Posted on 05/11/2006 11:04:15 PM PDT by demlosers
Loretta raps out four hits as Boston rallies late in Bronx
NEW YORK -- For six innings on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox were left flustered and stranded, and certainly not contemplating the latest classic contest that was unfolding against their long-time rivals from the Bronx. They left 13 runners on base over those first six and seemed in danger of letting another strong effort by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield go to waste.
But then came a gust of wind that just might have changed everything in the rubber match of this three-game series, which wound up an exhausting 5-3 victory by the Red Sox.
The Red Sox were down a run when Alex Gonzalez hit a harmless-looking fly ball toward foul territory with one out in the seventh. But with rain dropping and wind swirling, the ball came back into fair territory and Bernie Williams whiffed in his attempt to catch it. The play, which wound up a ground-rule double, set up runners at second and third.
"I actually had a great angle of that one," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Dougie [Mirabelli] was tagging and I thought he did the right thing, because the ball looks off the bat like he'll probably go into the stands and have a chance to catch it. And it came back and, I think, fooled everybody. The wall is right there and he's running at a pretty good clip, and then it drifted back severely. That's a tough play."
After watching the Yankees spend the early portion of the night making one glittery defensive play after another, perhaps the tide was finally turning.
Or maybe not. Kevin Youkilis hit a laser, but right at Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. Youkilis slammed his helmet down, a symbol of the way the night was going for the Red Sox. Now there were two outs, the runners still standing at second and third, and it was up to Mark Loretta.
The second baseman stung a 1-0 pitch from Kyle Farnsworth into the hole. But there went Derek Jeter, who looked primed to rob the Red Sox of yet another hit. Jeter made a diving stop, got up and fired to first. His throw, however, was high, pulling first baseman Miguel Cairo off the bag. In fact, Cairo dropped the ball, giving Loretta (4-for-6, three RBIs) a two-run infield single. Finally, the Red Sox had a lead at 4-3.
"I saw that Derek dove for the ball. Cairo had to come off the bag, and the ball and I got there virtually at the same time," said Loretta. "The contact knocked it loose. That was a break. We got a break there after probably not getting too many breaks early in the game. They made some nice plays defensively."
From Bubba Crosby leaping over the wall to rob Mike Lowell of a two-run homer in the third to Johnny Damon making a tremendous grab to rob Mirabelli of extra bases in the fourth, the Red Sox didn't have a lot going for them early on. But they did have resolve, and that was no small ingredient to this win.
"I think that's the only way we were going to win tonight, that's why we showed up," Francona said. "We know they're not going to stop playing. We ended up being on top -- that's what we set out to do. If we [didn't] persevere, we wouldn't have won that game."
They same could also probably be said if they didn't have the hottest closer in the American League finishing games for them. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth and Williams just 90 feet from scoring the tying run for the Yankees, Francona popped out of the dugout and brought on Jonathan Papelbon in place of Keith Foulke.
Why the entrance of Papelbon before the ninth?
"We wanted to win," Francona said. "Foulke had actually had some success against Cairo, I just thought it was the right move at the right time. We had taken the lead, it had taken us a long time to get that lead, Pap has been so good for us, I thought it was a little bit better matchup."
Papelbon came on and did what he does, getting Cairo swinging on a nasty splitter in the dirt. Youkilis hammered an RBI single in the top of the ninth against Mariano Rivera, giving the Red Sox a two-run cushion.
And there would be just a touch more drama in the bottom of the ninth, as Jeter worked a two-out walk to bring up a very dangerous potential tying run in the form of Jason Giambi.
Giambi, normally a patient hitter, popped up the first pitch to third, ending the game and eliciting an emotional fist pump from Papelbon, who is now 13-for-13 in saves. Wakefield earned the win, going six innings, allowing three runs and striking out nine.
"It was fun for me tonight," said Papelbon. "These are the kind of things that you dream of, coming to Yankee Stadium in a hostile environment and just laying it on the line and winning the series."
As painful as the loss was for the Yankees, it didn't compare to the agony that came with losing Hideki Matsui indefinitely after the invaluable left fielder fractured his left wrist trying to rob Loretta of a hit in the first inning.
Wakefield fell in a 2-0 hole in the first, and was down 3-1 by the fourth, but his knuckleball baffled the Yankees a little more as the night wore on.
"It was one of those games where you just battle your way through nine innings and we were able to come up on top tonight," said Wakefield.
The newcomers to the Red Sox who have heard so much about the rivalry truly learned what it was about in this one.
"I think the new guys, it looked to me like they were really enjoying themselves," Francona said. "If you can't enjoy playing in an atmosphere like this, you're kind of missing the boat. It's exciting. You get nervous. It's against one of the better teams in baseball. It's a lot of fun to play these games."
Nobody had more fun than Loretta, who seemed to be in the heart of the action all night.
"It seemed like both managers were really managing pretty tightly there," Loretta said. "A lot of pitching changes. Not leaving anything to chance. But every game has been energetic."
By the time the three-hour and 59-minute epic was over, neither team had much left. But the Red Sox had a win.
"It was huge," said Papelbon. "It showed what we're made of really -- to come back in the later part of the ballgame and come through with clutch hits to preserve the lead. From top to bottom, as a whole entire team, we just went out here and we laid our hearts on the line, and everything paid off."
I saw the Matsui "bad break". Damn!!
We'll be back!
Papelbon slams the door!
Who is first place? DA SOX! Da White Sox! :)
A very frustrating game to watch. Too many runners left on base.
If the RSox just drove in half the base runners they leave on base every game they wouldn't have lost a game yet! They have to do something about that!
Well see how things change when Crisp gets back.
Go, Sox, Go...
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