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Late Notes -- Tigers 3, Red Sox 2, 13 innings »
July 8, 2007
By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
DETROIT -- When the Tigers' Ivan Rodriguez made solid contact with a chest-high cutter from Jonathan Papelbon, propelling the baseball into right-center field, the Red Sox' Coco Crisp got a great jump and began racing after the ball in the spacious Comerica Park outfield.
Crisp, Boston's speedy center fielder, ran as hard as he could, giving every ounce of effort he could coax from his tired body in trying to track down Pudge's missile with the game on the line in the 13th inning.
Crisp dove, stretching out his glove as far as he could.
But, not for lack of effort, Crisp came up a few inches short.
The ball landed safely on the turf just past him, the base hit allowing Gary Sheffield to trot home from second base with two outs as Detroit edged Boston, 3-2, in a tense game between two of the American League's top two teams.
"I didn't know when he hit it if I had a chance or not," said Crisp. "I went after it and when I looked up, it was right there. I thought I was going to catch it. Then it was like slow motion when I was falling down and reaching for it. It was like an inch out of my reach. That's why they call this a game of inches."
Papelbon, who entered the game in the 13th and promptly drilled Sheffield with his first pitch of the night, and manager Terry Francona were two of the people in the ballpark holding their breath as Crisp, who has made highlight-reel catches routine, tried to chase down Rodriguez's drive.
"I thought it was a sure hit, but at that point (with Coco going after it) you don't know," said Papelbon.
"That would have been a sensational catch if he had made it," said Francona. "And he got very close to it."
Instead, the ball fell safely, Rodriguez was credited with a single, and Boston had dropped the first two games of this series with only today's matinee remaining before the three-day All-Star break.
It was a game that featured outstanding starting pitching, from the Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman (8 innings, 7 hits, a first-inning two-run homer to David Ortiz) and the Sox' rookie left-hander Kason Gabbard (6 1/3, three hits, including a two-run double by Craig Monroe in the fifth after his only two walks).
There also was air-tight relief pitching, though ineffective hitting could have been part of that equation, too, as the Red Sox and Tigers took turns squandering glittering scoring chances in the extra innings. Detroit used five relievers, who combined for five scoreless innings. Francona also called on five relievers, who worked a combined 6 1/3 scoreless innings before Papelbon coughed up a run and the game.
"That was a war of attrition kind of thing," said Red Sox lefty Javier Lopez, who retired the only two batters he faced.
"Any time you have the ability to save Papelbon until -- what was it, the 13th? -- it's nice to have him at the back end still," said Lopez, acknowledging, of course, that it didn't end well in this instance.
As such a game drags on -- this one lasted 4 hours, 28 minutes -- playing in it becomes a grind, said Eric Hinske, who started at first base and stayed in the game until he was pinch-hit for in the 11th.
"A game like that is intense," said Hinske, who contributed an outstanding catch of a foul ball, grabbing the ball as he draped himself over the tarp with runners at second and third and one out in the fifth.
"There's more energy in the park than normal," he said. "It's fun. Then it gets to be the 11th and 12th and 13th, and it gets to be a mental grind. You really have to try hard to make sure you have good at-bats. Tonight their bullpen did well, so did ours. It was a great game."
Well, it wasn't so great for Papelbon. The flame-throwing right-hander is used to coming in with a lead. This time he came in with the game tied.
"It's different," he said of the two situations. "Not necessarily mentally different, but there are different situations to go over. It's not easy, man. But I've still got to be able to deal with those situations and come out ahead. Live and learn. It's part of the growing experience."
Papelbon's outing took an immediate downward turn when his first pitch nailed Sheffield around the left shoulder.
"I was trying to get the pitch in, but I just bailed out and didn't stay through my delivery," said Papelbon. "That's absolutely not what you want to do with your first hitter."
Papelbon kept a close eye on Sheffield at first, not wanting the Tigers' stolen-base leader, to get a walking lead on him.
The Sox right-hander retired Magglio Ordonez on a fly ball to right, but Sheffield took off on a 2-and-1 pitch to Carlos Guillen and when catcher Jason Varitek's throw to second was high and wide, Sheffield was in scoring position thanks to his 12th stolen base of the year.
Papelbon slipped a called third strike past Guillen for the second out of the inning, but Rodriguez got on top of a 1-and-0 cutter and the Tigers claimed the win.
"I left that ball up," sighed Papelbon. "That's not what I wanted to do. You can't be leaving balls up like that. If I get it down he either misses it or hits it on the ground to the right side.
"This was one of those games where neither teams deserves to lose and the first team to make a mistake loses," said Papelbon. "I made a mistake by hitting Sheff and I left a pitch up to Ivan and we lost. Just have to deal with it."
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