Phantasmagory
Game 40: May 20, 2006
Red Sox (25-15), 8
Phillies (22-20), 4
W: Josh Beckett (6-1)
L: Brett Myers (2-2)
Brett Myers started off as hot as a dumpster fire in Citizens Bank Park, but was doused when Gold Glove shortstop Jimmy Rollins committed his third error of the season in the sixth inning.
What should have been a routine grounder off the bat of Alex Gonzalez evolved into a nightmare inning for Myers. Rollins sailed his throw to Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard almost as high as Howard hits homers, allowing the Red Sox shortstop to land at second base. Josh Beckett softly lined a single to shallow center for the visitors’ first run of the evening, tying the game.
Kevin Youkilis and Mark Loretta followed with singles of their own to load the bases. David Ortiz’s sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox the lead and Trot Nixon’s two-RBI single double his team’s score.
Two Boston players jacked roundtrippers, and they were from the unlikeliest sources of power sources—Gonzalez and Beckett. Beckett’s seventh-inning solo shot cleared the fences in left. The Red Sox dugout treated him as they did Youkilis after he homered for the first time. No word on if Beckett has to wear a mohawk, but he was seen giving advice to Manny Ramirez and Ortiz on how to approach the Phillies bullpen.
Gonzalez’s two-out, two-run four-bagger in the eighth was surreal, and seemed superfluous at the time. It padded the Red Sox lead to 8-1. But the Phillies staged a rally in the home half of the eighth, tallying three runs on Ryan Howard’s home run. Until that shot, Beckett had only relinquished a homer to Chase Utley in the third inning. Ironically, Utley was on base at the time due to J.T. Snow’s error. Snow had been brought into the game in the seventh as a defensive replacement.
Before the Phillies could build any further momentum, Julian Tavarez and Mike Timlin combined to pitch get the next six outs to assure their team a series win.
With any luck, the Red Sox’s team bus was not set ablaze while they were on the field. Phillie fans are setting the tone for the upcoming World Cup.*
*With all due respect to soccer fans, who can make Philadelphia fans look like Aunt Mildred’s weekly canasta club.
