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FAUSTO CARMONA |
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POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
The Sox on the losing end of a pitcher's duel
July 25, 2007
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The silence that marked the Red Sox clubhouse after tonight's game
was different than that which marked the room the night before.
Instead of calm confidence coming from a five-game winning streak and
dominant starting pitching that was one notch better than that of the
Indians, this quiet was more about anger and disappointment.
Twice, the
Red Sox ran into ugly outs in dropping a 1-0 decision a night after beating
Cleveland, 1-0, behind Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Alex Cora
missed a hit-and-run sign that led to Jason Varitek being caught off first base
for the second out of the eighth inning. Probably not, in reality. But there was
that other play, which just might have been the game (and with it another game
in the standings to the streaking Yankees, winners over the Royals last night).
Coco Crisp had broken through with a single after 5 1/3 innings of no-hit ball
by Carmona, then moved to second on a ground out by Dustin Pedroia. David Ortiz
came to the plate. With the shift on, Ortiz singled to short right field, where
second baseman Josh Barfield gloved the ball with no time to get Ortiz at first.
But Crisp was rounding third, trying to tie the score. But he slowed down, just
steps from the plate. Why? Not sure. Crisp walked away from reporters after the
game, choosing to put on his shirt in a hallway. Catcher Victor Martinez, who
applied the tag, also didn't stick around in the Indians clubhouse. And got him.
Or not, depending on your viewing of the replay, or which of the 29,614 in
attendance you asked. What is clear, though, is that Crisp had enough time to
make it home before the tag. What is also clear is that Manny Ramirez was not
close to home plate to indicate to Crisp whether to slide. That, though, is not
out of the ordinary for Ramirez.
The plays
somewhat obscured outstanding pitching performances from Carmona and Josh
Beckett, both of whom went eight innings. It was a game that mirrored the
Matsuzaka-C.C. Sabathia pitchers' duel Tuesday night. Again, all it took was one
run, this one scored in the third inning, when Franklin Gutierrez took a
"fastball right down the [expletive] middle," according to Beckett, and lofted
it onto the left-field porch. The home run was all that was needed to drop
Beckett to 13-4, with two of his last three outings losses in which he allowed
two or fewer runs over eight innings.
The only
trouble for Beckett occurred in the second and third, with two batters reaching
in each inning, four of the five for his entire outing. In fact, after Grady
Sizemore singled with one out in the third, Beckett retired the next 14 batters
before allowing a Trot Nixon single in the eighth.
But Carmona
didn't allow anyone to cross the plate. That was the difference, despite the
fact he allowed seven base runners. And, from all corners of the clubhouse,
Carmona got the credit. The game might just have been good enough to replace the
lasting memory of Carmona, at least for most Red Sox fans. That, of course, was
his horrific week as the Indians' replacement closer last season. He lost four
games, blowing three saves, two to the Sox on walkoffs by Ortiz (home run) and
Mark Loretta (double). He was much better tonight. Not that
anyone was losing sight of what Beckett did on the mound. He was pretty good,
too.
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JACOB'S FIELD |
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