It took a bizarre play to keep the Red Sox sixth inning alive and put up five runs after trailing 3-0. With bases loaded, Cesar Crespo hit a slow bouncer down the first base line. Royals first baseman Ken Harvey fielded it cleanly and started his throw to the plate. At the same time, pitcher Jason Grimsley looked like he was going to field the ball himself, but changed direction at the last second to cover first. The result was a bone-jarring collision where Harvey caught Grimsley square in the face with the ball and his throwing hand. Both players went down hard, and were later taken to a nearby hospital for x-rays and are listed as day-to-day.
Benefiting from three walks, an Ortiz RBI single, a Pokey Reese bloop RBI single and a Johnny Damon two-run double (his third double of the game) in addition to the Crespo play, the five runs would be all the Sox would need. Timlin came in to pitch three perfect innings on a total of 26 pitches, setting up Foulke for his 11th save.
Lowe started the game, showing flashes of both the 2002 Lowe and this year’s model. A two-run bomb to Sweeney in the first set a bad tone for the game. An unearned run in the 5th on a throwing error by Lowe and a botched double-play by Crespo gave the Royals the 3-0 lead, with starter Chris George cruising until the walks unraveled him in the 6th.
Crespo continued his campaign to return Pawtucket by adding two strikeouts to his totals. The line doesn’t tell the whole story as his hit and RBI came on the collision play and no error could be charged. He also dropped a ball on the transfer trying to turn a double-play, but no error can be charged in that situation. In the words of Hawkeye Pierce, “I’d rather slide down a 50-foot razor blade bare-assed into a vat of alcohol”, than continue watching him struggle. Speaking of MASH, it is believed B.H. Kim is being treated in the former digs of the 4077th, although nobody seems to know for sure.
An off-day tomorrow, then the travesty that is interleague play begins on Tuesday night. Can you say NOMAH?
