D-Train-Wreck by Jared Carrabis
Dontrelle implodes, Sox sweep first place Tigers


Less than 24 hours after Josh Beckett flirted with a no-no en route to his third victory in his last three starts, the Red Sox looked to break out the brooms against the first place Detroit Tigers.

On the hill for Detroit was Beckett's former Florida Marlin teammate, Dontrelle Willis. Willis has struggled mightily since his glory days with the Marlins and on Thursday, the left-hander couldn't find home plate even if he had a GPS in his back pocket. With knuckleballer Tim Wakefield looking for win number seven on the season, Willis, in turn, was looking for just his second.

This game may have taken nine innings to complete, but it only took one mere frame to decide the winner. In the bottom of the second inning, the Tigers struck for three runs off of Wakefield. Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson kicked off the inning with back-to-back singles to set up Brandon Inge for a double that plated the first two men to reach base in the inning. Back-to-back ground outs would allow Inge to tack on Detroit's third run later in the inning.

Despite the Tigers' three-run attack, Boston retaliated instantly in the top of the third thanks in part to some erratic pitching by Dontrelle Willis. The inning began when Jacoby Ellsbury was struck by a pitch out of the hand of the left-handed starter. Julio Lugo then made his way to first base after a five-pitch walk, and two batters later, Dustin Pedroia kept his bat in his shoulder for four pitches, also earning himself a walk.

The next batter was JD Drew; can you guess what he did in his at bat? Five pitches later, Drew was on first with a walk and Ellsbury was stomping on home plate to provide the Sox with their first run. Kevin Youkilis then had a first-pitch strike called against him, but then Willis proceeded to toss four straight balls to walk in another run. At that point, Tigers' manager Jim Leyland had seen enough. Willis got the hook after lasting just 2.1 innings, would ultimately be charged with five earned runs, walked five and hit a batter. Of the 53 pitches he threw, just 24 went for strikes.

With Zach Miner in to replace Willis, and Leyland getting the boot for arguing balls in strikes to make it look like his starting pitcher as bad as he really was, Jason Bay went on to continue Boston's scoring by ripping his fourteenth double of the season into left field to drive in two more runs. The Sox picked up their fifth run on a ground out by Mike Lowell and added some more insurance on an RBI base hit by Rocco Baldelli.

With the score now at 6-3 in favor of Boston, the big scary cats and the red foot covers put each others offenses in sleep mode. Tim Wakefield pitched his way into the seventh inning, but could not get the final out. He departed after hurling 6.2 innings, giving up just the three earned runs on eight hits, while striking out three.

Justin Masterson and Hideki Okajima were both credited with a hold after pitching 0.2 innings each. Jonathan Papelbon was called upon to close it out in the ninth, but once again, he made things interesting. Papelbon allowed a walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth, but did not allow a run to score, earning save number 14 on the season for the Boston closer. After needing 35 pitches in his Tuesday night scare, Papelbon required another 21 pitches on Thursday to grind out his latest save. With the win, Wakefield improves to 7-3 on the season.

"He's been a blessing for us," said Francona after the game. "And when I say the last two years, this goes way past that. But you look at his numbers from the regular season the last couple of years, he probably ranks second on our staff in a lot of categories -- wins, innings. He's a good pitcher. Maybe a little unconventional, but that's OK -- it doesn't matter."

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

On Thursday, instant replay was used in a Red Sox game for just the third time since it has been instated. However, it was the very first time that replay was used and the call that was made was in favor of the Red Sox. A questionable home run/foul ball call in the bottom of the sixth was ruled foul to prevent the Tigers from getting within a run of Boston.

The last time the Red Sox swept the Detroit Tigers when they sat stop the American League Central was way back in June of 1993 (June 26-28). It was also Boston's first sweep of the Tigers in Detroit since September of 1996.

On Wednesday, Kevin Youkilis was removed from the Red Sox lineup in the eighth inning when he had his ankle stepped on by a running Josh Anderson. On Thursday, Youkilis again exited the game before the final out had been made. This time, the reason for Youk's departure is being called a "tight right calf" and will likely be day-to-day.

The Sox have wrapped up their longest road trip of the season thus far (10 games), in which they were over .500 at 6-4, as they now head back home to Fenway, welcoming the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees to Boston during a six-game home stand. Their 6-4 record accounts for their best road trip so far in '09.

After their win on Thursday, the Red Sox have now played in 54 games in 2009, which means that they are exactly one third of the way through the 2009 schedule.

Friday's pitching match up:

Brad Penny will get the ball, donning the red jersey and hanging Sox hat, in the home stand's first game. He hasn't been Boston's best starter, he hasn't been Boston's worst starter, but damnit, the man is consistent. In ten starts this season, Penny has given up three earned runs or less in 7 of his 10 starts, but has never tossed a shutout, yet. In his last start, Penny gave up two earned runs (his fewest allowed in a Red Sox uniform) for the second time this season. Penny's opponent, Kevin Millwood, has not pitched well on the road this season. He's 1-3 with a 3.96 ERA away from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. He also holds a less than stellar 4-4 record with a 4.46 ERA in 12 starts in his career against Boston.

Congratulations to Randy Johnson on becoming the 24 member of the 300 win club. In my opinion, it's going to be a long time before we see number 25, if ever.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 6, Tigers 3

Published on June 04, 2009

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