Red Sox 8, Athletics 3
Comments Off Behind some solid work from Bronson Arroyo and a persistent offensive attack right through the lineup, the Red Sox were able to win game one of an important three game set against the Bay Area’s junior circuit representative. Barry Zito took the loss and if it isn’t time already, it is becoming pretty close to time to call a spade a spade. Zito is now just OK. For one reason or another, he is simply unable to develop any consistency controlling what once was a devastating breaking ball and this fact has morphed Barry Zito into a mediocrity. At times Zito can look great. He made Kevin Millar and Jason Varitek each look silly more than once last night. But then he hangs a breaking ball to Dave Roberts or offers up an 87 MPH fastball down Broadway to David Ortiz. It will be interesting to see what Oakland, should they make the postseason, decides to do about their rotation. A case can be made that both Rich Harden and Mark Redman would make for better options than the 2002 Cy Young Award winner (cough…ahem…bullshit!).
What was a cleanly played, ordinary ball game between two of baseball’s best clubs turned a bit ugly in the eighth inning. Down a run, the evening’s offensive star for Oakland, Mark Kotsay (2 HR’s), led off the bottom of the eight with a quickly sinking, slicing line drive to the opposite field. Manny Ramirez charged hard and riskily went into a slide, for if the ball were to have eluded him, Kotsay would have been standing on third representing the tying run with nobody out. But Ramirez was able to smother the ball, albeit after it bounced. The third-base umpire however ruled that Ramirez caught the ball in the air. Kotsay and A’s manager Ken Macha went ballistic, each launching their own succession of f-bombs right at the young umpire. Somehow, neither was ejected. Since the next two A’s made routine outs, the play probably had a good chance of being forgotten, especially after the Red Sox tacked on three more runs to run their lead to 7-3 before Doug Mientkiewicz stepped to the plate in the ninth inning. And wouldn’t you know it, Mientkiewicz hits a similarly soft liner of his own in Kotsay’s direction, fading away from the A’s centerfielder just enought so that when he arrives to make a lunging catch, the ball bounces just before his glove. The umpire saw it correctly this time and Minky had a single. The A’s fans, probably venting frustration as much as protesting this particular call, began to litter the field with bottles and trash.
It was an ugly end to an otherwise enjoyable game. Mark Redman and Derek “crotch chop” Lowe go at it tonight. Expect a determined A’s effort against Lowe.
