Ousted
Game 141: September 8, 2006
Royals (53-89), 10
Red Sox (75-66), 9
H: Scott Dohmann (4)
H: Joel Peralta (14)
BS: Jimmy Gobble (2)
W: Ambiorix Burgos (4-5)
S: Joe Nelson (6)
BS, L: Mike Timlin (7, 6-5)
Angel Berroa, Rookie of the Year in 2003, made two errors in the game. In the third with one out and Kevin Youkilis on first because of a free pass, Berroa muffed Mark Loretta’s grounder that should have been a room service double play.
Instead, Odalis Perez had to face David Ortiz with two men on. Ortiz launched a single to the triangle that glanced off the short side of the bullpen wall such that it rebounded parallel along the center field wall. Ortiz drove in two runs and made it to third for this second triple of the season.
Manny Ramirez followed suit with an opposite field grounder to plate Ortiz.
Berroa’s second error in the sixth wasn’t costly. He ran back lackadaisically and at the last second took his eye off Mike Lowell’s looper. Jason Varitek followed up with a line shot off the wall, but this time Perez eluded peril, however, but garnering the next three outs in seven pitches.
Yes, the Royals are a force to be reckoned with...at least when they face Boston. The visitors roared back in the fourth and fifth to tally five runs and take the lead. Ryan Shealy was nearly thrown out at home by Gonzalez, who made a sliding jab at Joey Gathright’s liner into shallow left and fired to home quickly. Shealy dislodged the ball from Varitek’s on his slide into the plate for the second and final run of the fourth.
Mike Sweeney piled on with a three-run homer deposited into the Monster seats.
The eighth inning was a cabinet of wonders for odd plays. Shealy led off with a fly ball off the ladder on the wall for a triple. According to Wikipedia, this has only happened twice before during games and both instances led to an inside-the-park home run. John Buck doubled, driving in Shealy, but while he was camped there he didn’t advance on Gathright’s single to center.
Alex Gonzalez executed a flawless deke by feigning a catch of Gathright’s hit. Buck had no choice but to anchor himself to second while Coco Crisp had the wherewithal to back up the play to freeze the runners. But consecutive singles would add two more runs to the Royals’ lead.
For an inning, in the eighth, the Red Sox looked like the team they could have been all season. Varitek propelled his 12th homer of the year with Lowell on first. The Red Sox would bat around and score six runs for the lead.
This year’s version of Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, blew the game in the top of the ninth. Gathright drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with his double to right.
Lowell, Varitek, and the pinch-hitting Trot Nixon went down in order in the bottom of the final inning.
