Hirutoyoru Daburuheddā [昼と夜のダブルヘッダー]
| Game 44: May 17, 2008 ∙ Game 1 | |||
| Brewers | 3 | L: Jeff Suppan (2-3) | 20-22, 3 game losing streak |
 Red Sox |
5 | W: Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-0) H: Manny Delcarmen (5) S: Jonathan Papelbon (12) |
25-19, 1 game winning streak |
| Highlights: Day-night doubleheader translates easily enough from English to Japanese. Just take the kanji for day [昼] and night [夜] and add it to the katakana that approximate the English word “doubleheader” and you are good to go. If only playing two games in a day were so easy. | |||
Julio Lugo had a particularly rough day. In the fourth he was called out by Doug Eddings as the bunted ball was adjudged to have hit the shortstop when he was out of the box. In the top of the next inning Lugo thought he had Bill Hall out on a daylight play but Dana DeMuth ruled otherwise. While Lugo argued with DeMuth Hall himself took his foot off the bag, a tell that the Brewer thought he should have been in the dugout. Lugo’s frustration led him to argue rather than hover around Hall to continue to try and get the out, as he did to Alberto Callaspo last year. Fox’s coverage was surprisingly fair and balanced, and the audio captured for the Eddings’s call was outstanding.
The last game the Brewers played at Fenway on September 7, 1997 was a loss to Butch Henry. Rookie sensation Nomar Garciaparra had come off his historic 30-game hit streak, but he did single and score in the third inning. Five of his teammates homered: John Valentin (twice), Troy O’Leary, Jeff Frye, Bill Haselman, and Wil Cordero to secure a series win.
The times have changed but beating the Brewers remained the same.
Only David Ortiz lifted a four-bagger into the Monster seats yesterday with two on and two out in the second. His three runs batted in added to the single score that J.D. Drew tallied in the first inning by taking a wayward pitch by Jeff Suppan with the bases loaded.
The fact that Suppan and Eric Gagne are key components of Milwaukee’s pitching staff gives some indication of the both the dearth of pitching talent in the majors in general as well as the differential in talent between the American and National leagues.
Daisuke Matsuzaka tried to stretch his outing over seven innings but after two quick outs an error by Kevin Youkilis extended the frame. At third Youkilis failed to come up with Rickie Weeks’s grounder and the second baseman was driven in by Mike Cameron’s fourth home run of the season.
All the while I was attempting to erase the image of Bob Uecker in overly-tight swim trunks from my brain. Matsuzaka and Javier Lopez may have been similarly affected: the former’s command eluded him in the seventh and the latter failed to sit the only batter he was brought in to face.
AL Rookie of the Year candidate Jacoby Ellsbury doubled to the far end of the left field wall in the bottom of the eighth. The extra base hit drove in Jason Varitek in the eighth for some much-appreciated breathing room.
Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon for the most part kept the Brewers at bay. Papelbon ceded a scorching home run to last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun in the ninth. The ball was smacked so hard the kid in the Monster seats who snared it grimaced from the impact, much like Papelbon did when he realized he surrendered his second home run of the season.
The times have changed but the cycle of new talent replacing old remains the same.
