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June 22, 2008

Postgame: Crisp/Papelbon Blown Save

By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Jonathan Papelbon was seeking the save but he hung a splitter and Adam Kennedy crushed it with two outs in the ninth inning.

The ball was scalded, and it headed toward Coco Crisp in center field.

Crisp did not get a good jump on the ball, maybe even taking a half-step in before trying to track down the ball. The ball, though, sailed over his head, hit the base of the wall and the double knocked in Chris Duncan with the run that tied the game at 3-3.

"I was playing deep, no doubles defense," said Crisp of the alignment that pushes the outfielders back so no ball can go over them for extra bases.

"He crushed that ball and I didn't see it right away," said Crisp. "I shuffled a bit and when I finally saw it, I had no chance. I ran back and threw my glove up for a prayer, hoping the ball would find it, but I wasn't even close. The ball hit a couple of panels (of padding) to my right."

Posted by Steven Krasner at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Game update

The first pitch is scheduled for 2:25

Posted by Joe McDonald at 2:00 PM | Permalink

Rain delay

It's raining at Fenway Park and the tarp has been placed on the field. The showers are supposed to end soon.

Posted by Joe McDonald at 1:16 PM | Permalink

Pregame notes: Quiet day at Fenway

The clubhouse is usually quiet when there's a day game after a night game. That's the case this morning.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona spent about six minutes talking with the local media this morning. On the agenda were Daisuke Matsuzaka's health, an update on David Ortiz and rookie Chris Smith's major-league debut.

Matsuzaka suffered his first loss of the season on Saturday during an awful start where he allowed seven runs in only one-plus innings of work against St. Louis. Both Francona and Dice-K said after the game that the pitcher's health is fine, it was just a bad outing. This morning Matsuzaka was working out.

"We always find a way or a time to talk to guys after they pitch, and it won't be any different with him. The day after they throw is real important. I'm not dying to go in and interupt his work day, but at some point we'll visit with him, like we do with anybody. It's our job to do that."

Smith, a 27-year-old rookie, made his debut on Saturday and had a interesting day. He worked four innings in relief and allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts. When he replaced Dice-K with no outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Smith gave up a grand slam to the Cards' Troy Glaus. Smith then retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced.

"It was nice to finally get him in a game," said Francona. "It's hard not to route for guys like Smitty. He's been through a lot and you can tell he loves to pitch. He's a polite kid, so it was fun to watch him do his thing. I wish we were up 8-0. That kind of put a damper on the day, but it was exciting to watch."

Ortiz is running in the outfield and should be able to pick up a bat in about a week.

Posted by Joe McDonald at 11:14 AM | Permalink