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Ramirez hits homer in ninth inning to give Red Sox win
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008
CLEVELAND: They can say it's early. They can say he's a veteran who will figure it out. Maybe they will say nothing of substance. But you know the Indians' deep thinkers are hunkered down fingering their worry beads.
Joe Borowski blew his second consecutive save Monday night, and the Boston Red Sox walked away with a 6-4 win at Progressive Field.
It was Borowski's assignment to hold a 4-3 lead in the ninth, but when Julio Lugo led off with a double, it was obvious that trouble loomed. Coco Crisp bunted Lugo to third, and Dustin Pedroia lifted a fly ball to the edge of the track in left, Lugo scoring the tying run after the catch.
David Ortiz followed with a bloop single (They will say it was a lucky hit), and Manny Ramirez whacked Borowski's first pitch (an 82-mph fastball) high and deep to left for a two-run homer.
When Kevin Youkilis doubled, Indians manager Eric Wedge lifted Borowski.
Here's a sign of trouble: ''It seemed like a fastball,'' Ramirez said. ''But it was 80. Maybe it was a change-up.''
You think a pitcher has a problem when a hitter
doesn't know if he just hit your fastball or your change-up?
''The ball wasn't coming out of his hand the same way,'' Wedge said. ''And he didn't have the location he usually has.''
Asked if Borowski might be injured, considering his fastball normally travels 86-88 mph and he gives up walks grudgingly, Wedge said, ''I'm going to talk to Joe and see how he feels.''
Borowski insisted he felt fine but added that he would undergo at least some cursory physical tests.
''I think we're going to try and find out what's going on,'' he said. ''Maybe it's nothing, but we'll see.''
Borowski seemed at a loss to explain his total lack of effectiveness in his past two save opportunities, outings in which he allowed seven runs, eight hits and three walks in one inning.
''I just felt like I had nothing, like I was throwing through water,'' he said. ''I felt fine physically, but I was stuck in one gear. And with location like crap, it was a double edged sword.''
Someone mentioned that if a batter other than the peerless Ramirez had been up, the result would have been different.
''It doesn't matter when you're throwing the garbage I was throwing up there,'' Borowski said.
In Anaheim, Calif., a week ago, Borowski entered the game to save a 4-2 lead and left with a 6-4 defeat after giving up four hits (including Torii Hunter's grand slam), three walks and delivering 81-83-mph fastballs, with the exception of one that clanked the radar gun at 85.
Something is obviously wrong with Borowski, which is too bad for Jake Westbrook.
Westbrook yielded only two runs (one earned), seven hits and three walks in 61/3 innings to lower his ERA to 2.38, but there was no win forthcoming.
Westbrook was vulnerable in the first inning. After walking Pedroia with one out, Ortiz singled to put runners on second and first. Then came the play of the inning. Westbrook struck out Ramirez, enabling the pitcher to keep the damage to one run, when Youkilis followed with a double and J.D. Drew walked.
''I felt good,'' Westbrook said. ''After that inning, I was able to settle down and get into somewhat of a rhythm. But I already was an inning behind (in pitch count).''
From the second through the sixth innings, only four Red Sox batters reached base on three hits and a hit batter. But in the seventh, a misplay by Victor Martinez and a glancing blow off Westbrook's leg put the game in jeopardy.
Sean Casey led off the seventh with a walk but was forced by Lugo. Crisp followed with a certain bunt single down the third-base line. Martinez should have kept it wrapped firmly in his glove. Instead, he made a useless heave toward first that was off the mark for an error that put Lugo on third and Crisp on first.
Pedroia found the mark with a smash up the middle, the ball bouncing off Westbrook's glove for a single that trimmed the lead to 4-2, ending Westbrook's day.
Wedge elected to bring in his setup man, Rafael Betancourt, to face Ortiz, who came into the game 0-for-6 with three strikeouts against Betancourt, and Ramirez. He struck both out.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: They can say it's early. They can say he's a veteran who will figure it out. Maybe they will say nothing of substance. But you know the Indians' deep thinkers are hunkered down fingering their worry beads.
Get the full article here.
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