A Walk in the Park (And Then 7 More)
Thursday, May 27, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 36
Royals 4, Red Sox 3
The Red Sox came into this game on a roll. They were riding a 5-game winning streak against the division-leading Phillies and Rays, and all five starters had had good starts during that time. Now they were returning home, and while normally attending a Daisuke Matsuzaka game would make me less than optimistic, the winning streak made it feel like the team was really starting to come together. Dice-K himself had shut down the Phillies line-up in his last start, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning. He worked with Jason Varitek that night, and it was Tek behind the plate again tonight. It’s not like I expected him to have no-hit stuff again, but I didn’t think it was too much to ask that he stay in there long enough against the sub-.500 Royals to give his team a chance.
The first stop when I got to the ballpark was Yawkey Way, to see the filming of NESN’s pre-game show. This was going to be the first game with their new pre- and post-game analyst, fan-favorite ’04 dirt dog Kevin Millar. I went around to the side of the stage, and was able to get some good pictures.
Back in our seats, the first inning was a little bit of a struggle (2 walks, a stolen base, and a passed ball) but Dice-K got out of it without giving up any runs. He only needed 7 pitches for the 2nd inning, and the 3rd took just 13. In the 4th, a walk, a single, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs. I knew this situation was a specialty of his, so I stayed calm, imploring him to work his magic. Sure enough, the next batter lined to first, where a leaping Kevin Youkilis snared it, although there wasn’t enough time to turn it into a double or triple play. The next batter hit another liner – this one right to Dustin Pedroia at second. And finally a fly ball to center got him out of the inning with the game still scoreless. “Houdini-san!” I said with a bow, using the name I invented for him when he escapes a particularly perilous situation.
The Red Sox strung together three singles in the bottom of the inning to give Dice-K a 1-0 lead, and it looked like it was all coming together. He had escaped the danger of the “one bad inning” he usually has… right?
Wrong. A completely putrid 5th inning featured 5 walks, a stolen base, a wild pitch, one measly single – and 3 Royals runs. Matsuzaka threw an astounding 42 pitches in that inning alone, and had to leave with only 2 outs. Joe Nelson came in and got out of the mess, but the damage – to the game and to my psyche – was already done.
The Red Sox did draw closer as the game went on. Bill Hall smashed a laser of a shot over the Green Monster, and Varitek’s double in the 6th drove in another run. Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez kept the Royals off the board for the final 3 innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a hideous 8-walk performance at the start of the game.