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Clubhouse reaction following 14-9 victory »
July 26, 2007
CLEVELAND - On a night when all eyes were on Boston’s pitching staff, Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez stole the spotlight as he continues his offensive prowess against his former team.
He entered last night’s game, the finale of a four-game set at Jacobs Field, with a .348 lifetime average against Cleveland and added to his greatness here with a two-homer game, including four RBI, a double and four runs scored.
Just Manny being Manny.
His performance helped the Red Sox to a 14-9 victory over the Indians as teammate Wily Mo Pena contributed a 4-for-5 night with a three-run homer, a single and a pair of doubles.
As Boston banged out 17 hits against Indians pitching, it was déjà vu all over again for the Red Sox pitching staff.
For the third time in three weeks Kason Gabbard and Curt Schilling both pitched on the same night, the rookie for Boston and the veteran, two rehabs for Pawtucket and one simulated game.
While Schilling started for the PawSox – five scoreless innings, two hits and eight strikeouts – an hour and a half away in Toledo, Gabbard looked to improve on his 4-0 record. The left-hander worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Ramirez got things going with a monster solo home run in the top of the second inning. His blast, the first offering from Cleveland starter Cliff Lee, landed 481 feet from home plate to become the third longest shot at The Jake. Former Indian Jim Thome still holds the top spot with his 511-foot homer, while Mark McGwire’s 485-footer is second.
After the Red Sox pushed a run across in the third, the Indians’ Franklin Gutierrez smacked his second homer in as many nights. Boston’s Jason Varitek provided a two-run single in the fourth before the Red Sox scored five runs in the fifth for a 9-1 advantage.
Until the bottom of the fifth, Gabbard retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced as he continued to look sharp. But, he began to struggle slowly as Cleveland mounted a comeback on the rookie with four runs in the inning to cut its deficit to four.
Gabbard, who had walked only four batters in his previous three starts, didn’t issue a free pass last night until the fifth where he posted three and hit a batter. Finally with two outs and the Indians batting around the order, Francona replaced the southpaw with reliever Julian Tavarez.
It was the first time since Aug. 27, 2006 at Seattle that Tavarez appeared in a relief role. He finished last season as a starter, and with Jon Lester out of the rotation to start the season as he battled back from cancer, Tavarez had been starting in the No. 5 spot until last Monday when Lester finally returned.
The Red Sox halted Cleveland’s comeback when Pena lined a three-run homer into the bleacher seats in left field to give Boston a 12-5 lead.
Cleveland, however, once again battled back.
Tavarez, who struggled badly in his last four starts, retired the first four batters he faced, and with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, surrendered four unearned runs, including a three-run homer to the Indians’ Ryan Garko as Cleveland cut its deficit to three.
Ramirez added his second roundtripper of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot, to give Boston a 14-9 lead.
Prior to last night’s game, Francona spoke highly of the Gabbard’s performances this season. The left-hander made a spot start in May against Atlanta, and last night made his sixth start since replacing the injured Schilling in the rotation on June 26.
“Left-handers with change-ups in this league can be devastating,” said the manager. “Gabby has been good as anybody in baseball his last two starts. . . he’s got good two-seam movement and his change-up is such a good pitch. His breaking ball is getting so much better.”
Francona recalled watching Gabbard work in spring training prior to last season and remembered his curveball had a “loop” to it.
“He throws it now and it’s tight,” Francona said.
Gabbard kept his momentum going early into last night’s start, but struggled in his last inning of work. Fortunately, the Red Sox gave him plenty of run support for the win.
After his second rehab start with Pawtucket, Schilling re-joined the Sox in Tampa today. The veteran right-hander will make a third rehab appearance for the PawSox on Tuesday in Columbus before returning to Boston’s rotation – if everything continues to go as planned – the first week of August when the club travels to the west coast.
Because Gabbard has been so effective, and Lester was solid in his victorious return last Monday, the Sox will have a difficult decision to make when Schilling returns.
--JOE McDONALD
Posted by Corey Bourassa 
at 10:59 PM to McDonald
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