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MATT HOLLIDAY |
A
POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Josh Beckett finally loses because
the Red Sox bats stay ice cold
June 14, 2007
...
The bats
have gone quiet, the pitching has stumbled, and a sellout crowd of
36,939 did not let tonight's 7-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies pass
without comment. The object of the fans' disaffection last night was
not Josh Beckett, who lost for the first time this season and gave up
two home runs, including a grand slam by Garrett Atkins, in five
innings. It was J.D. Drew, whose slow start at the plate was
tolerated while the Sox were winning, but evidently no more.
With the
Sox having lost 8 of 13 games in June and the Yankees having reeled off nine
wins in a row, Drew no longer is getting a free pass. He was singled out last
night for some booing that was much louder than the periodic murmurs of
displeasure he'd heard before. Drew, the flavor of the night to be Sox leadoff
batter, a role he hadn't performed in four years, left seven men on base in
going 0 for 5. In fairness, it took a terrific catch by shortstop Troy
Tulowitzki, a rookie two years removed from being drafted, to take a hit away
from Drew with the bases loaded in the second inning. But he rolled out to first
with two on in the fourth and looked at a called third strike with two outs in
the sixth, before grounding out again in the eighth.
That
made Drew hitless in 11 at-bats on this homestand, mocking hopes that Drew had
finally come to life with consecutive three-hit games last weekend in Arizona.
Drew is 11 for 61 (.180) in his last 18 games. He is not the only Sox batter
scuffling, only the most conspicuous, by virtue of his $70 million contract and
the confident projection of his skills by general manager Theo Epstein.
There
were firsts galore for the Sox last night, none of them the kind worth
celebrating. Beckett, bidding to become the first pitcher since Roger Clemens to
win his first 10 decisions (Clemens won his first 11 for Toronto in '97), lost
for the first time. The Sox lost on a Thursday for the first time this season,
after going 8-0. They lost a series at home to a National League opponent after
going 9-0 at Fenway last season and winning their last dozen series at home.
Beckett
was touched for a run in the first on Kaz Matsui's bloop double and a single by
Todd Helton. The Rockies loaded the bases in the third on Matsui's single, Matt
Holliday's double, and a full-count walk to Helton. Beckett, who didn't get the
call on a 1-and-1 breaking ball to Atkins, fell behind, 3 and 1, then watched
Atkins line a ball into the first couple of rows of the Monster seats. That made
it 5-0, and an inning later, the Rockies made it 6-0 when Holliday unloaded on a
1-and-1 pitch and also hit it over the Monster.
Rockies
starter Jeff Francis, meanwhile, had runners on base in each inning he worked,
finally leaving after singles by Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp to lead off the
sixth, but the Sox were just 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position through
eight innings. The Sox finally broke through on a single by Manny Ramirez, who
hasn't homered in 14 games, and a two-out base hit by Mike Lowell in the
seventh.
The Sox,
who led the Yankees by 14 1/2 games May 29, now lead by 7 1/2. And the first day
of summer is still a week away.
Kevin
Youkilis will indeed appear on the players' ballot for the American League
All-Star team, but it's not due to the largesse of Ortiz, or any special
courtesy extended to the Sox by Major League Baseball officials. Sox public
relations man John Blake said he was informed that both Youkilis and Ortiz will
be on the ballot, just as Paul Konerko and Jim Thome of the White Sox will be
listed. The same rules don't apply to the fans' ballot, which lists only one
player per position per team. |
