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Baseball Today: Wednesday, April 30 »
April 29, 2008
BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON – The situation was calling out for a pinch runner last night at Fenway Park.
No, make that it was screaming out for a pinch runner.
David Ortiz at second base with two outs in the ninth in a 0-0 game. The same David Ortiz who had missed the previous two games because of a bruised right knee. The same David Ortiz who underwent offseason surgery on his right knee. The same lumbering David Ortiz who doesn’t have any speed to begin with.
But Boston manager Terry Francona didn’t replace Ortiz, the Sox’ designated hitter.
The reason? Actually, there were a couple.
Francona had only one healthy position player left on the bench. That was Jed Lowrie. Jacoby Ellsbury was not available because he is suffering from a sore groin. Another position player was lost from the bench when outfielder Brandon Moss had to take over for J.D. Drew (tight quadriceps) in the fourth.
Lowrie, a rookie infielder, certainly is a faster runner than Ortiz. But in the top of the ninth, second baseman Dustin Pedroia had jammed his left shoulder making a dazzling diving play that robbed Vernon Wells of a two-out RBI single up the middle.
Francona said after the game he wasn’t sure if Pedroia would have been able to go out in the field for a 10th inning, if the game continued. He needed to either save Lowrie, or pinch-run him and lose the DH, forcing him to put the pitcher in the batting order.
Fortunately for Francona, Ortiz and the Sox, when Kevin Youkilis laced his single to center, Wells, the Jays’ center fielder, bobbled the ball when he charged in to field it, so Ortiz, rumbling around third and heading home, was spared a likely collision at the plate and Boston had its 1-0 victory.
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In every game, the pitcher will work the opposition’s lineup, trying to feature his strengths and take advantage of the hitters’ weaknesses.
Sometimes, though, the pitcher also has to pitch according to the conditions.
Last night was one of those occasions for Jon Lester.
The weather was nasty for baseball. It was cold and there was a 15-m.p.h. wind. That constitutes pitcher weather.
The hitters do not like any heavy fastballs on the inside of the plate in such conditions, a situation Lester used to his advantage. Mixing in a very effective cutter -- a fastball with a late, sharp break -- Lester was able to get in on the hands of the Jays, especially early.
In the first inning, Lester’s biting cutter shattered David Eckstein’s bat (weak grounder to third) and severely jammed Scott Rolen (soft popup to first). In the second, Shannon Stewart hit a weak roller to first, having been sawed off by a cutter. Similar pitches produced weak grounders by Alex Rios in the third and Rolen in the fourth and Gregg Zaun, the last batter he faced in the game for the final out of the eighth.
That type of command, on such an awful night to hit, helped Lester author eight innings of one-hit shutout baseball last night.
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Pedroia said it was no big deal, that his shoulder popped out and was popped back in after his eye-popping defensive gem that preserved a 0-0 score with two outs in the top of the ninth.
But the condition of Pedroia’s shoulder has to be of some concern.
Two years ago in spring training, the shoulder popped out and cost him time that spring. It has happened every now and then since. Only a week ago, Pedroia made a headfirst slide into first base to elude a tag on a wide throw, and seemingly suffered the same fate.
Then there was last night, when it happened again.
He’s a tough kid. No one doubts that. Pedroia and the Sox, though, can only hope the issue doesn’t become more serious, bothering him every time he makes a dive for a ground ball the rest of the season.
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When Francona sent Youkilis from first base on a 3-and-2 pitch to Mike Lowell in the second inning there were several circumstances prompting the strategy.
For one, the Red Sox suddenly have found it very difficult to score runs. Boston managed to tally only five runs in suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays last weekend. Add to that drought the fact that Toronto had its ace right-hander, Roy Halladay, on the mound, and it made sense to put Youkilis, hardly a speedy runner, in motion with one out.
Also factoring into the equation was the hitter – Lowell. It was the first game back for Lowell, who had been on the disabled list. He’s a slow runner who hits into his share of double plays – 19 last year.
As it turned out, Lowell took a curveball for strike three, leaning across the plate, inadvertently though not illegally getting a bit in the way of catcher Gregg Zaun, whose throw to second was high and wide. Youkilis was credited with his first stolen base of the year but wound up stranded.
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Drew left last night’s game because of a strained left quadriceps.
And while that left the Red Sox short on outfielders – Ellsbury is suffering from a sore groin – the more distressing aspect of Drew’s play lately is that he is once again looking like the offensive underachiever he was for most of last season.
After a sizzling start, Drew has disappeared from the Sox’ offense. Drew was batting .362 on April 17. Since then, he has gone 4 for 31 (.129), dropping his average to .269. Drew has only one extra-base hit – a double – in his last 51 at-bats. That two-bagger, on April 17, is one of only two doubles for the season. He has three homers.
His swing is looking long and feeble. He has been rolling over on pitches, particularly pitches on the outer half of the plate, accounting for weak bouncers to the right side. He already has bounced into five double plays, only three off teammate David Ortiz’s league-leading total in that category.
Drew generated a lot of good will by starring in the postseason last fall. He has quietly fallen into a similar funk to the one he endured a year ago. Now he’s out because of a twinge in his quadriceps. It’s all starting to sound depressingly familiar.
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The good news for the Jays was that they were given a leadoff walk in a 0-0 game in the sixth inning.
The bad news for the Jays was that it was catcher Gregg Zaun, one of the team’s slowest runners, who received that base on balls. And the next batter was Alex Rios, one of the team’s best hitters on a team that has been slumping badly at the plate.
So Toronto manager John Gibbons had a dilemma. Should he bunt? The Jays entered last night’s action tied with Cleveland for the most sacrifice bunts (10) in the league. Gibbons let Rios swing away. Rios inexplicably took a 3-and-2 fastball down the middle for a whiff.
Next up was David Eckstein, one of the best at handling the bat. The Sox smelled a hit-and-run. Lester four times threw over to first base, trying to shorten Zaun’s lead and trying to find out if Eckstein might do something in the box that would tip off the Jays’ intentions.
Ultimately, Zaun never moved off first. Eckstein hit a weak grounder to shortstop on a 2-and-1 pitch, a ball Julio Lugo turned into an inning-ending double play, ending what, on this night, constituted a rally – a leadoff walk.
skrasner@projo.com / 401-277-7340
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 10:32 PM | Permalink
