Extras
Game 99: July 25, 2005
Red Sox (54-45), 3
Devil Rays (36-64), 4
BS: Mike Timlin (4)
L: Curt Schilling (2-4)
H: Chad Orvella (4)
H: Travis Harper (3)
W: Jesus Colome (2-2)
10 innings
Boston’s first extra innings game of the 2005 season resulted in a loss.
For some inexplicable reason, Doug Waechter dominated the Red Sox hitters by going 5.2 innings with 5 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Bill Mueller was the only one that got an RBI off of Waechter with a productive line drive single to center in the 2nd that extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Wells pitched for 6.1 innings with a line of 9 hits, 3 earned runs, no walks, 5 strikeouts, and only 88 pitches. Second-Guess Sally wondered why he was pulled in the 7th, but then she realized that Julio Lugo hits .310 against lefties versus .287 against righties. She also knew that Timlin has pitched 24 innings with the bases empty and no runs (earned or unearned), 1 hit by pitch, 4 walks, and 20 strikeouts compared to 16.2 innings pitched with runners in scoring position with 14 hits, 6 earned runs, 5 walks, and 11 strikeouts.
The 7th inning saw an offensive revival with Johnny Damon’s 2-run home run with Tony Graffanino on base. Lugo came right back in the bottom of that inning to tie the game with RBI single to right field to score the peppy Joey Gathright.
Someone needs to deliver some stern words to that Rule 5er. In the 9th inning, Adam Stern pinch ran for Graffanino, who had singled to left. Damon followed with his second hit of the evening, a ground ball single to right field, moving Stern to third base.
Stern then pulled a Kapleresque running gaffe by taking to large a lead off of third when Edgar Renteria hit the ball straight back to pitcher Jesus Colome. Colome then tagged Stern before he got back to the bag, getting the second out of the inning and erasing the go-ahead run opportunity from third. Jesus not only saved a possible run, but got the win.
Manny Ramirez missed the opportunity to rack up another grand slam that inning after David Ortiz had walked to load the bases. Just before popping up to end the inning, he could have unloaded on a sweet 2-1 pitch right in his wheelhouse. Instead, extra frames were required.
A patented Red Sox comeback was in the offing in the 10th inning, when Trot Nixon led off with a lined single that shot past the infield to right field. Although Jason Varitek struck out, Nixon stole second during his captain’s at bat. Nixon apparently didn’t play much dodgeball as a kid because he couldn’t get out of the way of John Olerud’s hit up the middle, which removed him from scoring position and racked up the second out. (Interestingly, looking at the scoring, they called that an unassisted out by the shortstop Lugo.) Mueller ended the threat by flying out to center field.
Schilling lost his fourth game of the season when Aubrey Huff doubled to right field right over Nixon’s head to drive in Jorge Cantu. He had made a nice play to get the speedy Carl Crawford out at second base on Cantu’s bunt attempt, but it was for naught. The flukey evening ended with an outlandish win for the Devil Rays.
