Considering the way the Sox attempted to combat the Mike Mussina and his 63 m.p.h. curveball, I didn't expect the Sox to bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning. Mussina had to leave the game for it to happen, though.
Down 6-2 in the eighth inning, Nick Swisher -- who had a terrible game up to that point -- walked to start LaTroy Hawkins' inning. Orlando Cabrera slapped an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners, and Jim Thome drove in Swisher to make it a 6-3 game, the second game LOOGY Billy Traber failed to retire him.
That forced Joe Girardi to bring in Mariano Rivera to face Paul Konerko, representing the tying run. He hit a first pitch sac fly -- not a bad move with one out -- but Jermaine Dye couldn't continue the rally. Dye popped up on a full count, and Rivera went 1-2-3 in the ninth to close it out.
Up until then, the only offense the Sox could muster came in the form of solo homers by Joe Crede and Carlos Quentin. Otherwise, they couldn't do anything against Mussina's super-slow assortment of junk. The only other hits were an Orlando Cabrera single through the left side, and a Jim Thome excuse-me check swing single to third base against the shift.
Javier Vazquez didn't have his best stuff -- he needed 30 pitches to get through the second inning after two walks, a single off his glove and an infield single gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. But he deserved a better fate from there on out. Swisher allowed an extra run to score in the fifth with poor judgment, diving for a ball he had no shot at. Instead of keeping Jorge Posada to a single, the ball deflected away from him and allowed the Yankees to stretch the lead to 3-0.
In the sixth, cheap hits spelled his early exit. He got Jason Giambi to break his bat, but he still muscled a single to right. Melky Cabrera lifted a jam shot just over Paul Konerko's head and inside the first base line, putting runners on second and third. A double and a single later, the score was 6-1 and Vazquez was out of the game.
After a questionable decision yesterday, credit Ozzie Guillen with correct bullpen usage today. Boone Logan got out of the sixth with no more runs scored, and Nick Masset did his job by pitching two scoreless. After the Sox narrowed the lead to 6-4, he brought in Bobby Jenks, who actually survived more drama than Masset faced. A double over Swisher's head and a groundout put a runner on third with two outs, but Jenks got Morgan Ensberg to ground out to end the threat.
Record: 11-9 |
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