True Grit in Series Split
As much as I enjoy Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy (they are the best broadcast booth in the American League and all) listening to Joe Castiglione and Dave O’Brien can be more evocative and informative. Had the Red Sox not had an afternoon game I probably wouldn’t have learned how Ryan Kalish’s parents are ardent Red Sox fans: father Steve is from Brookline and mother Eileen hails from Dorchester.
Kalish tallied his first major league steal in the second inning after scooting a seeing-eye single between first and second. After swiping second he advanced to third on Jorge Posada’s poor throw to the keystone sack. Kalish scored on Bill Hall’s infield single to short, about which Castiglione murmured about Alex Rodriguez’s and Derek Jeter’s diminished ranges. The Red Sox went on to load the bases in the second but the Yankees escaped with just one more run scored against them.
Castiglione mentioned how he and O’Brien shared a taxi with Mike Lowell to the game today. They noted that he is an honest evaluator of players, including himself, and believe that he could make a career in the front office someday. He couldn’t write a glowing report on his 0-for-4 showing, but the numbers don’t show the double that Nick Swisher robbed from him in the second inning.
The box score also doesn’t show Marcus Thames’s near home run in the seventh. Any other Yankee would have scored on the shot that ricocheted just inches from the top of the center field fences, but luckily it was Posada scuttling from first. Jon Lester hit Austin Kearns to load the bases but got Curtis Granderson to strike out.
Daniel Bard took the mound with ducks on the pond and one out and struck out Jeter and Swisher. Somewhere Bill James fondly recalls his concept of relief ace.
While Bard allowed a home run to Mark Teixeira in the eighth and left two runners on with two out, the good Jonathan Papelbon came to play. I wonder what Lowell in the role of a baseball operations employee would say about Papelbon?
| Game 113: August 9, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox64-49 | 2 | W: Jon Lester (12-7) H: Daniel Bard (25) S: Jonathan Papelbon (28) |
| 2B: Victor Martinez (26) | ||
| Yankees 69-42 | 1 | L: Phil Hughes (13-5) |
| 2B: Marcus Thames (5) HR: Mark Teixeira (26) | ||
