Projo Sox Blog

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Hideki Okajima, seen pitching in the eighth inning, had his ups and downs tonight.
DENVER _- Maybe the 2 1/3 innings Hideki Okajima threw in helping the Sox capture Game Two on Thursday night had something to do with it. Maybe the fact the Rockies were getting their second look at him made a difference.

Or maybe it was just a case of throwing an 88-mph fastball thigh-high down the middle of the plate to an MVP candidate that was the difference.

Whatever it was, Okajima struggled badly, though the Sox still had a lead – at 6-5 – when he finally finished the seventh.

The left-hander, who had retired all seven batters he faced, punching out four of them, was tagged for a three-run homer by MVP candidate Matt Holliday that narrowed Boston’s lead to 6-5. It was his first pitch of the game after having been called in with two on and none out in the seventh, replacing Mike Timlin.

And he labored after Holliday’s homer, a rocket to dead center. Okajima served up a single to Todd Helton and then, while he fanned Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe and set down Yorvit Torrealba on a comebacker, preserving the one-run advantage, it was by no means a breeze.

Okajima, who was dominant in throwing 28 pitches Thursday night, threw 28 pitches last night in the seventh. He was replaced by Manny Delcarmen to start the eighth.
But Okajima’s hiccup was forgotten very quickly because everything continues to come up roses for the Sox.

Boston, fueled by the pesky hitters in their lineup – Julio Lugo (walk), Coco Crisp (single), Jacoby Ellsbury (RBI double) and Dustin Pedroia (two-run double) – got those three runs back in a hurry in the eighth, and suddenly the Red Sox were on top by four runs again, at 9-5.

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Matsuzaka looked much more crisp with much better command last night than he has looked for much of the second half, at least early on.

Part of the reason was the plate umpire, Ted Barrett, who featured a wide strike zone. That turned some Dice-K pitches just off the plate into strikes.

Also working in his favor was the fact the Rockies had never seen him. And while that factor didn’t stop the Angels from driving up his pitch count and knocking him out in the fifth in an ALDS start, Colorado hitters were unable to do the same early on.
Matsuzaka, throwing mostly fastballs (including cutters) and sliders, needed only 42 pitches to get through the first three innings, a low total for him. Also uncharacteristically, he went to three balls on only one hitter over that stretch.

Dice-K had trouble putting away the Rockies in the fourth, with a seven-pitch at-bat for Matt Holliday and a 12-pitch at-bat for Todd Helton. But he won them both, on a groundout and a whiff, respectively.

The Matsuzaka-Helton matchup was a classic. Dice-K’s first 11 pitches were either fastballs (93-94 mph) or sliders. Helton fouled off four pitches after a 3 and 2 count, three fastballs and a slider. Then Dice-K went to a curveball (82 mph) and froze Helton with the backdoor breaking ball for a whiff.

Helton and Matsuzaka hooked up for an eight-pitch battle in the sixth. Helton won this one, drawing a walk. And when Dice-K then walked Garrett Atkins on four pitches, he was done, having thrown 101 pitches. He left with a 6-0 lead, replaced by Javier Lopez.

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There was much talk about the mile-high atmosphere at Coors Field and how it might affect balls hit into the air.

The humidor the Rockies now use is supposed to counteract the effect of the altitude on baseballs, keeping them from flying out of the ballpark on seemingly every well hit ball in the air.

But J.D. Drew launched a typical Coors Field double to left-center in the fifth.

He drilled a fly ball to left-center, part of the spacious outfield in the ballpark. And while it was clear the ball was going to land safely, it seemed to take off with some after-burners while in the air. It traveled all the way to the base of the fence for a double.

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Julio Lugo gets criticized for his defense, and generally there’s a reason for that criticism.

But the Red Sox shortstop made an outstanding mental and physical play in the fifth, helping to short-circuit a budding Colorado rally.

The Rockies had runners at first and second with one out, and for the first time all night Matsuzaka seemed to be laboring, possibly feeling the effects of the mile-high atmosphere.

Kaz Matsui hit a grounder deep in the shortstop hole. Lugo fielded the ball. He knew he had no play at second, nor did he have one at first.

In his mind it was clear when he fielded the ball that he was going to throw to third for a forceout, given the other options weren’t viable.

So he quickly zipped a throw to third baseman Mike Lowell, nipping the baseunner by an eyelash for the out. Instead of the bases loaded with one out, Colorado had first and second with two outs, and inning fizzled when the next batter, Troy Tulowitzki, popped out to Lugo.

Lowell deserved credit for the key forceout, too. After taking a step toward the grounder, he realized he had no play on it and quickly retreated to third, making himself an option for Lugo.

Lugo made his defensive presence felt again in the sixth, robbing pinch hitter Jeff Baker of an RBI base hit with a leaping grab of Baker’s liner with runners at first and second and two outs and Boston on top, 6-2.

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The plan was for the Red Sox to get a big lead so they could take out David Ortiz, a mediocre first baseman at best, and replace him with Kevin Youkilis, who did not make an error at the position during the regular season.

They made the plan work. The Sox had a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. Ortiz struck out, ending the top of the sixth, and Youkilis trotted out to play first in the bottom of the inning. Big Papi went 1 for 4, an RBI double in the six-run third, and rested his troublesome right knee for the last four innings.

While the plan looked great for Boston in the sixth, one inning later, they had reliever Hideki Okajima and slumping Coco Crisp in the batting order, with Ortiz and Drew on the bench. Drew had come out in a double switch when Okajima was called in to pitch in the seventh.

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Darn that humidor!

That’s what the Rockies and their fans had to be saying when pinch hitter Ryan Spilborghs’s long fly to dead center was hauled in by Jacoby Ellsbury with his back to the wall at the 415-foot marker.

In the pre-humidor days the ball might have flown several more feet, which would have made it a three-run homer, slicing the Sox’ lead to 6-5. Instead, it was just a long out, and Colorado didn’t score any more runs in the inning.

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