Super Manny by Jared Carrabis
Ramirez Powers Sox To Victory

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nah, it’s just Super Manny saving the Red Sox from losing a one-run game…again. Is there anything this guy can’t do? What’s even scarier is that he is one of the most feared postseason hitters in the history of the game. He’s no April hero/October zero like some divisional opponents we may be familiar with. This guy does it all year round and that is why he will go down as one of the most consistent hitters of all time. But before we talk about his retirement, I believe he has a few more home runs he wants to hit before he stamps his ticket to Cooperstown.


Jon Lester took the mound looking to improve on his last start at Cleveland, which saw the southpaw go just four and a third innings giving up four runs on five hits. The lefty out of Tacoma, Washington took the mound in the first and it looked as if though we would be seeing more of the same. Lester, who usually keeps the ball in the yard against left-handed hitters, delivered a 1-1- pitch to Josh Hamilton (26 tattoos and all) that would eventually land in the monster seats giving Texas the early 1-0 lead.


With the help of a little textbook small ball in the bottom of the first, the Rangers lead would be short lived. Ellsbury, who seems to be finding his comfort zone in the leadoff spot, had a perfect at bat for a leadoff hitter. He made starter Jason Jennings throw some pitches by working the count full and then capitalizing on the sixth pitch by driving a double out to left-center. The small ball would kick in with second baseman Dustin Pedroia dropping down the sac bunt moving Ellsbury to third and a rushed throw by Jennings would result in Texas first baseman Jason Botts not being able to scoop the throw. An error would be charged to Botts and the Red Sox would have runners at the corners for the recently awaken sleeping giant, David Ortiz.


Big Papi would work the count to his liking and on a 3-1 pitch Ortiz grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. But in to score from third would be Ellsbury, no RBI for Ortiz. Manny Ramirez would follow up with a walk to bring up the man with the highest batting average on the club, Kevin Youkilis. Youk, who recently has been driving the ball to the opposite field, added another right-center gap shot to his resume. Ramirez would come all the way around from first to score as Youkilis would stand at second with his seventh double of the season.


The Rangers would get a run back to tie up the score when former Red Sox farm-hand David Murphy doubled to center with one out only to be knocked in by a single back up the middle by Adam Melhuse. Lester would run into some trouble in the top half of the third that he would eventually pitch his way out of to stop the bleeding. With one out, Josh Hamilton ripped a single to right and one batter later, Hank Blalock would crank a fastball offering out to center to put two men on. Jason Botts continued his hitting with his second double of the season out to left to score Hamilton from second to give the lead back to Texas, 3-2.


The score would stand at 3-2 up until the rally inning of the night came about for the Boston offense. In the bottom of the eighth inning with one away, Dustin Pedroia smacked his sixth double of the season out to center field to put him in scoring position for the recently revived David Ortiz. Ortiz would deliver with a ball that he smoked back up the middle only to be knocked down by the dive of Ian Kinsler. The stop would do the Rangers no good as Ortiz would reach at first with no throw and Pedroia would cross home plate standing up to tie the game at three.


Looking to send the Boston fans home happy knowing that Mr. Automatic (Jonathan Papelbon) was warming in the bullpen for the top of the ninth, the hottest hitter on the face of the planet got a chance to alter the score in his team’s favor. The boys at the Boston Herald did some research and found that in 2007 Manny Ramirez hit .160 (9 for 59) with a disappointing 5 RBI in the sixth inning or later in a clutch situation (when his team was either tied or trailing by one or two runs). 2008 has seen the emergence of a new Manny Ramirez. Quite frankly a Manny Ramirez that doesn’t care what the score is, what the situation is, or who the Red Sox are playing. This is a Manny Ramirez that if you throw a pitch anywhere near the strike zone he is going to hit it and he is going to hit it hard.


Ramirez took a fastball called strike to start off the at bat and the second pitch being a changeup did not throw off his timing one bit has he bombed his sixth home run of the season and career home run number 496 high over the monster to put the Red Sox ahead 5-3. Following Saturday night’s rocket, Ramirez is now 7 for 12 with 10 RBI when his team was either tied or trailing by one or two runs after the sixth inning.


Stunned by losing the lead yet again, the Rangers would put up no noticeable fight in the top of the ninth and would go quietly handing Jonathan Papelbon his sixth save of the season (same amount of saves as Eric Gagne, pick up the pace Pap!) The Red Sox steal a big one at the Fens to take their second straight victory over the Texas Rangers and their third straight victory overall.


Final Score: Rangers 3, Red Sox 5

Published on April 19, 2008

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