Jones uncorked a wild pitch allowing Drew to score, making it 10-5.
Jonathan Papelbon had been warming up to come in for the 9th inning and even with the big lead, Terry Francona decided not to waste him. Papelbon worked a perfect 1-2-3 inning with the last two outs coming via the strikeout.
This win was huge for the Sox with the Yankees winning. It was also nice to see them make Big Papi’s grand salami hold up. He’s been hitting the ball well lately and maybe this is his time to shine as it looks as though he’s recovered from his injuries. The Sox turn the ball over to (gulp) Julian Tavarez. Gametime tomorrow is 2:05 PM at the Fens.
Notes and Musings:
Today was Rhode Island Day at the Fens.
Texas Gal, from the blog Center Field, was in the Green Monster seats tonight. Lucky girl!!!!
After last night’s game, Jacoby Ellsbury was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket and the Red Sox called up Bobby Kielty.
Much to the shock of many, Jason Varitek was behind the plate tonight. Terry Francona said that Kevin Cash will catch Julian Tavarez tomorrow and Tim Wakefield on Monday.
Francona said he had about 6 volunteers to catch on Friday if needed. The list includes Alex Cora, Eric Hinske and Mike Lowell.
Francona said the reason for Tavarez starting on Sunday was to give his starters a break and align them for the next 2-3 weeks. As it looks now, Dice-K, Beckett and Schilling will be in line to start the Skanks series at the end of the month.
Francona also said that he will still use Eric Gagné in the role they traded for him. He doesn’t want to give up on him. He said he wouldn’t use Gagné tonight due to his high pitch count last night.
RemDawg said that before the game in the clubhouse Manny came up and gave him a hug and said “one more year.” He said Manny offered no explaination. So does that mean Manny is only going to play one more year. Manny is signed thru the 2008 season and the team holds his options for 2009 and 2010.
J.D. Drew picked up the 1,000th hit of his career in the 5th inning.
Eric Hinske was seen sporting a mohawk in the dugout after he was pinch-hit for by Mike Lowell in the 7th.
Here are some pics of Hinske’s Mohawk.
NESN screenshots
