Snug
Game 97: July 23, 2005
Red Sox (54-43), 3
White Sox (63-33), 0
W: Wade Miller (3-4)
H: Mike Myers (5)
H: Mike Timlin (18)
S: Curt Schilling (2)
L: Orlando Hernandez (7-3)
Manny Ramirez slammed an opposite field home run in the first with David Ortiz on base in the 1st inning, giving Boston the early lead in the game as well as maintaining his margin of dominance in RBIs with an MLB-leading 89.
Captain and insurance agent Jason Varitek hit a solo home run in the 9th to bookend the Red Sox scoring. Varitek leads the league for home runs by a catcher with 14 and is in the top six amongst eligible catchers for hits, RBIs, batting average, and on-base percentage.
The Red Sox also had several key defensive shenanigans in the early innings. In the 1st, Scott Podsednik was caught stealing when attempting his 51st swipe of the season. Varitek nailed the left fielder on his throw to Alex Cora. Podsednik had the throw beat, but his butt came off the second base bag briefly, at which point Cora tagged him. Rather than having Podsednik at 2nd with no out, Tadahito Iguchi continued his at bat with no runners on and 1 out.
Iguchi subsequently walked and was rundown with the ball circulating amongst John Olerud, Edgar Renteria, and Cora. Briefly imagine if the trio were Kevin Millar, Ramon Vazquez, and Mark Bellhorn and you will appreciate how better defensive players make plays look easy.
Cora got the benefit of a call by second base umpire Paul Nauert when the second baseman caught an throw by Bill Mueller that he dropped on the transfer. Paul Konerko, a Yankee fan, was called out since Nauert ruled Cora lost it on the transfer.
Miller had a solid outing of 7 innings with 5 hits, no earned or unearned runs, 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. He worked out of a bases loaded jam in the 3rd. The pitching staff conspired for their eighth shutout of the season.
Satisfyingly, Carl Everett went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Reading this result made me smirk like Schilling did when Ramirez caught Timo Perez’s fly ball to end the game. Winning these tight games against formidable competition is heartening, especially knowing that our bullpen can clamp down and pitch with one of the better relief pitching staffs in the league.
