Swingin’ in the Rain

The Red Sox have played many frustrating games in their long history as a professional ballclub, but in my days as a fan, I can’t recall one as infuriating as last night’s matchup against the Yankees.

Boston has shown a tendency to leave small villages on the basepath in past years, a fact on the forefront of every fan’s thoughts after stranding 15 last night. On three separate occasions, they had the bases loaded and plated none. Two of the biggest offenders on the night is most surprising: the uber-clutch Yankee killer David Ortiz, and hot-hitting doubles machine Mike Lowell, who left 5 and 7 runners on base respectively. Facing a 2-run deficit for most of the night, those LOBs became more and more apparent as the innings ticked by.

The New York defense didn’t help matters, either. Twice in the game, Yankee outfielders crashed into the wall pulling back home run shots from Boston; the most notable catch made by former Sox Johnny Damon when he challenged the center-field wall to rob Doug Mirabelli of extra bases.

Even the umpires got in the act of stealing from the Sox. Mark Loretta lined a hot grounder down the third base line that appeared to pass over the base in fair territory and under the glove of a diving Alex Rodriguez. But the blue at third had other ideas, waving the ball foul despite protests from the third base coach and Tito Francona. The next pitch Loretta saw tapped weakly to the pitcher to end the inning.

Coming off a bad Schilling outing that lead to a 7-3 loss the night before, the 3-1 Yankee lead started to feel insurmountable. It seemed the Sox would waste another great Tim Wakefield outing, as he striking out nine Yankee batters in his six innings of work.

But then the ball started to bounce our way.

As the rain set in during the seventh inning, Bernie Williams horribly misplayed a pop fly in the right field corner (a position he was playing to help fill in for the injured Matsui), letting the ball drift back into the field of play, land untouched in fair territory, and bounce into the stands for a ground-rule double. Bernie looked lost on the play, and it would come back to haunt the Yankees.

Two batters later, with two on and two out, Loretta hit a shot into the gap between third and short. Derek Jeter made a nice diving stop, but the throw from his knees forced Miguel Cairo off the bag at first. He managed to glove the throw and get the tag on Loretta streaking down the line, but the ball popped loose. Two runs scored, giving the Sox a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.

Jeter’s throwing error lost the lead, and eventually the game, for the Yankees, yet Steinbrenner didn’t make a peep as he did when grilling Rodriguez for his errors that led to a 14-3 embarrassment two nights prior. Jeter failed to execute in a clutch situation, just like Rodriguez, so where’s his grilling from the Boss? Though Steinbrenner is known for ruling with an iron fist and speaking his mind when the team doesn’t live up to expectations, it appears he isn’t willing to call out the Golden Boy when he falls short. Hypocrisy, or just playing favorites?

And what about Mariano Rivera, George? He continued his recent woes against the Sox as well, failing to keep the Sox from plating an insurance run in the ninth. The light-hitting Willie Harris would score after leading off the inning with a single. Willie Harris! No criticism for Rivera, George? Didn’t think so.

The biggest loss of the night for the Yankees wasn’t the game and a share of first place, however. In the first inning, Hideki Matsui fractured his wrist diving for a sinking hit from Loretta. Matsui’s wrist was wrenched backwards as he hit the turf, and was limply hanging on the end of his arm in a sickening manner when he scrambled to get the dropped ball to the infield. As he held his wrist in pain after the play, his injured hand already swelled up to twice its normal size.

With Gary Sheffield sitting on the DL, the Yankees suddenly find themselves scrambling to find available left fielders to fill in for Matsui, who could be out anywhere from three months to the rest of the season. For most teams, this would be a huge blow to the lineup, making rival fans quite happy; however, given Steinbrenner’s ability to light cigars with 100-dollar bills, Sox fans fear its only a matter of time before the Yankees land a big-name slugger to fill the gap. Its inevitable.

But today, Sox fans aren’t thinking about the Yankees. Sox fans are opening the paper, and reveling at seeing Boston atop the AL East yet again. The team stumbled a bit, key hitters hit slumps, ace pitchers got shelled, but the Sox found a way to stay in the race and climb back to the top of their division. Loretta has been on a tear, tagging four hits last night and batting over .450 the past few weeks. Manny shrugged off his season-opening slump and is now batting .310. Interim leadoff batter Youkilis is hitting over .350 with runners on base. Wily Mo Pena has learned patience, and its paid off in the form of a .325 average.

The pitching staff has been working hard too. Beckett pitched a gem on Tuesday for key win in New York. Papelbon recorded his 13th save and dropped his ERA to an infinitesimal 0.44. Timlin has continued to defy his aging arm, coming through with key strikeouts of Rodriguez and Jason Giambi in last night’s victory.

And where defense was a concern coming into the season, its been more than impressive thus far. Wily Mo Pena has rebounded nicely from early-season defensive woes. Lowell shows range and Billy Mueller-esque finesse at the hot corner. Youkilis is a picking machine over at first. And let’s not forget Mirabelli back behind the plate for Wakefield.

A well-rested Clement takes the mound tonight against the Rangers, and the Sox have got to feel momentum is on their side. Fending off the Yankees for first, taking two of three in New York, is no small feat, the significance of which is not lost on any of the players.

Let’s keep the ball rolling, boys!