Yearn
Game 153: September 23, 2005
Red Sox (89-64), 6
Orioles (70-83), 3
W: Bronson Arroyo (14-9)
H: Mike Myers (8)
H: Jonathan Papelbon (3)
S: Mike Timlin (10)
L: Daniel Cabrera (10-12)
1 game behind in the division
1.5 games behind in the wild card
1 game winning streak
Daniel my brother you throw faster than me
Do you still feel the pain of an arm that won’t deal
Your control has died but you K more than I
Daniel you’re a star in the face of the sky
I do song parodies on two occasions: when I’m irrepressibly giddy or horribly discontent. Happily, it’s the former today. I awoke at 4 AM because I was excited about last night’s win.
Cabrera had a rocky game last night. I’m not looking forward to facing this kid 4 or 5 times a season in the future, however, especially if he learns to harness his power. As he is, though, he could not quell the fire of the world champions. Cabrera went 5.1 innings with 6 hits, 4 runs (only 1 earned), 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. The young righty was a victim of Miguel Tejada’s error in the 5th inning. With 2 out, the Orioles would have had Manny Ramirez out at first to end the inning. Instead, Tejada slung the ball over Chris Gomez’s head, allowing the inning to continue, Alex Cora to score, and Edgar Renteria to reach third base. Perhaps Tejada had Rafael Palmeiro’s betrayal on his mind. Trot Nixon doubled on a liner to the right field gap to score Renteria and Ramirez.
Ramirez returned to form in the 7th inning with a sublime 2-run home run. Renteria, who himself had an outstanding evening going 2 for 4 with 1 walk and 3 runs, was on base with a single to center field.
Arroyo worked through his early difficulties to last 7 innings with a strangely symmetrical line of 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. He showed his mettle in the 1st inning in particular. Two runs had already scored when he walked Javy Lopez to load the bases with 1 out. Bill Mueller then made an exceptional play on B.J. Surhoff’s short grounder and came home with the ball to stop another run from scoring and get the second out. The third out of the rough inning came with a trivial pop fly by Gomez. The only other run came in the 3rd: Arroyo gave up consecutive doubles to Tejada and Jay Gibbons, but got the next three batters out without a hiccup. In fact, he did not allow a runner on base from the third out of the 4th inning until the 8th inning, sitting 10 Orioles in a row.
Terry Francona judiciously used the short hook when Arroyo walked Tejada to lead off the 8th, pulling the starter in favor of Myers, Papelbon, and Timlin. This trio combined for near-perfect 2 innings with Timlin giving up the only hit.
Winning the first game of a series has not been a forte of this team; this win brings their series opening game record to 24-27. We might be seeing the return of the Ortiz/Ramirez tag team again, where if one fails, the other comes through.
As I post this, the Yankees are trailing the Blue Jays 7-3 in the 6th. Jaret Wright didn’t last 2 innings, and although Aaron Small is pitching well, the New York offense is currently ineffectual. I hope to again be using blue font in the game header shortly.
