June 8, 2008
BOSTON -- All season long the Celtics have honored local community heroes with a program it calls "Heros Among Us." These people have "an overwhelming impact on those around us."
Sunday night's honoree at Game Two of the NBA Finals is Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester. He overcame six rounds of chemotherapy in his bout with cancer to not only return to the mound, but throw a no-hotter earlier this season. Lester was given a standing ovation by the appreciative Celtics' crowd.
Teammate Curt Schilling and his family cheered Lester on from the best seats in the house . . . right next to the Laker bench.
-- KEVIN McNAMARA
Posted by Art Martone 
at 10:29 PM | Permalink
October 29, 2007
Right after he caught the final strike, Jason Varitek stuck the ball in his pocket. And as anyone can see, it stayed there.
Journal Photo Bob Breidenbach
So who's got the baseball that sealed the Red Sox World Series victory last night?
It's impossible to know for sure but Sox catcher (and El Cap-i-tan) Jason Varitek quickly tucked the ball into his back pocket before jumping into the arms of pitcher Jonathan Papelbon. Catcher and pitcher were quickly engulfed by a swarm of players, coaches and staff.
The whereabouts of the ball is an issue only because of what happened in 2004. When the Red Sox beat St. Louis, Keith Foulke tossed the third out into the glove of reserve first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz. As mayhem played out, Mientkiewicz held onto the ball and brought it back to Boston.
But when Mientkiewicz claimed ownership of the ball, the Red Sox had a problem on their hands. The Sox ended up suing the player over the ball, which the team claimed was its property and belonged to the long-suffering fans of the club. The two sides eventually agreed to end their legal fight over ownership of the ball, which was ultimately sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"An amicable agreement was reached many weeks ago, and it provides a permanent home at the (Hall of Fame), with opportunities for some public display as well at Fenway Park," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said at the time.
When Mientkiewicz held onto the ball, he gave it to his wife and then secured it in a safe deposit box. He also publicly claimed that it was his "retirement fund." His stance eventually softened and he gave up the ball.
What will Varitek do? He's quoted on msnbc.com as saying that he intends to give the ball to the team.
The Red Sox (and the ball) are currently jetting home to Boston. The parade is tomorrow starting at noon at Fenway Park.
-- Kevin McNamara
Posted by Kevin at 12:20 PM | Permalink
October 25, 2007
BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- Fox Sports just announced that ratings for Game One of the Series were the best for the network since 2004 and really big in the Providence market.
Game One earned a 10.5 rating (16.9 million viewers). That's up 31 percent over the rating (8.0) of last year's first game between Detroit and St. Louis.
Fox also released numbers for local markets. In Boston, the game drew a 50.4 rating and a 70 share, meaning 70 percent of all TV's on were tuned to the game.
Providence was the second-highest market with a 40.5 rating and 72 share. That was ahead of Denver (35.8/51).
Posted by Kevin at 6:26 PM | Permalink
ROCKIES
Willy Tavaras CF
Kaz Matsui 2B
Matt Holliday LF
Todd Helton 1B
Garrett Atkins 3B
Brad Hawpe RF
Troy Tulowitzki SS
Yorvit Torrealba C
Ryan Spilborghs DH
---
Ubaldo Jimenez P
RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
Mike Lowell 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Jason Varitek C
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Julio Lugo SS
---
Curt Schilling P
Posted by Kevin at 4:36 PM | Permalink
October 22, 2007
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- Coco Crisp may have felt the last out of Sunday night’s pennant-winning game more than any other Red Sox.
With the 11-2 win over the Indians assured, Casey Blake drove a Jonathan Papelbon pitch deep towards the triangle in center field. Crisp ran hard to his left and made a running catch that left him sliding into the bullpen wall. As Fenway Park erupted, Crisp stayed on his knees, shook off the pain and began celebrating.
''I was really shook up, but my knee caught the padding out there. I’m OK,'' Crisp said as champagne flowed in the Boston clubhouse. ''I was feeling a little pain but it feels nice now.''
Crisp, who was benched in favor of rookie Jacoby Ellsbury in Games Six and Seven, is bound to be back in the starting lineup sometime early in the World Series, but just when will be one of Terry Francona’s toughest decisions. Crisp finished the ALCS hitting just .143.
Crisp’s defense is a major reason why the Red Sox captured their second A.L. title in four seasons.
''We try to prepare all season for this moment,'' he said. ''This was the first time all season we had our backs against the wall and we were resilient and we got the job done. We proved we can be the best team in baseball. Now we have one more step to go.''
Posted by Kevin at 12:59 AM | Permalink
October 20, 2007
Lineups for Game Six
(with Jacoby and Trot Nixon)
Red Sox
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Ellsbury CF
Lugo SS
Schilling P
INDIANS
Sizemore CF
Cabrera 2B
Hafner DH
Martinez C
Garko 1B
Peralta SS
Lofton LF
Nixon RF
Blake 3B
Carmona P
Posted by Kevin at 4:18 PM | Permalink
October 19, 2007
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON – C.C. Sabathia showed he wasn’t up to the test in the glare of the playoff lights. Saturday night at Fenway Park, we’ll see if Fausto Carmona can carry the load.
Entering the American League’s Championship Series, the Red Sox had grave concerns about how well they’d be able to dent the 1-2 starting pitching tandem of Sabathia and Carmona. Each won 19 games in the regular season, with impressive ERA’s, and gave the Cleveland Indians the firepower to dream of winning the World Series for the first time since Bob Feller and Bob Lemon beat the Boston Braves back in 1948.
The Red Sox tore through Sabathia in Game One for a 10-3 win and chased Carmona after four innings in Game Two. Sabathia had the chance to close out Boston Thursday night but the Sox got to the big lefty again and won Game Five, 7-1. The Sabathia/Carmona combination owns a 0-2 record and 9.82 ERA in three ALCS starts. Carmona, a Dominican sinker-baller, gets his chance to show that at least one of Cleveland’s aces can get the job done Saturday.
“I’m going to try hard to stay aggressive, the same way I always pitch,” Carmona said. “Whatever happened last time, I’ve forgotten about it. It’s going to be a new start and I’m looking forward to it.”
Carmona ran into control problems in his Game Two matchup with Curt Schilling. He pitched into the fifth inning but was eventually chased after surrendering four runs on four hits with five critical walks. In the third inning, he failed to challenge Boston star Manny Ramirez and a walk forced in a run. The Indians ended up rallying for a 13-6 win in 11 innings.
Carmona’s strength is getting off to a quick start on every hitter and relying on his sinker ball. He led the American League by getting hitters to hit ground balls 3.28 times for every fly ball. The Red Sox avoided a parade of ground balls by exhibiting their classic patience at the plate, said Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis.
“In reviewing the video tape, there were pitches Fausto made that hitters swing at throughout the course of the season,” Willis said. “The Red Sox, being very disciplined and obviously a veteran lineup of professional hitters, they laid off a lot of pitches that other clubs at times swing at.”
Carmona said that he felt he was a bit ``too fine’’ in trying to nibble around the strike zone and prevent Boston’s batters from squaring up his pitches.
“I was trying to be a little too fine,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m not going to leave any pitch down the middle of the plate. I was thinking just a little too much.”
Carmona’s track record entering this series is impressive. He was 9-4 and led the majors with a 2.26 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break and owned a 5-0 mark with a 1.62 ERA in his last five starts of the regular season. In the ALDS against the Yankees, Carmona made his first playoff start a memorable one by holding the Yanks to one run on three hits in nine innings. The Indians captured the game in extra innings, 2-1. Now the Indians hope Carmona regains that form in time to deliver the team to its first World Series since 1997.
“I think he tried to be a little too fine,” in Game Two, Indians’ manager Eric Wedge said. “He has such a great arm and such great movement on his pitches. When he does try to be too fine his ball is going to run off the plate a little bit. What he needs to do is be aggressive with these guys, stay on the plate and run it off when he needs to.”
Posted by Kevin at 6:58 PM | Permalink
INDIANS JOURNAL
By Kevin McNamara
BOSTON – Playoff baseball is littered with heroes who’ve seemingly come out of nowhere to provide a huge impact for winning teams. That’s why Red Sox fans will always remember Bernie Carbo and Mark Bellhorn, to name just two legendary post-season performers.
This fact was not lost on Cleveland manager Eric Wedge when he met with a small pack of media members Friday. Wedge was asked about the struggles of some of his players and if he could do anything to shake things up. The same question could’ve been posed to Boston’s Terry Francona. Baseball gurus may think the final two games of the ALCS will be decided largely on the skills of Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Fausto Carmona and Grady Sizemore but you’d best be ready for a surprise guest.
“Everybody has to remember that when it comes to post-season you talk about everything from yesterday’s game to tomorrow’s game but everything prior to today doesn’t mean anything,” said Wedge. “There’s only one thing that matters and that’s (Saturday) night’s game.”
Boston’s Schilling owns a 9-2 record in 17 playoff starts and several Sox know what it’s like to face playoff pressure with their season on the line. The Indians do not, however. Does this matter?
“We’ll find out,” said Wedge. “When it comes to our guys, the experience that they’re gaining in this series with regard to so many firsts is that really every day for us, or every game for us in a different situation, is another first for us. I think our guys have done a heck of a job handling all of that and they have a sense of security with each other in how they handle things.”
While Boston fans are ready to strangle Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo for their awful showings in the series, in Cleveland Travis Hafner is the goat of the moment. Hafner, who hits out of the critical third hole, is scuffling along at a .158 (3-of-19) clip. His only extra-base hit was a home run off Josh Beckett in Game One. That’s not the output the Indians need from their strong designated hitter.
“Haf’s had a couple of tough games but I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” said Wedge. “I think what we need him to do is just to maybe simplify things a little bit. He’s a great hitter. He’s stepped up for us time and again.”
After jumping out to a 3-1 series lead, the Indians had every right to hope for a clinching win on Thursday night. In fact, they had no plans on flying to Boston. Instead, they recovered from the 7-1 defeat, slept in their own homes and flew East Friday afternoon. The Red Sox left Cleveland a few hours after the game and arrived home by 6 a.m. Neither teams worked out at Fenway Park Friday.
“We weren’t going to the ballpark expecting to lose,” Wedge said. “We were going in expecting to win so if we didn’t, we were going to come in (to Boston Friday).
Wedge said that the balance of the two teams told him at the start of the series that neither team was likely to roll to an ALCS win in four of five games.
“I think prior to this series we felt like we were going to go pretty deep into it, we really did,” said Wedge. “You look at just how well both teams performed in the regular season as well as the post-season prior to this series. You’ve got two pretty good teams that are going to battle it out and work hard to create opportunities for themselves. I think that’s what you’ve seen so far.”
Tempers often flare in a long playoff series but the Josh Beckett-Kenny Lofton stare down in Game Five was the first example in this series. With mounting pressure, don’t rule out additional dust-ups.
“I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of that when it comes to the post-season because emotions run high,” said Wedge. “There was some verbiage back and forth and they toed up a little bit and everybody ran out and got some exercise and everybody ran back, which is usually how it works. But nothing really happened.”
Game time for both Saturday and Sunday is 8:23 first pitch….Spotted in Cleveland: Indians’ World Series T-shirts, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Also, Indians’ assistant general manager Chris Antonetti is expected to interview for the vacant G.M. job in St. Louis….Victor Martinez is 7-of-11 (.636) against Curt Schilling. Grady Sizemore is 4-of-9 lifetime…The World Series starts Wednesday and Thursday in either Boston or Cleveland.
Posted by Kevin at 6:15 PM | Permalink
October 12, 2007
BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- With a payroll less than half of the Red Sox, winning baseball games isn’t easy for the Indians. Yet after finishing with identical 96-66 records, the Tribe found a way to get the job done.
The principal reason clearly lies in player development. Under the direction of general manager Mark Shapiro, the Indians have churned out a slew of good, young players in recent years. The minor league system introduced three every-day players this season in first baseman Ryan Garko, second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and right fielder Franklin Gutierrez. Fausto Carmona transitioned from a rocky rookie year as a reliever in 2006 into one of the premier starters in the American League in `07. Young relievers Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis helped firm up a shaky bullpen.
These new additions join more established veterans who also came through the Indians' farm system, notably C.C. Sabathia, Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez. Cleveland’s payroll this season was a shade over $61 million. Boston’s hovered near the $143 million mark. Two of the best buys on the squad are all-star outfielder Sizemore ($916,000) and Carmona, who earned only $387,000 this season.
Rookie battle
There are two major impact rookie second basemen in this series. Dustin Pedroia is the likely Rookie of the Year in the American League but Cabrera enjoyed an extremely impressive debut as well.
Cabrera began this season with Double A Akron but quickly stopped through Buffalo (9 games) before landing in the majors on Aug. 7. Over the last seven weeks of the season, Cabrera received a taste of the action and quickly seized the opportunity. He ended up hitting .283 in 45 games with 22 RBI. A slick fielder, he only coughed up one error in 220 chances at second base and shortstop. He also quickly rose in the batting order from ninth to his present spot in the two hole.
“Initially it was not a permanent move,” to fix the rookie high in the order, said manager Eric Wedge. “We knew that we were going to give him some playing time, and he just went out and took it. If you look at the way he handled himself offensively, the way he handled himself defensively, you know, the kid was just in the middle of everything. When we called him up, he was at the bottom of our order and then we made some changes with our entire order, from really head to toe. And that's when we put him in the two hole. We weren't sure how that was going to work out, either.”
Staying put
Before the game, Wedge was asked why he doesn’t step on the field after his team secures a victory. Even after closing out the Yankees in New York, Wedge resisted the urge to celebrate with his players near the pitcher’s mound. He says the game is about the players, not himself.
“I’ve done that all year, it's not just a postseason thing,” he said. “This is their team. It's their clubhouse, it's their team. It's about the players. Managers and coaches do what they can to help them be the best they can be, but ultimately it's all about the players. As soon as you get done playing and you start managing and coaching, it sure as hell better not be about you anymore or you shouldn't be doing it because your time is done. It's about the players and it's about what they do and what they mean to each other.”
Keeping the faith
Even with top starters Sabathia and Carmona, the Indians know they’ll have to rely on closer Joe Borowski throughout this series. With 45 saves, Borowski knows how to close a game but his 5.07 ERA speaks to bigger troubles in tight situations.
Wedge has supported Borowski all season long and continued to put faith in his closer.
“Your bullpen starts with your closer,” said Wedge. “We've got someone down there with as much strength, actually more strength than I've ever seen in regard to being the leader of our bullpen, as a closer needs to be. Because of that, other people that are down there are more confident. It's black and white; either you get it done or you don't. He saved 45 games for us during the season, saved the final game (in New York). He's the one that we want to get the baseball to.”
Posted by Kevin at 7:12 PM | Permalink
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Danny Vinik, the fan who helped the Red Sox beat the Angels in last Friday's game, waves to the crowd before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- These Red Sox don't miss a trick.
Forget some old legend or civic leader. The Sox have chosen Danny Vinik to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday night. Vinik is the teen who snatched the foul ball out of Angels' catcher Jeff Mathis' mitt in last week's Game Two victory.
Vinik is the son of Jeff Vinik, a Red Sox limited parter and the former manager of Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund.
Posted by Kevin at 3:29 PM | Permalink
October 11, 2007
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Sox' Manny Delcarmen, left, and fellow pitcher Jon Lester have some fun at today's workout.
A few quick hits from the Red Sox workout day.
*The Red Sox ALCS roster will include 11 pitchers, meaning Tim Wakefield is included. The Sox will only carry two catchers, meaning Kevin Cash in off the roster. Wakefield's right shoulder has improved enough where he remains scheduled to start Game Four in Cleveland next week.
*Bobby Kielty will start in right-field for J.D. Drew. Kielty has enjoyed great success in his career against Indians starter C.C. Sabathia (9-for-29, 4 2B, 2 homers).
*Diasuke Matsuzaka threw a three-inning simulated game at the tail end of the Red Sox workout. Several Sox pitchers also threw long sessions this week as the team tries to make up for the extra time it's enjoyed in between games.
Kevin McNamara
Posted by Kevin at 2:38 PM | Permalink
By KEVIN McNAMARA
BOSTON - Most Boston baseball people are assuming that Josh Beckett sewed up this year's Cy Young award weeks ago when he won his 20th game. Not so fast.
You can't rule out C.C. Sabathia. At all. In fact, Friday night's Beckett-C.C. Sabathia matchup in Game One gives baseball fans an inside look at the two top contenders.
The numbers are very close between the A.L.'s top righty (Beckett) and lefty (Sabathia). Beckett's 20 wins are nice but Sabathia went 19-7 and had a better ERA (3.21 to 3.27) in nearly 40 more innings. Sabathia struck out 209 batters, Beckett 194. Opponent's batting average was .245 against Beckett and .259 against Sabathia. Beckett walks more hitters and is more prone to surrender home runs.
Just to throw a further match on the fire, you could make a case that Cleveland's Game Two starter, Fausto Carmona, is the best pitcher in this series. Carmona went 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in the regular season. Only the Angels' John Lackey (3.01) owned a better ERA in the American League.
Carmona is also coming in very hot after shutting down the Yankees with a 9-inning, 3-hit, 1-run gem in Game Two of the ALDS.
Posted by Kevin at 12:44 PM | Permalink
By KEVIN McNAMARA
BOSTON - Thanks to my friends at Mike's Garage in Westwood, we are finally here at Fenway Park for ALCS workout day.
Just before the Route 1 exit on 95 North, my car siezed up thanks to a large chunk of metal lodging in a rear tire. End of plan to capture all of the Red Sox clubhouse time. We pulled off the highway and thank heavens into Mike's Garage. Twenty dollars later, the blown tire was replaced with the wonderful spare donut and we were back on the road (how we return to Providence is a challenge for another time.)
The nation's baseball media (plus Japan, of course) has descended on Fenway. The Sox clubhouse was packed with media but few players were out and chatting. We'll post a few nuggets of info that we've gathered but the bigger news will come after Terry Francona and Josh Beckett speak at around 2 p.m.
---------
One of the supposed clear advantages between the Red Sox and the Indians is between the closers. Boston's Jonathan Papelbon enjoyed an All-Star season with 37 saves and a 1.85 ERA. He struck out 84 batters in 58 innings.
Cleveland's Joe Borowski racked up 45 saves but a closer look at the numbers reveals serious holes. Borowski's ERA zoomed to 5.07 but he struck out only 58 hitters in 65 innings. He also was just 13-of-19 in 1-run save chances and sailed through only 16 1-2-3 innings.
The biggest statistic in Papelbon's favor? Opponents hit .289 versus Borowski while Papelbon held foes to a .146 average.
Asked this morning about the edge the Sox hold in the closer's role, Papelbon wouldn't bite.
"This is the first time I've heard that. I don't see that big of an advantage," Papelbon said. "I think the guy's got more than 45 saves this year so I think he's doing his job pretty damn good. He's going out there and helping his ballclub win and he's producing."
"I'm going out there trying to do my job and trying to help my ballclub just like he's trying to help his ballclub."
Posted by Kevin at 11:57 AM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
The Red Sox enjoyed one of those walk-off, pulsating wins tonight that had to remind fans of the many close shaves in 2004. David Ortiz smacked his second home run of the game (31st of the season) in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 5-4.
The walk-off hit was the first of this season for Ortiz and 16th of his career with the Red Sox. Ten of the 16 hits have been home runs. Last night's barely settled into the first row of the right field bleachers.
``It was a good pitch by my boy Reyes but I put a good swing on it,'' Ortiz said. ``It worked out.''
In the Boston dugout, players rolled over the front rail and flooded the field. One of the leaders was Jonathan Papelbon, the closer who pitched a perfect ninth inning and earned his first win of the season.
``I thought as soon as he hit it that it had enough legs,'' Papelbon said. ``I knew it had enough room.''
The Sox easily could have lost the last two nights. Wednesday, the Rays built a 8-1 lead only to see their pitching collapse and lose, 16-10. Last night the Rays scored four times in the first inning off Jon Lester but a 3-run Ortiz homer in the third made it 4-3. The game stayed that score thanks to good pitching from both bullpens.
Then came Ortiz and some ninth inning drama.
``I had no angle. I was too busy blowing on it,'' said Terry Francona. ``I actually didn;t know it was a home run when it was a home run. I saw the ball but I thought maybe it hit the wall. You don;t see it. You just hope.''
Kevin McNamara
Posted by Kevin at 11:53 PM | Permalink
July 20, 2007
BOSTON - A game that began ominously for the Red Sox last night eventually turned in their favor and resulted in a 10-3 blowout win over the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox carried a three-game losing streak into the contest and with ace pitcher Josh Beckett on the mound needed a victory as badly as they had in months. After getting jobbed out of a 3-run home run by J.D. Drew in the first inning, Boston recovered and scored four runs in the fifth inning and five more in the eighth to sail to the win.
Beckett left after allowing three runs over six innings (114 pitches) and turned the ball over to the Sox’ red-hot bullpen. Mike Timlin, Hideki Okajima and Joel Pineiro combined to shut out the White Sox over the final three frames and preserve the victory for Beckett, who improved to 13-3.
``This is a team that’s going to go on feeling,’’ said Julio Lugo, who went 3-for-4 including a grand slam homer in the eighth inning. ``Today was a good sign, good pitching, good hitting. That’s the way we have to play.’’
The win, coupled with the Yankees’ loss to Tampa Bay, extends Boston’s lead in the A.L. East to eight games.
The fates seemed stacked against the Sox after a bizarre play in the first inning. With David Ortiz on second base and Manny Ramirez at first, Drew lined a Jose Contreras pitch high to left-center. The ball clearly struck the wire ledge that sits just below the Monster Seats but the umpires didn’t signal home run. The White Sox threw home and cut down Ramirez who wasn’t running hard because he thought he saw the ball go out for a homer. Ortiz scored the only run on the play but Terry Francona shot out of the dugout and vehemently argued the call. He was eventually ejected by third base umpire Tim McClelland, who was booed mercilessly the rest of the game by the fans.
Drew, incidentally, stroked another Wall double in the eighth inning. Entering the game, he had just three hits off the Monster all season.
``I’ve been talking ad nausea about getting a two-out hit and to take two runs off the board is not easy to take,’’ said Francona. ``I’m very thankful we came back and played a great game after that.’’
Chicago seemed to receive a rush off the lucky break and hit Beckett up for three runs in the third when Jim Thome smacked a 3-run homer to left field. It was Thome’s 20th homer at Fenway in his career, the most by any active player.
Trailing 3-1 entering the fifth, the Red Sox benefited in a major way from some questionable White Sox strategy. Boston’s leadoff man, Jason Varitek, walked. With Contreras pitching to Eric Hinske (.196 average), Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen chose to align his defense in an Ortiz-line shift for some unknown reason. Hinske then wisely set down a chopping bunt to where third baseman Josh Fields should have been but wasn’t and cruised to first with a base hit.
With Francona back in the clubhouse, bench coach Brad Mills stayed with the small ball routine and Julio Lugo laid down a bunt that he beat out when Contreras’ throw to first sailed a bit high. The two bunts loaded the bases with none out and Coco Crisp came through by slapping a bases-clearing triple past Paul Konerko and into the right-field corner.
Guillen had his defense back in the shift when Ortiz came to the plate with one out. Ortiz grounded hard towards the first base bag but Konerko failed to cover the line and the ball scooted into right field to allow Crisp to sail home with the fourth run of the inning.
``He said his heart was racing. He’d never (bunted) before,’’ Crisp said of Hinske’s bunt. ``We came up with a big inning when we needed it.’’
With a 5-3 lead, Beckett retired the Sox in order in the sixth and then gave way to the bullpen. Timlin and Okajima set the next six White Sox down easily and Boston was prepared to send Jonathan Papelbon out for the ninth. But the Red Sox weren’t done scoring. The Sox loaded the bases off Contreras (5-12) and Lugo blasted a grand slam high over the Green Monster in left for a 10-3 lead. The hit set Papelbon down and Pineiro came on and ended things quietly in the ninth.
-----KEVIN McNAMARA
Posted by Thom Cahir at 10:47 PM | Permalink
