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October 5, 2005
Boston manager Terry Francona opted to start John Olerud at first base Wednesday night in Game 2 of the ALDS even though the White Sox were starting a left-handed pitcher (All-Star starter Mark Buehrle).
Numbers didn't help a whole lot when Francona was choosing between Kevin Millar and Olerud. Millar was a woeful 1 for 18 (.056) against Buehrle, and Olerud wasn't much better (1 for 11, .091).
``We'll go with defense,'' said Francona on the reason for Olerud over Millar.
That was a wise move. Olerud stole a leadoff extra-base hit from Scott Podsednik on the left fielder's hard bouncer over the bag in the fourth. Olerud made a backhanded diving stab, rolled over and fed pitcher David Wells for the out.
In starting Olerud, Francona doctored his batting order a bit, batting the switch-hitting Bill Mueller seventh, between left-handed hitters Trot Nixon (sixth) and Olerud (eighth) to make bullpen matchups for the White Sox a big more difficult.
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