Projo Sox Blog

By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Tex. - A glorious opportunity was presented to the Boston Red Sox before they took the field for their game last night against the Texas Rangers.

They knew a 13th-inning grand slam by Toronto's Gregg Zaun had given the Jays a come-from-behind victory over the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the day.

All the Sox had to do was beat the Rangers again and they would slice their division deficit to 1 ½ games behind the first-place Rays in the American League East with a three-game series in Fenway Park looming on the schedule, beginning tomorrow night.

The Rangers, though, had other ideas. Texas took advantage of Tim Wakefield's command troubles in erupting for seven runs after two were out in the second inning en route to a 15-8 triumph at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The win was the first in nine games for Texas against Boston this season.

It was a milestone outing for Wakefield, who was making his third start since leaving the disabled list, placed there on Aug. 12 because of discomfort in the back of his right shoulder.

And his 500th appearance and 363rd start had the makings of a special game for the knuckleballer. Wakefield retired the first five batters he faced on a total of only 12 pitches.

Unfortunately, the game turned into a nightmare for Wakefield and the Sox soon thereafter.

After retiring Hank Blalock on a routine fly ball to left for the second out of the second inning, Wakefield threw 37 more pitches - and never did register the third out of the inning before manager Terry Francona yanked him, much to the pitcher's obvious irritation.

By the time Wakefield trudged off the mound, seven Rangers had dented home plate, putting Texas on top, 7-1. Wakefield, who walked four, hit a batter and gave up four hits in the disastrous inning, left runners at first and third. His earned-run average was spared any more indignity because his replacement, Chris Smith, picked off Blalock at first base.

"I don't think he lost it. He didn't control it," said Francona. "The wind was blowing and I thought it was moving like crazy but he couldn't keep it in the strike zone. I'm not saying it didn't unravel, but I'm not going to say his stuff wasn't good. He just couldn't throw it over the plate."

Wakefield, naturally, wasn't pleased with his outing.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," said Wakefield when told Francona mentioned the wind as possibly being a factor in his wildness.

"I couldn't find the strike zone. When I did they hit the ball in the holes. It was one of those days you'd like to forget. I felt physically good, mentally good. Everything unfolded so fast. I was just trying to get someone to pop up or hit a grounder at someone but it just didn't happen," said Wakefield, whose record fell to 8-10.

Wakefield was asked what the ball was doing as it neared the plate, but he referred such questions to catcher Kevin Cash.

"I was just trying to throw a strike," said Wakefield.

Cash had a better view of the pitch at the plate.

"He had phenomenal movement. He just couldn't get it over the plate," said Cash. "This was an example of what happens when he falls behind. When he gets ahead, the hitters get aggressive, but when he's behind, they get more patient. I think after the first few outs, they were swinging at pitches at balls (pitches out of the strike zone) and they changed their approach.

"He just didn't seem to have a feel for the ball. It was violent in the strike zone. I had a tough time trying to catch it. That being said, there were not many hard-hit balls so that tells you how it was moving," said Cash.

Wakefield wasn't happy being taken out, but Francona couldn't remain patient, though he knows that a knuckleballer can suddenly find his rhythm as quickly as he suddenly loses it.

"I'd rather not take any starter out that early because you've got a long game left,' said Francona, talking about the issue of burning out the bullpen.

"You kept hoping he'd get the third out, but at some point, you have to take him out," said Francona.

The 1 2/3-inning outing marked his shortest start as a member of the Red Sox, and the second-shortest of his career. Wakefield was knocked out after only one inning on June 11, 1993, when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The carnage of the seven-run outburst at his expense was reflected in his earned-run average, which jumped from 3.76 to 4.11. And it wasn't as if the Rangers were whacking the ball all around the park.

Wakefield's command with his knuckler was non-existent after Gerald Laird whistled a double past left fielder Jason Bay on Wakefield's 14th pitch. A wild pitch and a passed ball moved Laird around the bases for the Rangers' first run of the game, tying the game at 1-1.

Then, in order, came a walk, another walk, a bloop RBI single by German Duran, a hit batsman, an RBI walk to Brandon Boggs, an RBI walk to Michael Young, a two-run single by Josh Hamilton and an RBI single by Blalock.

Finally, after Blalock's hit, Francona could wait no longer. Smith was ready, so Francona walked slowly out of the dugout to hook his struggling pitcher. Wakefield reacted as if he were surprised, putting his hands on his hips and turning around in apparent disbelief that he wasn't going to be able to continue.

The sudden turnaround in fortunes for Wakefield mirrored the ineffectiveness of the team's offense in the top of the second. Boston tallied one run, but should have had more.

The Red Sox raked rookie Texas left-hander Matt Harrison for four straight hits with one out, yet had only a 1-0 lead to show for it. Bay rifled a one-out double to left-center, went to third on Mike Lowell's single and scored on Jed Lowrie's single to right.

Lowell stopped at second on Lowrie's hit. And when Coco Crisp dropped in a single to left-center, an indecisive Lowell, playing in only his second game after a stint on the disabled list, hesitated between second and third and was thrown out at home.

Boggs, the Rangers' left fielder, seemingly conceded Lowell the run because he threw the ball to second base to hold Crisp to a single. After catching Boggs' throw, second baseman German Duran turned and whipped a throw home that easily nailed the sliding Lowell.

Third-base coach DeMarlo Hale was going to hold up Lowell, said Francona, but when he saw Boggs back up on the ball and throw to second base, he changed his mind and sent Lowell, who is no speedster, especially now that he is suffering from a sore right hip.

"(Lowell) was a half-step short," said Francona.

The Sox cut their deficit in half on a three-run, third-inning homer by Kevin Youkilis, who had missed five of the previous six games, making it a 7-4 game. But Nelson Cruz took Smith deep to center for a two-run blast in the bottom of the third and Cruz went deep against Mike Timlin for a solo shot in the fifth that restored Texas' six-run bulge, at 10-4.

A three-run flurry surrendered by Mike Timlin in the sixth put the game out of reach and the Rangers' Cruz drilled a two-run double off David Pauley in the eighth, inflating his RBI total to a career-high five and making it a 15-4 game.

Boston erupted for four runs in the ninth. Mark Kotsay had a two-run single and Sean Casey and David Ross each delivered a run with a single before Warner Madrigal nailed down the win for the Ramgers.

So the loss kept Boston 2 1/2 games behind the Rays. Cash, though, didn't necessarily see it as a wasted opportunity.

"There are three weeks left and we play them three at home (starting Monday night). If we were going to lose, I'm happy they lost, too,' said Cash.

 Tags  kevin cash red sox terry francona texas rangers tim wakefield

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