Why is Six Afraid of Seven?
Because seven-eight-nine hit home runs. The unlikely trio of Daniel Nava, Scott Podsednik, and Kelly Shoppach all managed to square up on Oriole pitchers’ offerings and knock them over the fences.
Nava’s was from the left-handed side. The no-doubter found the right field seats near the scoreboard, but didn’t go over the scoreboard like a Papi shot. The respectable clout rendered the score 3-2 in the sixth.
Orioles pitching coach Rick Adair gave Jake Arrieta a visit after Nava’s four-bagger but stayed with the starter. Podsednik singled with a scorching ground ball to right, a hit that prompted Buck Showalter to pull Arrieta in favor of Luis Ayala. Ayala tried to get Shoppach to bite on a slider but the backstop waited for a fastball. When Shoppach got the pitch he wanted he powered it over the W.B. Mason sign in left field to give his team a 5-2 lead and a lucky fan a souvenir. How fortunate is that person: a day game in the middle of the week with gorgeous weather and an official baseball.
Perhaps not as fortunate as Podsednik, who saw past Darren O’Day’s sidearm delivery and got a hold of a hanging slider. The ball just cleared the right field wall above the bullpen to make the score 6-4 in the visitors’ half of the eighth.
Podsednik’s homer proved crucial when the Orioles mounted a threat in bottom of the frame. Vicente Padilla had replaced Rich Hill for the final out of the seventh but didn’t carry his momentum forward. He allowed a leadoff walk to Nick Markakis and Adam Jones knocked a double into left. Padilla struck out Chris Davis but given the batter it was more that Davis struck himself out yet again.
Bobby Valentine thought that Padilla had one more batter in him so Padilla squared off against Wilson Betemit. Betemit slashed a fly ball to shallow right-center that Che-Hsuan Lin caught with a dive and a cap-removing flourish. Markakis tagged up on the play, but the 6-5 score stood. Valentine’s seventh-inning decision to take Adrian Gonzalez out of right field and replace him with Lin proved to be correct.
The Red Sox’s record is .500 again, but when will they creep into winning territory again and how long will they stay there?
| Game 44: May 23, 2012 | ||
 Boston Red Sox22-22 |
6 |
W: Daniel Bard (4-5) H: Andrew Miller (4), Rich Hill (4), Vicente Padilla (10) S: Alfredo Aceves (11) |
| 2B: Will Middlebrooks (7) HR: Daniel Nava (2), Kelly Shoppach (2), Scott Podsednik (1) | ||
| Baltimore Orioles 28-17 |
5 |
L: Jake Arrieta (2-5) |
| 2B: Xavier Avery (4), Adam Jones (9) HR: Nick Johnson – 2 (4) | ||
