Empyreal Environs

Game 36: May 15, 2006
Red Sox (22-14), 11
Orioles (18-21), 1
W: Josh Beckett (5-1)
L: Rodrigo Lopez (1-6)

Listing Rodrigo Lopez as one of those Red Sox killers just doesn’t hold water any more. Hits off of the slight Baltimore righty fell like the rain in Boston. Lopez was inundated by ten hits, eight earned runs, four walks, four strikeouts, and a home run.

Buoyed by this win and the Yankees’ loss, the Red Sox floated to the top of the AL East by one game. Josh Beckett was back on board and returned to form to pitch seven solid innings: two hits, one earned run via a Miguel Tejada solo shot in the first, no walks, and six strikeouts.

The operatic Jim Joyce worked the home plate, a fish out of water with his distinctive strike call. His voice did bring back a flood of memories since he was the home plate umpire for Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. He incited the ire of Beckett, however, by allowing a late time out call during Tejada’s at bat. Joyce further annoyed Jerry Remy by his immediate issue of a warning when Julian Tavarez hit Jeff Conine eighth. Yep, Remy thought Joyce was all wet.

The bottom of the Red Sox was especially productive, with Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Wily Mo Peña, and Alex Gonzalez providing a torrent of RBIs. Varitek and Lowell hit back-to-back roundtrippers in the ninth. Peña looked like a completely different hitter than when he first donned a Red Sox uniform; he is no longer swinging relentlessly yet imprudently but seems to be carefully selecting his pitches. Ron Jackson has drawn upon his ocean of experience to guide the young slugger to shore.

I think Manny Ramirez developed webbed fingers during the weekend downpour at Fenway thereby improving his fielding. He snared a Tejada liner on the run in the seventh inning.

Jeff Conine will pay for using “Tom Sawyer” as his at bat music. As Bill Mueller’s unofficial protectorate, I must voice my extreme disapproval. The last player to try to use the classic Rush song was Tino Martinez, and look what happened to him. He’s wearing makeup and reading cue cards for Disney. For Conine, I propose a tried and true deterrent: water torture.