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Baseball Today: Monday, April 9 »
April 8, 2007
ARLINGTON, Texas -- For the first week of the season, they were strangely silent, the team’s No. 1 starter and top run producer.
Curt Schilling had been dispatched after just four innings on Opening Day in Kansas City while David Ortiz had been a decided non-factor in a listless Red Sox attack, sporting a paltry .158 batting average before last night without a homer.
But as if kick-started by one another, Schilling and Ortiz took over last night’s final game of the opening road trip and made it their own.
Ortiz cranked two homers to account for all three of the Red Sox’ runs while Schilling pitched seven strong innings to produce a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers and avoid a series sweep.
The victory was not without it’s anxious moments. After Schilling was lifted after seven, the Red Sox infield defense and bullpen melted down in the eighth.
Joel Piniero walked the first two hitters he faced -- Gerald Laird and Ian Kinsler. Kenny Lofton squared to bunt and Mike Lowell fielded it cleanly, but with Red Sox infielders rotating -- first baseman Kevin Youkilis was charing from first -- Lowell seemed momentarily confused, even as Alex Cora stood on first, waiting for the third baseman’s throw.
It never came as Lowell double-pumped and help onto the ball, loading the bases.
Lefty Javier Lopez, bound for Pawtucket tomorrow to make room for Mike Timlin’s activation, came on to face Frank Catalanotto, but the Rangers counted with righty Nelson Cruz. Cruz drilled a liner right to Youkilis, but the ball popped out of his glove and the best the Sox could do was get a force out at second on Lofton while Cruz reached base and Laird crossed the plate.
Having seen enough, Terry Francona went to Jonathan Papelbon and didn’t regret the move. Papelbon, in just his second appearance of the season, froze Michael Young with a 97 mph fastball, then got Mark Teixeira to pop to third.
Five pitches, threat quelled.
Papelbon then came back for the ninth, retiring the side in order, and recorded his second save in as many chances.
Ortiz, who said Friday he was ``fighting’’ through an early-season slump, gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with a drive to right.
Two innings later, with Alex Cora (hit batsman) on second, Ortiz struck again, launching a high drive that settled into the first few rows of the right field grandstand.
The Sox had just two other hits on the night against Vicente Padilla, but they didn’t need much more with Schilling making sure the runs stood up.
A half-inning after Ortiz had given him a quick 1-0 margin, Schilling violated one of his maxims -- never give the lead right back. He yielded a solo homer to Frank Catalanotto, who had entered the game with a history of success (10-for-19) against Schilling.
But after Catalanotto knotted the game quickly, Schilling found himself. He gave up a single to Michael Young, but didn’t allow another baserunner to get into scoring position against him the rest of the night.
After issuing a leadoff walk to Kenny Lofton to open the third, Schilling retired 14 of the next 15 hitters he faced, including the final 10 in succession.
As a measure of Schilling’s improvement from the opener, consider that he threw 89 pitches in four innings Monday while needing just 102 to get through seven full innings last night.
Meanwhile, the Sox weren’t getting much done against Padilla beyond Ortiz’ show of strength.
They managed to put the leadoff man on base against him in the fourth and fifth, but didn’t capitalize any further.
An infield single by J.D. Drew top open the fourth extended the outfielder’s hitting streak to six games, but Padilla quickly erased him from the bases when he got Lowell to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
It was more of the same in the fifth.
Coco Crisp -- 2-for-18 before the at-bat -- singled to left, but Padilla retired Cora, Julio Lugo and Youkilis to keep Crisp anchored at first.
After Crisp’s single to open the fifth, Padilla and the Texas bullpen retired the next 14 Boston hitters in a row before Drew singled with two out in the ninth.
--SEAN McADAM
Posted by Chris Venditto 
at 10:56 PM | Permalink
