PopTop
06-14-2003, 08:46 AM
Princess asked me to stop by and check in on her charges here in the Bahston Forum ... So here's a story about the game last night from The Globe.
No offense, Sox fans, but that was about as boring and ugly a 4-3 game as I think I've ever seen ... I put in a call to Houston manager Jimy Williams to see if he could put a starting pitcher out there today who can walk more than 8 Sox hitters in 3 innings ... I just don'tfeel like we gave y'all enough free baserunners :hmm:
And maybe it's never bothered me since it wasn't against my team before, but that little Nomar routine at the plate has to go ... My goodness, but someone needs to quick pitch him no matter what the umpire says.
Oh, and the umpire sucked ... First, if your name was Fielding Culbreath, wouldn't you change it before going out in public? ... I will give him this, he was consistent ... Consistently wrong! ... His little strike zone appears to be from 2 inches inside off the plate, to about the real outside portion of the plate, and from mid-thigh to the shoulders ... He called 'em there for both teams, certainly not blaming him for the loss and he's certainly not the reason Houston hurlers walked 10 Boston batters ... But he still sucked, and I hope he got a green Sam Adams last night after the game at the hotel bar and woke up this morning with the runs
by Bob Hohler @ Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/165/sports/It_s_out_then_over+.shtml)
It's out - then over
Damon's homer powers Red Sox
Seems like only yesterday the Red Sox wanted to annihilate Ryan Rupe. The former Devil Ray inspired so much wrath by plunking Nomar Garciaparra and Shea Hillenbrand last year at Tropicana Field that Trot Nixon let his bat soar out of his hands past Rupe's head.
Last night, though, all was forgiven. Making his Sox debut in place of the injured Casey Fossum, a former teammate at Texas A&M, Rupe charted the course for a 4-3 victory by limiting Jimy Williams's Astros to three runs (one earned) over six innings before 33,244 who endured a cool mist after an 85-minute rain delay at Fenway Park.
''It was actually a day I'll never forget,'' Rupe said, after accepting his new team's kudos. ''These guys are great. If you told me in Tampa that these guys were this good, I would have said, `No way.' Oh, man, they drove me nuts. But I saw in spring training that they were nothing like that. They have completely different attitudes from what I thought, and they welcomed me well.''
While Rupe arrived from Triple A Pawtucket to boost the Sox in their first-ever meeting with the Astros, Johnny Damon snapped a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning with a home run off Houston reliever Ricky Stone. The winning shot, which barely cleared the right-field wall, was Damon's first homer since May 9, a span of 130 at-bats.
''It's good to see the kid get going,'' manager Grady Little said. ''Hopefully, it will last through the second half.''
The victory came on a virtual Old Home Night in the Fens, as Williams returned with his former bench coach, Gene Lamont, and a cast of players with New England connections, including former Sox farmhands Jeff Bagwell and Adam Everett, former Connecticut schoolboy star Brad Ausmus, and Orlando Merced, who played briefly for the Sox in 1998.
But Rupe, the 21st pitcher of the year for the Sox, stole the show by scattering eight hits, walking none, and striking out four to pick up the victory. Rupe grew up in Houston an Astros fan, making the triumph that much sweeter despite his mixed emotions about replacing Fossum.
''This is a pretty big blessing,'' Rupe said of the victory. ''But I'm a big fan of Casey's, and if you told me I was getting called up to take his spot because he was hurt, even to go beat Houston, I would have said no.''
A night after the Sox bullpen repeatedly ruined the team's chances in a crushing, 13-inning loss to the Cardinals, Mike Timlin helped preserve the victory by pitching two scoreless innings before Brandon Lyon finished things off in the ninth for his seventh save.
''Everything just went our way tonight,'' Little said.
The runaway Sox offense failed for the first time in six games to score seven or more runs. But thanks to Rupe and his relievers, Little's crew was able to claim victory for only the second time in 17 games when they have scored fewer than five runs. Maybe it was the magic of Friday the 13th, as the Sox won for the ninth time in 10 years on the date.
David Ortiz helped Rupe and the Sox overcome three errors by singling home two runs in the fourth inning after Bill Mueller knocked in the team's first run in the third with a sacrifice fly.
The Sox took advantage of Houston starter Jonathan Johnson's wildness. In addition to surrendering four hits in three-plus innings, Johnson issued eight walks, with two of the walks turning into runs. Johnson managed to throw only 29 of his 75 pitches for strikes before he yielded to Stone.
The Astros were no easy mark as they had surged into town after winning eight of their last 10, including a six-pitcher no-hitter against the Yankees. But Rupe and Co. prevailed on the 56th anniversary of the first night game at Fenway Park, a 5-3 victory over the White Sox before a crowd even bigger than last night's (34,510).
The latest victory kept the Sox a half-game behind the Yankees in the American League East and half-game ahead of the Blue Jays.
The Sox, who wasted a couple of scoring chances in the first two innings, finally broke through in the third after Nomar Garciaparra singled leading off and stole second. Johnson responded by sandwiching walks to Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar around a ground out by Ortiz to load the bases for Mueller. And Mueller delivered by lofting a sacrifice fly to center, knocking in Garciaparra with the game's first run.
The Astros capitalized moments later after Garciaparra, charging a slow grounder by Richard Hidalgo, had the ball scoot under his glove for an error. Rupe then put Merced in an 0-and-2 hole before he let him poke a pitch on the outside corner for a double to left, driving in Hidalgo to make it 1-1. And Ausmus ripped a single to right to knock in Merced, giving the Astros a 2-1 edge on the unearned runs.
But the Sox quickly countered, thanks in part to Johnson's wildness. When the righthander started the fourth inning by walking Jason Varitek and Damon, Williams had seen enough and summoned Stone, who whiffed Todd Walker but walked Garciaparra to load the bases for Ramirez. The slugger bounced into a fielder's choice with third baseman Morgan Ensberg firing to Ausmus at the plate, who made a terrific stretch to erase Varitek.
With the bases still loaded, though, Ortiz lashed a single to center, bringing home Damon and Garciaparra to hand Rupe a 3-2 advantage.
Rupe surrendered a solo homer to Ensberg into the Monster seats to briefly lose the lead in the fifth, but Damon reclaimed it with his solo shot off Stone in the bottom of the sixth.
In the end, though, it was Rupe's night, a giant step forward after getting demoted in spring training as he struggled coming back from knee surgery.
''I was overmatched and was trying to do too much,'' he said. ''It was a disaster. I didn't deserve to make the team and I think everyone knew that.''
No more. Little could not guarantee Rupe a regular spot in the rotation, only a place on the team.
''He certainly earned his way onto this ball club,'' Little said, ''in whatever capacity it is.''
No offense, Sox fans, but that was about as boring and ugly a 4-3 game as I think I've ever seen ... I put in a call to Houston manager Jimy Williams to see if he could put a starting pitcher out there today who can walk more than 8 Sox hitters in 3 innings ... I just don'tfeel like we gave y'all enough free baserunners :hmm:
And maybe it's never bothered me since it wasn't against my team before, but that little Nomar routine at the plate has to go ... My goodness, but someone needs to quick pitch him no matter what the umpire says.
Oh, and the umpire sucked ... First, if your name was Fielding Culbreath, wouldn't you change it before going out in public? ... I will give him this, he was consistent ... Consistently wrong! ... His little strike zone appears to be from 2 inches inside off the plate, to about the real outside portion of the plate, and from mid-thigh to the shoulders ... He called 'em there for both teams, certainly not blaming him for the loss and he's certainly not the reason Houston hurlers walked 10 Boston batters ... But he still sucked, and I hope he got a green Sam Adams last night after the game at the hotel bar and woke up this morning with the runs
by Bob Hohler @ Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/165/sports/It_s_out_then_over+.shtml)
It's out - then over
Damon's homer powers Red Sox
Seems like only yesterday the Red Sox wanted to annihilate Ryan Rupe. The former Devil Ray inspired so much wrath by plunking Nomar Garciaparra and Shea Hillenbrand last year at Tropicana Field that Trot Nixon let his bat soar out of his hands past Rupe's head.
Last night, though, all was forgiven. Making his Sox debut in place of the injured Casey Fossum, a former teammate at Texas A&M, Rupe charted the course for a 4-3 victory by limiting Jimy Williams's Astros to three runs (one earned) over six innings before 33,244 who endured a cool mist after an 85-minute rain delay at Fenway Park.
''It was actually a day I'll never forget,'' Rupe said, after accepting his new team's kudos. ''These guys are great. If you told me in Tampa that these guys were this good, I would have said, `No way.' Oh, man, they drove me nuts. But I saw in spring training that they were nothing like that. They have completely different attitudes from what I thought, and they welcomed me well.''
While Rupe arrived from Triple A Pawtucket to boost the Sox in their first-ever meeting with the Astros, Johnny Damon snapped a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning with a home run off Houston reliever Ricky Stone. The winning shot, which barely cleared the right-field wall, was Damon's first homer since May 9, a span of 130 at-bats.
''It's good to see the kid get going,'' manager Grady Little said. ''Hopefully, it will last through the second half.''
The victory came on a virtual Old Home Night in the Fens, as Williams returned with his former bench coach, Gene Lamont, and a cast of players with New England connections, including former Sox farmhands Jeff Bagwell and Adam Everett, former Connecticut schoolboy star Brad Ausmus, and Orlando Merced, who played briefly for the Sox in 1998.
But Rupe, the 21st pitcher of the year for the Sox, stole the show by scattering eight hits, walking none, and striking out four to pick up the victory. Rupe grew up in Houston an Astros fan, making the triumph that much sweeter despite his mixed emotions about replacing Fossum.
''This is a pretty big blessing,'' Rupe said of the victory. ''But I'm a big fan of Casey's, and if you told me I was getting called up to take his spot because he was hurt, even to go beat Houston, I would have said no.''
A night after the Sox bullpen repeatedly ruined the team's chances in a crushing, 13-inning loss to the Cardinals, Mike Timlin helped preserve the victory by pitching two scoreless innings before Brandon Lyon finished things off in the ninth for his seventh save.
''Everything just went our way tonight,'' Little said.
The runaway Sox offense failed for the first time in six games to score seven or more runs. But thanks to Rupe and his relievers, Little's crew was able to claim victory for only the second time in 17 games when they have scored fewer than five runs. Maybe it was the magic of Friday the 13th, as the Sox won for the ninth time in 10 years on the date.
David Ortiz helped Rupe and the Sox overcome three errors by singling home two runs in the fourth inning after Bill Mueller knocked in the team's first run in the third with a sacrifice fly.
The Sox took advantage of Houston starter Jonathan Johnson's wildness. In addition to surrendering four hits in three-plus innings, Johnson issued eight walks, with two of the walks turning into runs. Johnson managed to throw only 29 of his 75 pitches for strikes before he yielded to Stone.
The Astros were no easy mark as they had surged into town after winning eight of their last 10, including a six-pitcher no-hitter against the Yankees. But Rupe and Co. prevailed on the 56th anniversary of the first night game at Fenway Park, a 5-3 victory over the White Sox before a crowd even bigger than last night's (34,510).
The latest victory kept the Sox a half-game behind the Yankees in the American League East and half-game ahead of the Blue Jays.
The Sox, who wasted a couple of scoring chances in the first two innings, finally broke through in the third after Nomar Garciaparra singled leading off and stole second. Johnson responded by sandwiching walks to Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar around a ground out by Ortiz to load the bases for Mueller. And Mueller delivered by lofting a sacrifice fly to center, knocking in Garciaparra with the game's first run.
The Astros capitalized moments later after Garciaparra, charging a slow grounder by Richard Hidalgo, had the ball scoot under his glove for an error. Rupe then put Merced in an 0-and-2 hole before he let him poke a pitch on the outside corner for a double to left, driving in Hidalgo to make it 1-1. And Ausmus ripped a single to right to knock in Merced, giving the Astros a 2-1 edge on the unearned runs.
But the Sox quickly countered, thanks in part to Johnson's wildness. When the righthander started the fourth inning by walking Jason Varitek and Damon, Williams had seen enough and summoned Stone, who whiffed Todd Walker but walked Garciaparra to load the bases for Ramirez. The slugger bounced into a fielder's choice with third baseman Morgan Ensberg firing to Ausmus at the plate, who made a terrific stretch to erase Varitek.
With the bases still loaded, though, Ortiz lashed a single to center, bringing home Damon and Garciaparra to hand Rupe a 3-2 advantage.
Rupe surrendered a solo homer to Ensberg into the Monster seats to briefly lose the lead in the fifth, but Damon reclaimed it with his solo shot off Stone in the bottom of the sixth.
In the end, though, it was Rupe's night, a giant step forward after getting demoted in spring training as he struggled coming back from knee surgery.
''I was overmatched and was trying to do too much,'' he said. ''It was a disaster. I didn't deserve to make the team and I think everyone knew that.''
No more. Little could not guarantee Rupe a regular spot in the rotation, only a place on the team.
''He certainly earned his way onto this ball club,'' Little said, ''in whatever capacity it is.''