Exorcism
| Game 14: April 14, 2008 | |||
 Red Sox |
6 | W: Mike Timlin (1-1) | 8-6, 3 game winning streak |
| Indians | 4 | H: Rafael Betancourt (2) L, BS: Joe Borowski (2, 0-2) |
5-8, 1 game losing streak |
| Highlights: Progressive Field? The stadium that holds the record for sellouts (455 games between 1995 and 2001) now has sold out in another way. It was originally named after the Jacobs brothers who owned the team from 1986 to 2000 and who owned the naming rights until this season. | |||
Joe Borowski wishes he could rename himself after his team’s loss last night. The shoddy closer came in the game with a one-run margin to preserve in the ninth.
His defense did him no favors by aligning themselves in the outfield such that Julio Lugo dropped a double into left field. Coco Crisp bunted Lugo over and could have actually notched his second hit of the evening if Jerry Layne made the correct call. It was another defensive lapse by the Indians, who should have realized that Crisp has been bunting for base hits at a rapid clip.
With one out, last year’s Rookie of the Year teamed up with Lugo to score the tying run on a sacrifice fly. Dustin Pedroia smacked an arc into the poised glove of David Dellucci.
The exorcism of David Ortiz in the Red Sox dugout just before the game seemed successful. Whether it was the santeria parodied by the character Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League or some more mundane Catholic rite, whatever Mike Lowell and his devotees performed worked. Ortiz singled twice, both hits to the opposite field, with his ninth-inning effort representing the go-ahead score.
Jacoby Ellsbury pinch ran for Ortiz, but the rookie’s speed wouldn’t be needed. Borowski gifted Manny Ramirez with an 82 MPH fastball, for want of a better term.
With his moonshot into the gate leading to the concourse Ramirez tied Fred McGriff and Lou Gehrig with 493 career home runs.
The win would not have been possible without earlier runs by Kevin Youkilis, who doubled in Pedroia in the first and homered in the eighth. Pedroia and Lugo also teamed up in the seventh for a run on the second baseman’s single, which handcuffed his counterpart.
Mike Timlin at last displayed proof that it is not time to hang up his spikes in favor of bingo cards with his perfect eighth inning. Even more surprising was Julian Tavarez’s relief appearance: he took over in the fifth with the bases soused and one out and struck out Ryan Garko and Dellucci. He bridged the gap between another abbreviated and disappointing start by Jon Lester to Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon’s immaculate innings.
