The two games of today's inter-league double-header in Fenway Park mirrored each other in many ways. In game one, Daisuke Matsuzaka spun his third straight quality start, holding the Braves to just three runs over his eight innings and bumping his record to 6-2. Meanwhile, the Sox offense exploded, gathering 13 runs on 18 hits, including four homeruns (Lugo, Youkilis, Lowell, and Pena). Lowell's dinger was a grand slam off of reliever Mark Redman, and Pena's seventh inning bash was a monster shot, landing over everything in left field, somewhere out by the Mass Pike. In game two, the lines were similar (no runs on three hits against 14 runs on 18 hits), but this gem was twirled by John Smoltz, as the Red Sox were beaten down in their worst shutout since 1990. Smoltz, who earlier in the week both dislocated his right pinky and turned 40 years old (two damaging events for any pitcher) brought his ERA down to 2.85 and added seven strikeouts to his hall-of-fame stat line. In this milestone intensive season, Tom Glavine's run to 300 wins is losing page space every day to Barry Bonds' campaign for homerun king. Yet logging 300 victories remains one of the most difficult tasks in baseball (growing only harder by the year), and is a sure-fire ticket to Cooperstown. Glavine inched closer to the finish line tonight by notching his 295th victory against the Mets' cross-town rival Yankees, going six deep while allowing three runs on 9 hits. The Yanks made it interesting against Billy Wagner in the ninth, but behind David Wright's two homers and three intentional walks, the Mets offense was able to hold on to the lead and further entrench the Bronx Bombers at 10.5 games behind Boston. In Chicago, Cubs first-baseman Derrek Lee has missed the past five games with neck spasms, and though manager Lou Piniella opted not to put him on the DL, he was not expected to make an appearance in this weekend's series against the White Sox. Listed as day-to-day, Lee told Piniella early Saturday that he could possibly pinch hit if needed, and with the score tied and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Piniella took the National League's batting average leader at his word. Lee responded by putting Sox reliever Boone Logan's 3-1 pitch over the fence and giving the Cubs the lead for good. "He came out and said he was ready to go." Piniella said after the game. "If you have a guy like that, you'd be foolish not to utilize him if he's available. He delivered big time."Source: MLB.com
1 comment:
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