Empyreal Environs

Game 87: July 8, 2007
Red Sox	5	L: Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-6)	53-34, 3 game losing streak 19-8-3 series record
Tigers	6	W: Nate Robertson (5-6) H: Jose Capellan (1) H: Zach Miner (4) S: Todd Jones (22)	52-34, 5 game winning streak 18-8-3 series record
Highlights: Amai is the word for sweet but it also carries connotation of being easy-going, lenient, and half-hearted while bōru is the Japanization of the English word ball. In the argot of American baseball the best equivalents would be meatball, cream puff, lollipop, grapefruit, pumpkin; in short, a fat pitch. If you ate a lot of amaimono [甘い物], or sweets, it’s very likely you’d plump out. Matsuzaka served up such a dazzling and appetizing array of produce to the Tiger hitters that their stats definitely fattened up.

Another word for the game: bassackwards. It wasn’t even a complete reversal of reality, however: Wily Mo Peña didn’t have a single web gem. He creaked aimlessly like an Alexander Calder creation in the third as Gary Sheffield’s line drive sailed over his head, his massive bulk shifting with uncertainty when confronted with outside stimuli.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was dissected over five innings for ten hits, six earned runs, and three circuit clouts. His fastballs weren’t lively and his breaking pitches had no bite. His stature took a hit but he remains a Rookie of the Year candidate. Even Justin Verlander took his lumps in his 2006 campaign; note his outings on April 13, June 1, August 16, and August 26.

Mike Timlin turned in two innings of perfection, but by that time the Tigers were already on their BlackBerries or iPhones making plans for the All-Star break.

Quadruple-A Jeff Bailey and the stagnant Julio Lugo, of all Red Sox, launched consecutive souvenir shots in the seventh inning. An usher tracked down the ball so that Bailey would have a tangible piece of his time in the majors.

Lugo shocked again in the eighth with his line drive RBI double to push J.D. Drew across the dish. Were it not for Jose Capellan’s maladroit pickoff attempt that allowed Drew to round the horn the game wouldn’t have been as close as it was. The Tigers error total was just one shy of the sum of their runs.

The flaws were largely concealed by Curtis Granderson’s season-defining play against Wily Mo Peña in the fourth. It was reminiscent of Gary Matthews, Jr.’s snag of Mike Lamb’s fly ball that seemed destined to exit Ameriquest Field.

Boston came within one run of avoiding a series sweep but proved it can go toe-to-toe with another division leader despite not eventually prevailing. Perhaps the Red Sox strategy is to save the real victories for the postseason and the moral ones for the regular season.