Domesticate
Game 54: June 4, 2006
Red Sox (33-21), 8
Tigers (37-20), 3
W: Matt Clement (5-4)
H: Jermaine Van Buren (1)
L: Zach Miner (0-1)
“And you’ve got Manny... being Manny.” In the fourth, Ramirez gunned out Ivan Rodriguez at second base for his second assist of the season. He also jacked his 14th homer in the seventh.
“Did you see that catch Coco made?” I sure did. In the bottom of the eighth, Crisp executed a remarkable catch of Magglio Ordóñez’s air ball in the depths of Comerica, right near the center field wall where the zip code changes.
“You want them on the corners. You need them at the corners.” Kevin Youkilis went two for four with a home run and stolen base. In the eighth, Youkilis was hit by a Jason Grilli pitch to load the bases, and the contused infielder remained on the basepaths for the next few hours as Grilli unraveled. With the bases loaded, the journeyman pitcher walked three consecutive batters for three runs. The monotony was momentarily derailed by Jim Leyland’s dramatics. He tangled with home plate umpire Paul Nauert as the pair fundamentally disagreed on the nature and definition of the strike zone. Leyland leisurely meandered into the dugout following his performance, drew water from a cooler, and then dashed the cup to the ground without taking a sip.
“Can the leather be any better than Lowell and Loretta?” Although having both Alexes, Cora and Gonzalez, are downgrades at the plate, they aren’t slouches with the glove. Gonzalez did his level best to astound fans by launching his third roundtripper of the year with Jason Varitek on first.
“And he has such a great smile.” David Ortiz certainly does, particularly after hitting his 16th circuit clout, going back-to-back with Youkilis in the fifth inning.
The persistent NESN commercials should be revised. “Van Buren, Seanez, and Riske: they’re so intense on the mound.”
