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Bloody Sock -- Sox' Response »
April 26, 2007
On two notable occasions, Baltimore Orioles pitchers buzzed Manny Ramirez inside. Once it worked, the second time it didn't. In the first inning, flamethrowing starter Daniel Cabrera fired one high and tight. Ramirez dropped his bat and backpedaled out of the box. Cabrera ended up getting Ramirez on a called third strike to end the inning.
Later, in a critical spot in the seventh inning, sidearming former Sox reliever Chad Bradford spun a pitch right in the direction of Manny's knees. Once again Ramirez scurried out of the way. But Bradford doesn't deliver the heat that Cabrera does, and in any case Ramirez was not intimidated. He ended up lining a pitch to right-center for an RBI single, ending Ramirez's 0-for-12 drought. Still later in the game, he hit one much harder, but Corey Patterson (who probably could have caught the seventh-inning single had he played it better) made a spectacular catch to possibly rob Ramirez of his third home run of the season.
Interesting managing, by the way, by Baltimore skipper Sam Perlozzo, who brought in Jamie Walker to face David Ortiz, even though Ortiz was 5-for-9 for his career with 3 home runs off Walker. Ortiz had a terrific at-bat, facing 11 pitches despite falling behind 0-and-2 before placing a single into left field in front of Jay Payton, who was playing way deep. Then it was exit Walker, and enter Bradford, to face Ramirez, even though Manny was 7-for-12 with a home run in his career off of the pitcher. This is why the Sox are 21-3 against these guys since September 2005.
In case you missed it, Ramirez talked manager Terry Francona out of resting him for last night's game. That makes Ramirez one of only three Red Sox players (along with Ortiz and J.D. Drew) to appear in all 20 games so far.
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 2:19 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny
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