Empyreal Environs

Game 135: September 1, 2006
Blue Jays (69-66), 1
Red Sox (73-62), 2
L: Ted Lilly (11-12)
W: Kyle Snyder (4-3)
H: Keith Foulke (10)
H: Jonathan Papelbon (1)
H: Craig Breslow (1)
S: Mike Timlin (3)

I just can’t wrap my head around yesterday’s events. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it was the worst of times. There was no “best,” as a win in game, in comparison to a person’s life, is insignificant.

The Lester family confirmed that Jon was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). The American Cancer Society says,

Response rates are high, and results are excellent, especially with ALK-positive (anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive) cases. ALK is a type of protein which generally indicates a good prognosis with this subtype of lymphoma.

Since the media has presented Lester’s disease as “treatable,” it is probably safe to assume his ALCL is ALK positive (ALK+). “Anaplastic” refers to the cancer cell’s lack of function; “lymphomas” are a class of cancers that begin in the immune system and attack the lymphatic system; and “kinase” is a specific enzyme that catalyzes cell development. In the case of ALK, the cells produced are malignant. Fortunately, there are a multitude of treatment options and long-term survival is around 90%.

Another ailing player received good news: David Ortiz’s tests did not indicate anything was amiss with his heart. He will be wearing a heart monitor for the next few days to confirm his baseline heart characteristics, and may wear one while at the park.

To add to the injury woes, Jonathan Papelbon had to be pulled from the game last night. He entered the ninth and pitched into a jam, allowing two singles while inducing one ground out. The closer attempted a pickoff to second that bounced into center for his first error of the season. On his next pitch to Lyle Overbay, Papelbon came off the mound shaking his pitching arm. He then grabbed at his shoulder. So far the Red Sox medical team believe it to be a fatigue issue.

Craig Breslow finished off the showdown with Overbay, striking out first baseman for the second out of the ninth.

The goat (or hero, to Red Sox fans) of Thursday night’s game Alex Rios, faced Mike Timlin and tapped a grounder to short that was slow enough for the outfielder to reach first. Vernon Wells crossed home for the first, but only, Blue Jays run of the evening.

Bengie Molina routinely grounded to Alex Cora for the final out of the game, but the Toronto backstop was part of a more memorable moment in the eighth inning. Keith Foulke began the inning inauspiciously with consecutive line drive singles. Kevin Barker pinch hit for John McDonald and arced a line drive that seemed deep enough to advance Molina, who was camped out at second.

But Gabe Kapler threw accurately to cutoff man Cora, who in turn slung a strike to Mike Lowell to tag bustling Bengie.

Offensively, Lowell has been one of the only producers during this series. In the second inning he homered into the first row of the Monster seats. With Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Wily Mo Peña out of the lineup, the third baseman seems to have ratcheted up his double stroke just enough to clear the wall.

The only other run came in the fifth inning. Eric Hinske propelled a two-out double to center and advanced on a wild pitch. Ted Lilly was out of sorts, enough so that he walked Kapler and balked with Coco Crisp at the dish. There was no incident when John Gibbons yanked Lilly in the seventh after the latter walked Kapler for the second time.

Two runs were enough for Kyle Snyder, who had a career outing. In his seven innings of work, he allowed two hits and bases on balls and struck out eight. With David Wells gone, Snyder may have the best curve on the team. He looks like a bigger Bronson Arroyo, and if given the chance he could duplicate Arroyo’s emergence as a steady three or four starter for a few seasons. I’d say he’s worth a re-sign.