Mr. 500 by Jared Carrabis
Tito racks up 500th win as Sox skipper, Bay goes yahd again


Exactly 269 weeks (or 1,883 days) ago, Terry Francona picked up his very first win as manager of the Boston Red Sox after Curt Schilling held the Orioles to one run, and Keith Foulke earned his first, but not his most important, save as a member of the Red Sox.

On June 2, 2009, the Red Sox' new and improved lineup aimed to deliver their skipper his 500th career victory in a Boston uniform. With Daisuke Matsuzaka winless on the season, the right-hander had a typical Dice-K start. Nearly one hundred pitches (96) to make it through just five innings. But in those five innings, Matsuzaka held the Detroit Tigers to one earned run on six hits. He may have walked three, but for Daisuke, that's not half bad. He also struck out six before handing the ball over to the best bullpen in the American League.

Before Matsuzaka's departure after the fifth inning, he was supplied three runs by the Boston offense. Dustin Pedroia kick-started the contest in the top of the first by rocketing his sixteenth double of the season out to left field. Newly placed number two hitter, JD Drew, ripped a base hit back up the middle to drive in the game's first run. Detroit got the run right back in the bottom half, but Boston tacked on two more runs in the top of the third when Jason Bay smashed his team-leading sixteenth home run of the season for a two-run shot.

"We mixed it up a little bit and got some runs across, won a couple of ballgames with it," said Drew of the new lineup. "It seems to work. We've gotten a couple of big wins out of it so it's worked well."

With Manny Delcarmen taking over for Matsuzaka in the sixth, the Sox tacked on two more runs thanks to some awful pitching by Detroit. Consecutive walks, one to load the bases and one to walk in a run, allowed Boston to up their lead to 4-1. Later in the inning with the bases still loaded, Kevin Youkilis got plunked with a 4-seam fastball to plate Boston's fifth run.

After Delcarmen turned in a scoreless inning, Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez turned in scoreless innings of work to build the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. Although it wasn't a save situation for Papelbon, the Boston closer went to work against the Tigers to secure the victory. Papelbon allowed three straight singles to start the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Papelbon battled Josh Anderson for eleven straight pitches before putting him away on a fastball swinging. The right-hander then went on to whiff Jeff Larish and Ramon Santiago consecutively to put the Tigers' threat to an end after 35 pitches.

The swinging K of Santiago sealed the deal on Terry Francona's 500th victory as manager of the Boston Red Sox. Mr. 500 spoke after the game, "From a personal standpoint, I guess it's a little anti-climactic," said Francona. "I thought it was about three weeks ago. That's how much I've been paying attention to that. As far as winning tonight, that's what I really care about."

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

Terry Francona sits in the third spot on the Red Sox all time managerial wins list behind Mike "Pinky" Higgins, who led the Sox to 560 victories, but never managed a team to a finish higher than third place. The top spot is held by Red Sox retired jersey number four, Joe Cronin, who was at the helm of the Sox for 1,071 wins.

The last time Daisuke Matsuzaka earned a victory as a decision during the regular season was way back on September 21, 2008.

Of the 16 HR that Jason Bay has hit in 2009, all but one of them have been hit out of the park with men on base.

With the Tigers only scoring one run through nine innings, it appears as though the Red Sox starting pitching and bullpen were lights out on Tuesday, but the run total was deceiving. The Detroit offense stranded 24 men on base and went an abysmal 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. It also didn't help that the Red Sox turned three double plays in support of their men on the mound.

Before Tuesday's game, the Sox options Jeff Bailey to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for Mark Kotsay, who will be joining the team for the very first time in 2009 since recovering from back surgery. Kotsay's versatility is a huge advantage for Boston, as he will be a secret weapon of sorts coming off the bench. Kotsay can play the outfield, first base and will be able to give David Ortiz a breather at the designated hitter position.

Wednesday's pitching match-up:

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think Josh Beckett is back to being Josh Beckett. The right-hander has pitched very 2007-ish lately, as he has only given up three earned runs in his last three starts. In those three starts, Beckett has logged 22 innings of masterful pitching. In his career, Beckett is 1-1 against the Tigers, but they may have run into Boston's ace at the wrong time. Beckett's opponent, Armando Galarraga, is known for giving up the long ball (cough Papi pay attention here cough). In 2008, the right-hander served up 28 souvenirs and has already given up 11 dingers so far in 2009. Let's hope there's more where that came from on Wednesday.

Attention SoxSpace readers:

The following email was sent to me today, and I would love for you to help out!

"Hello,

This soldier needs help.

SGT Daniel Thornhill
Fort Sam Houston Fisher House
3623 George C. Beach Rd.
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234

His Birthday is next week. His parents are very worried about him as he doesn't get many visitors. He lost both his legs and was burned over 50% of his body serving in Iraq. I would invite everyone to send this soldier a Birthday Card and let him know he's not forgotten. I have never met this soldier but all the same a Brother in Arms needs our help.

SGT Tim Lemont"

Congratulations Tito! and God Bless the USA!
-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 5, Tigers 1

Published on June 03, 2009

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