Nava say Nava by Jared Carrabis
Daniel Nava hits grand slam in first major league at bat in Sox rout


It was a bizarre day at Fenway Park, to say the very least.

The fans who arrived at Fenway Park in time for first pitch were expecting to see Daisuke Matsuzaka on the hill, but instead got Scott Atchison. For those who were without the benefit of a Twitter news feed, or word-of-mouth news, some must have thought the game started at 1:10 and that they missed the first seven innings.

However, Matsuzaka had been a last minute scratch from the game, as he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with what was being called a "forearm strain," which was suffered while warming up for the game.

Atchison took the mound in what some thought to be bullpen suicide. Surprisingly, the right-hander logged three innings, while holding the Phillies to just two runs on two hits.

Much like they had done in the early innings of the first game of this series, the Red Sox bats were knocking Phillies' starting pitching around the yard without mercy.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the second, JD Drew came to the plate, as he was showered with boos from the hundreds of Phillies fans, who had made to trip to Fenway Park on Saturday. Drew turned the Philadelphia boos into Boston cheers by second a rocket of a home run into the seats in right field.

Three consecutive singles by Adrian Beltre, Jason Varitek and Darnell McDonald loaded the bases for Daniel Nava's first major league at bat.

Prior to the game, the voice of the Boston Red Sox, Joe Castiglione, gave Nava some advice by saying, "Hit that first pitch out."

Joe Blanton fired a 90 MPH sinker to Nava for the first pitch during his first major league at bat, and the switch-hitting outfielder hammered it into the Red Sox' bullpen for a grand slam. Fenway erupted, understanding the significance of what they had just seen, as Nava came out from the Red Sox' dugout and acknowledge the crowd.

Other than hitting a game-winning home run in the World Series, there's no feeling in baseball that can top what Nava experienced at Fenway Park on Saturday.

In the very next inning, it was Marco Scutaro's turn to bat with the bases loaded, and he shot a base hit through the left side that scored a pair, giving the Red Sox a 7-2 lead.

The very next batter, Dustin Pedroia, knocked a single into left that brought home McDonald, giving the Red Sox a six-run cushion in the third.

Drew doubled home Boston's ninth run in the fourth inning, and would finish the day a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBI.

Terry Francona's bullpen was commendable in Boston's victory, as Manny Delcarmen (2 IP), Hideki Okajima (1.1 IP), Ramon Ramirez (1.1 IP) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 IP) combined to pitch six innings of five-hit, shutout baseball.

Final score: Phillies 2, Red Sox 10
WP: Manny Delcarmen (2-2)
LP: Joe Blanton (1-5)

Game notes: Every Red Sox starter had at least one hit in Boston's 16-hit attack. As a team, the Red Sox struck out 10 times, but you'd never know it thanks to their 10 runs, which now makes the Red Sox outscore the Phillies 22-4 in the first two games of the series. Daniel Nava is the fourth player in baseball history to hit a grand slam in their first major league at bat (Jeremy Hermida is one of the four), and the second in baseball history to do it on the first pitch (Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006). The only other Red Sox player to hit a grand slam in his first plate appearance was Rip Repulski on May 10, 1960. He also became the tenth Red Sox player to homer in his first plate appearance with the team (the last being Darnell McDonald).

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on June 12, 2010

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