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Sox Let Rivera Off Hook In Ninth, Yankees Win 2-1
By Administrator | July 6, 2008
The Red Sox were on the precipice of a memorable comeback yesterday at Yankee Stadium when they let Mariano Rivera off the hook.
Trailing 2-0 entering the ninth inning, the Sox scored a run on Mike Lowell’s rbi-single and then loaded the bases with no one out. And just when it seemed victory was within reach, the combination of Rivera’s Hall-of-Fame brilliance, a bad call by the home plate umpire, and some bad decisions by Red Sox hitters allowed Rivera to escape with his twenty-third save.
Three batters up, three batters down — without getting the ball out of the infield.
A bad strike call by home plate ump Kerwin Danley got under Crisp’s skin… the Sox switch-hitter lost focus and whiffed with a weak swing on a BAD pitch. Jason Varitek, in position to take Crisp off the hook, worked the count to 2-0 and then, with the game on the line, swung at a pitch at the letters. It was an incredibly poor decision — as no one in the game could have gotten on top of the pitch and driven it — and the result was disastrous: an infield pop to first base for the second out. Julio Lugo was over-matched in the games final at-bat — striking out on a pitch in the heart of the strike zone for the game’s final out.
Afterwards, Sox manager Terry Francona generaously observed: “We gave ourselves a great chance with really good at-bats in the ninth and then Mariano went to work and really carved us up for three batters. He gave himself no wiggle room and he didn’t need it”. Sorry, Tito, but you can’t absolve your players so easily… the way the ninth inning played out had less to do with Rivera and more to do with the fact that Crisp got rattled by the home plate ump and ‘Tek swung at “ball three”.
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Yankees starter Mike Mussina won his eleventh game with his best outing of the season. He pitched six shutout innings, allowing only four hits and issuing one walk while striking out five. Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth each pitched a shutout inning of relief before Rivera entered the game.
Red Sox starter Justin Masterson didn’t pitch poorly, but he struggled with his control once again… he walked two, hit three batters and threw a wild pitch. In spite of the wildness, he managed to hold the Yankees in check over six innings and would have won his fifth game if he had received any offensive support. The rookie allowed two runs on six hits in his first appearance against New York.
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Mussina was the beneficiary of a bad base-running decision by Dustin Pedroia in the first inning… the Sox second baseman singled but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. J D Drew promptly doubled and advanced to third base on a wild pitch but was stranded when Mike Lowell struck out swinging.
New York took advantage of a Masterson walk in the second inning to score the game’s first run… Jason Giambi worked the free pass, advanced to second base on Robinson Cano’s base hit, and scored on Melky Cabrera’s two-out, rbi-single.
In the third inning, Masterson played a little Houdini of his own as he escaped a bases-loaded, one out jam. With one out, Derek Jeter singled, Bobby Abreu walked, and Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch… but the right-handed struck out Giambi and induced an inning-ending grounder from Wilson Betemit.
In the fifth inning, A-Rod singled with two out and then stole second and third base but Giambi lined out to Youkilis at first base to end that threat.
In the sixth inning, Masterson’s wildness struck again… with runners on first and second and one out, he uncorked a wild pitch to advance the runners. Rookie outfielder Brett Gardner then lofted a sacrifice fly to left field to extend the lead to 2-0.
Neither team threatened again until the ninth inning… Jose Lopez and Mike Timlin each pitched an inning of shutout relief for the Red Sox.
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Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
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Mussina got his first win over the Red Sox since June 5, 2006… he had been 0-3, 7.71, in his previous six games against Boston. He has won ten of his last fourteen starts and his eleven wins are the most he has had before the All-Star break since he went 12-3 in the first half in 2002.
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After the game, Varitek was really kicking himself for swinging at a bad 2-0 pitch: “He’s Mariano Rivera, but in that situation I’ve got to do something more”.
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Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitch three times in yesterday’s game, tying the major league record… the teams combined for seven hit batsmen, matching a modern big league mark.
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New York played without Johnny Damon, who injured his left shoulder trying to haul in Youkilis’ triple in Saturday’s loss. He said he felt better and would know more Sunday about whether he can avoid going on the disabled list for the first time in his 14-season major league career.
Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players, Uncategorized |
