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Earth To Tito: What Were You Thinking? Okajima Again Battered By Orioles In 10-6 Loss
By Administrator | June 11, 2008
In four previous appearances against Baltimore this season, Hideki Okajima had allowed five runs in five innings pitched, including a 2/3 inning effort a week ago in which he was lit up for four runs.
On Saturday, manager Terry Francona dipped into his bullpen and used Craig Hansen and Jonathan Papelbon… on Sunday, he used Hansen, Okajima and Papelbon… the team had an off-day yesterday.
So when Josh Beckett was pulled after six innings tonight - having thrown 113 pitches - which reliever did Tito turn to for the seventh inning? The well-rested Manny Delcarmen? Nope. The equally-well-rested Mike Timlin? Uh-uh. How about David Aardsma or Javier Lopez? Guess again.
Nope, just an inning after the Sox had clawed back from a big deficit to take the lead, Tito decided to call upon the oft-over-used Okajima to face the team that had pasted him a week ago. NESN broadcaster Jerry Remy tried to hide the incredulity in his voice… to this ear he did so with only a slight degree of success.
Okajima was hit early and often, allowing 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Abracadabra. A 6-4 lead had vanished into thin air… a 7-6 deficit taking its place.
Ummm, Earth to Tito!
The Sox took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but squandered a chance to take a much bigger lead. With the bases loaded and no one out, Manny Ramirez stepped to the plate with a chance to put a crooked number on the board EARLY. But ManRam grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to take Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera off the hook… after a Mike Lowell walk, Kevin Youkilis grounded out to end the threat.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the top of the second inning and, with two outs, they did what the Red Sox couldn’t do — they capitalized on their opportunity. Freddy Bynum and Brian Roberts hit back-to-back two-run doubles to give Balmer a 4-1 lead.
The Red Sox again loaded the bases with no one out in the third inning… and once again they couldn’t get a big hit. They scored two runs on successive ground outs by Lowell and Youkilis, but again missed out on a big opportunity.
In the fifth inning, J D Drew (#9, 2-run) and Manny Ramirez (#15) hit back-to-back home runs to give the Sox a 6-4 lead.
The O’s then scored three runs in the seventh inning off Okajima to take a 7-6 lead… and then scored another three runs in the ninth inning of the even-less-rested Craig Hansen to provide the insurance runs that all but ended the game.
Earth to Tito!
Easily, Francona’s poorest-managed game of the 2008 season.
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After tonight’s game, Baltimore has scored eight of the nine runs allowed by Okajima in 2008.
He has allowed eight earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the O’s — an ERA of 13.50… in his other games he’s allowed just one run in 22 2/3 innings — an ERA of 0.40.
Think Tito will leave him on the pine in the bullpen for the rest of the series?
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Coco Crisp made a great catch against the garage door in center field to end the top of the fourth inning.
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Drew’s home run in the fifth inning was well hit (landing eight-to-ten rows into the bleachers), but Ramirez’ home run over the Green Monster in left-center field was a B-O-M-B!
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In a pregame ceremony, former Orioles slugger Eddie Murray presented Ramirez with a plaque commemorating his 500th home run… later in the game ManRam passed Murray and took sole possession of 23rd place on the all-time HR list with his 505th career dinger.
NOTE: According to Jerry Remy, Manny had told Murray during the pre-game ceremony that he would move past him during toninght’s game… and then he delivered.
In the game, Manny also tied Tony Perez for 24th place on the all-time ribbie list with 1,652 RBIs.
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The Sox just missed two homers in the third inning when Ramirez’s shot to right and Lowell’s drive to left each went just foul.
Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |
