Wednesday, August 08, 2007 |
Jabberwocky: Angels 10, Red Sox 4
The fact that it's taken me this long to get the writeup for yesterday's game done should tell you something about the general insanity of taking two from the Sox with the two teams' 3-4-5 pitchers matching up (not to mention cooking up a good angle to work this game from). Hokie Joe Saunders held down the explosive Boston offense, this time including Manny Ramirez but minus Jason Veritek, to only four runs over five and a third innings. The absence of Veritek wasn't felt so acutely, though, as Doug Mirabelli did a very creditable offensive job in his place and powered one out of the park. Mirabelli's fifth-inning two-run jack not only erased a one-run Angels lead acquired only the inning before, but gave the Sox the lead.
They added to it shortly thereafter on a Dustin Pedroia single and a booming double in the gap by Kevin Youkilis. While that was the end of the Sox' scoring, the Angels were just warming up, laying a five-spot in the bottom half, and scoring in three of the game's remaining four frames. They did it every way possible, an offensive tour de force that ranged from a suicide squeeze (without the suicide part when Jeff Mathis reached on a credited bunt single) to Gary Matthews, Jr.'s no-doubt solo homer to the right field pavilion.
In a game full of superlatives, Matthews, Jr. topped them all, driving in four all by himself, two on a bases-loaded single in that crazy fifth that saw 12 Angels step up to the plate. He also saved a homer off Coco Crisp in the fourth with a spectacular catch that gave Joe Saunders a 1-2-3 inning.
All that would have been for naught if the Angels hadn't suppressed the Sox' offense, and to that end, Chris Bootcheck did a masterful job through 2.2 innings, retiring the first six batters he saw in order. Darren Oliver even retired all three batters he faced in a quiet ninth, allowing Scioscia to get out of the game without even warming up any of Speier, Shields, or K-Rod.
So anything can and does happen in this crazy game, including the team playing wildly over your (admittedly low) expectations. The Angels get a chance to sweep the Sox tonight behind Dustin Moseley, the only game of the series I'm going to go see live, but it's hard not to be thrilled with just winning the series. The M's thrashed the O's 10-3, but it didn't help their cause in the standings.
Labels: angels, recaps, red sox
But are you really allowed to enjoy these wins, Rob? You did just give up on the #2 team in baseball altogether after a split in Oaktown's park. I'm sure Beck has a single called "Frontrunner's Blues" and all, but the season is still a long-player.
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