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Baseball Today: Wednesday, July 11 »
July 11, 2007
They didn't win any awards or grab any headlines, but the Red Sox were right in the middle of the American League's 5-4 All-Star Game victory at AT&T Park last night.
Josh Beckett, the second A.L. pitcher of the night, worked two scoreless innings and earned the victory, as he was on the mound when Ichiro Suzuki hit the two-run, inside-the-park home run that gave the American League a lead it never relinquished. And Mike Lowell led off the eighth with a single and rode home on the two-run homer by Victor Martinez that proved to be the margin of victory.
They were two of the six Boston players who were on the A.L. roster. Hideki Okajima, who earned the last roster spot in fan voting, didn't play in the game, but the other five Sox participants did. Their contributions:
BECKETT: His night -- which began when he replaced starter Dan Haren in the bottom of the third with the A.L. trailing, 1-0 -- started inauspiciously, as a routine grounder to third by the Mets' Jose Reyes took a strange, sideways hop past Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees and went for a leadoff double in the bottom of the third. Barry Bonds then brought the hometown San Francisco crowd to its feet with a long fly to left that looked, for a moment, as if it might get out of the park. But it was caught on the warning track by the White Sox' Magglio Ordonez.
From then on, Beckett cruised. He retired the Mets' Carlos Beltran on a grounder to second, and struck out Ken Griffey Jr. of the Reds to end the inning. In the fourth, he got David Wright (Mets) on a grounder to second, Prince Fielder (Brewers) on a line drive to center, and struck out Russell Martin (Dodgers). He was rewarded for his efforts with a victory when Ichiro homered in the top of the fifth to put the A.L. on top, 2-1, and it held the lead the rest of the way.
LOWELL: He entered the game as a replacement for Rodriguez in the bottom of the sixth and played the rest of the way. He led off the eighth inning with a single, his only at-bat, and scored two batters later when Martinez homered to left, increasing the A.L. lead to 5-2.
JONATHAN PAPELBON: He pitched the eighth inning, the sixth A.L. pitcher of the night and the first reliever; he followed Haren, Beckett, C.C. Sabathia, Jason Verlander and Johan Santana. He allowed a bloop single to center by the Cubs' Derek Lee leading off -- the Twins' Torii Hunter was playing so deep he couldn't get to the ball in time -- but retired the next three hitters in order: Orlando Hudson (Diamondbacks) and Aaron Rowand (Phillies) on strikeouts, and Freddie Sanchez (Pirates), an ex-Red Sox farmhand, on a fly to center.
DAVID ORTIZ: He started the game at first base for the American League and batted twice. He reached on an error by Fielder in the first inning, and then flied out to Griffey in right field with two on and two out to end the third.
MANNY RAMIREZ: His on-field contributions were limited to a pinch-hitting appearance in the top of the third when, batting for Haren, he flied out to Griffey. But he was on camera later in the night, fanning Ichiro with a towel in the dugout after the Mariners' star had completed his inside-the-park home run.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 12:34 AM | Permalink
