« The Sinker Worked, Mostly
Main
The Helpful Bunt »
April 19, 2007
Manny Ramirez has been in a season-long slump.
The hits haven't been coming, let alone any extra-base power.
But as his second-inning at-bat today showed, it isn't as if he's coming out of his shoes, swinging at everything and anything.
Ramirez fell behind, 0 and 2, against Roy Halladay, one of the game's top pitchers. But Ramirez didn't give in. He took a couple of close pitches, fouled one off, worked the count full and then watched ball four, earning a leadoff walk.
And he wound up scoring the game's first run, on a deep sacrifice fly to left by Eric Hinske.
Maybe he should have been more patient in his next at-bat.
Ramirez came to the plate with the bases full and one out in the third and swung at Halladay's first pitch, bouncing one to third baseman Jason Smith, who started an inning-ending double play, croaking a very promising rally.
But Ramirez loves to hit at the Rogers Centre. He entered today's game with 25 homers here, the second-most of any opponent lifetime (Alex Rodriguez has 30) at this ballpark.
Now, he has 26. He worked the count to 2 and 0 against Shaun Marcum with two outs and one on in the eighth and the Sox down by two runs, and then crushed a game-tying two-run homer to center.
It was Ramirez's first homer of the year. Last season Ramirez was homerless until a visit to Toronto, when he bashed two homers in an April 21 game, the Sox' 17th game. Today's game is Boston;s 14th of the year.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 12:54 PM | Permalink
