« Casey heading to the DL?
Main
Moss called up »
April 26, 2008
By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek has missed the last few games with a serious bout with the flu. In his place backup catcher Kevin Cash has filled in nicely.
Cash went 3-for-3, including a sacrifice fly Friday night, in his normal start as Tim Wakefield’s batterymate. It was his first three-hit game since June 24, 2004 when he played for Toronto. That game was also against the Rays.
Cash also showcased his heads-up baserunning talents.
With the game knotted at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, Cash provided his third hit of the night to lead off the inning. Sox’ Dustin Pedroia hit grounder to Akinori Iwamura, the Rays’ second baseman, who attempted to tag Cash. But, Cash stopped and began to retreat, which made Iwamura stall and allowed Pedroia to reach on a fielder’s choice. Cash was also safe at second.
That play gave Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to chance for his typical late-inning heroics. He just missed his pitch and flied out to center. He would finish the night 0-for-6. The hot-hitting Manny Ramirez followed, but Warwick native and Tampa reliever Dan Wheeler struck him out.
Boston eventually lost in 11 innings, 5-4, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona didn’t want Cash’s performance to go unnoticed.
“It’s a lot more fun when you win to talk about guys, but I don’t want it to get lost how we feel (about Cash),” said Francona. “This kid has been thrown in to a situation where he’s catching every night, and he hasn’t done that in a while. Rather than coming in and say ‘I’m stiff’ he’s loving every minute of it. He’s doing things to help us win games.”
Wakefield, who was clearly upset when the Sox released his longtime personal catcher Doug Mirabelli during spring training, has had nothing but good things to say about Cash’s performances both defensively and offensively.
“He did a great job,” said Wakefield. “There’s nothing negative to say about the job he’s done since he got the job in spring training. He’s a big asset to this team.”
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 12:26 AM | Permalink
