On review, Sox Blog's call for a
three-game sweep in Minneapolis reeked of hubris.
After all, this is the
Metrodome, a cavernous haunt covered over with acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass, carpeted with high-bouncing turf. Weird things happen there. It's where we said goodbye to Nomar, and where Doug Mientkiewicz
switched clubhouses and suited up for the Sox to take on his old team the day of last year's trade deadline. It's where, in the very next game, Orlando Cabrera
homered in his first at-bat in a Sox uniform -- then booted the ball in the eighth to ruin Pedro's chances for a win.
This weekend only added to the annals of strange and painful losses.
A 12-0 shellacking on
Friday.
Literally throwing the game away on
Saturday.
On
Sunday, it looked like a laugher at first, but by the time Curt Schilling entered with two-outs in the bottom of the ninth and gave up a run-scoring bases-loaded walk before striking out Jacque Jones (who would have been the tying run) we were lucky
escape with a win.
Tito said it best. The mission was simply "get the hell out of here.... I hate coming to this place."
Seven errors on the weekend. Wild throws every which way. Some truly boneheaded base running. The bad guys scored 23 runs in three games, eight of them unearned. We were lucky
we didn't get swept.
Bronson had a death wish Friday night. His pitching was sloppy enough, but it was his throwing error in the first that did the most damage and led to him exiting after three and a third, pegged for seven runs.
He should really, like, concentrate on his job. This
music thing is cute and all, and he's doing surprisingly well at it -- No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers and No. 123 on the Billboard 200?! -- but count Sox Blog as none too pleased that he's
going on tour during a pennant race.
By the time Jeremi Gonzalez coughed up five more runs in the eighth, we'd been handed our second worst loss of the year, snapping that eight-game win streak.
In a 12-0 massacre, it mattered not a whit that former Sox farmhand Lew Ford robbed
Kevin Millar of the best chance for his first homer in more than two months. Still, it points to a larger issue. Sox Blog is getting pretty sick of quotes from Millar like this one: ''I may not hit a home run the rest of this year and we might win the World Series. And I'm a part of this team. Somehow, somewhere, I bring something."
Uh, no. Millar plays Manny's flunky to the hilt. But that's not enough. Maybe Manny can give him some batting tips? First-basemen are supposed to hit with power, and Millar just doesn't anymore. Usually, we're treated to a scorching hot-streak around this time of year.
So far, it hasn't happened. It would be great if that could change soon. Like, tonight?
Saturday hurt more. We were up 3-0 against Johan Santana. No small feat, that.
But then
David Wells, who'd been looking great all night, gave it all away with five (5) consecutive singles in the sixth to tie it all up.
Then everything fell apart. In the ninth, Bill Mueller botched what should've been an easy out, taking the ball off a bad bounce and overthrowing first base, allowing the winning run to reach second. Mike Timlin then allowed said run to score when he fielded Nick Punto's bunt, tossed quickly to first and then watched as the ball skipped past first base and Michael Cuddyer scampered past home plate. And that was that.
But let's not pin the blame entirely on Timlin and Mueller.
Adam Stern deserves his share too. All I can say is that the kid really, really makes me miss
Dave Roberts. His ill-advised steal attempt on Saturday night cost us a crucial out and may have lost us the game. And it wasn't his first base path miscue. What is the point again of having a pinch runner who does not know how to run the bases? We're juggling all sorts of roster spots to protect this
Rule V guy but he seems to be hurting us more than helping us. Might it be time to send him packing?
Luckily, one of the few things that seems to go right in the Metrodome is Tim Wakefield's knuckler.
Wake went eight innings with a best-ever 11 Ks. (He's now pitched 2,001 innings in a Sox uniform; only Cy Young and Roger Clemens have more.)
A strong outing by him coupled with an
early offensive barrage seemed to augur a win. Which it was ... barely.
Joe Mays was roughed up for four runs before even recording an out, with one more tacked on in the first when Shannon Stewart pulled a
Trot Nixon and tossed the ball into the stands.
Gaijin Roberto Petagine notched his first hit in almost seven years and drove in three runs
Manny kept on
being Manny, homering in the seventh to put the exclamation point on a four-hit, three RBI day.
And Gabe Kapler went yard for the first time since coming back to the Red Sox providing some almost-needed insurance.
In the ninth
Manny Delcarmen looked great -- at first. Two quick outs, a fly-out and a strikeout, right off the bat. And then disaster. A walk. A single. A two-run double. Another single. Another walk. Apparently the pressure of getting that last out got to him. I've still got faith in the kid.
Luckily, Schilling was able to stanch the bleeding. Still, I'd rather see him in the
rotation, and so would he.
Come home, Keith Foulke. All is forgiven. Sincerely, Johnny from Burger King.So we're back in friendly Fenway already. Tonight, it's
George Dubya's old team. Let's win more than one.