This was the only pitching matchup that benefited the Sox on paper -- Boof Bonser vs. Freddy Garcia -- and Boof prevailed. With Brad Radke and Johan Santana following him in the rotation, this could get ugly.
Garcia had what was is his typical game now -- six innings, a ton of hits (10),
no walks, and needing some good defense to escape, because the Twins hit a LOT of balls hard. Torii Hunter continued his dominance of Garcia, scoring two runs via a double and a solo homer.
The biggest issue, though, was Freddy's inability to hold momentum. Each time the Sox scored, he'd give the run(s) right back, and he needed a big-time diving stop by Joe Crede with runners on the corners to keep the fourth inning from getting out of hand. Hunter led off with his double, Jason Kubel drove him in with a double, and then Freddy couldn't snare Jason Tyner's drag bunt single to put runners on the corners.
Jason Bartlett hit a smash to third, and Crede dove to his right, looked Kubel back, then threw to second in time to force out Tyner. Kubel would score on a sacrifice fly, but without Crede's snare, the Twins would've scored at least two runs, with runners on second and third and nobody out.
Unfortunately, the defense let Sox pitching down later as Brian Anderson committed his first major-league error when Justin Morneau's Texas-leaguer bounced in front of him, and then over him. The ball trickled behind him, and two runs crossed the plate to make it a 6-3 game. On top of that, it spoiled a decent outing by Neal Cotts, who struck out Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel around intentional walks, along with the weak flare by Morneau.
Of course, the day after I loudly proclaimed "HE SAVES RUNS," he gives an extra one to the Twins. Go figure.
Oddly enough, the guy next to Anderson, Scott Podsednik, played a great game. After starting the game with his trademark backwards K, he worked a 10-pitch walk after Anderson popped up the first pitch with Juan Uribe on second and two outs. Although he didn't score, he kept Boof Bonser from getting too comfortable. He used his legs a little, too, reaching on an infield single and stealing second, then stealing second. Add a couple nice running catches, and he played the kind of game that can redeem faith.
Unfortunately, the Sox could never truly get going. The offense provided a couple nice moments, including Jermaine Dye's monster two-run shot to right-center, and Jim Thome doubled then scored on Paul Konerko's seeing-eye single up the middle. But other attempts at rallies fell short, as the Sox left runners in scoring position in the third, sixth and seventh innings.
Record: 72-48 |
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