That was eerily similar to last night's game. A very good performance by a somewhat iffy pitcher, followed by ninth inning heroics, and ending with a throw home from Vernon Wells in center (or not.)
Especially compared to what we've seen from him so far this season, Daisuke pitched really well. He lasted through seven innings and worked relatively efficiently-he only threw 111 pitches. During that time he gave up just two hits and, surprisingly, walked only two batters. He also struck out four.
He was replaced in the eighth inning by Manny Del but he only got to throw two pitches before he was pulled from the game. The first one he threw was a called strike and the second one was a base hit to center. He was pulled so quickly because before he went out to pitch the plan was to keep him out there until there was a base runner. It, presumably, happened much more quickly than anyone had anticipated. Manny Del was none to pleased with the situation, either.
Okajima was brought in instead to pitch the eighth inning. He seemed to also be struggling when they brought him out. On a two-two count he gave up a double to the first batter he faced. The first out of the inning came on a sacrifice fly that was impressively caught by a diving Brandon Moss (Manny Del's runner scored but the Okajima's runner stayed on second.) Now with a tied game, one out, and a man in scoring position, Okajima got his act together and struck out the next two batters on seven pitches.
Papelbon was the last pitcher they needed for the game (which was a very good thing. As much as I like the idea of Mike Timlin, seeing him out there warming up still gives me the willies.) With Pap on the mound, the Blue Jays became a pretty free swinging club. The first batter hit the first pitch to center for a base hit. Much to Vernon Wells' disgust the pinch runner was picked off on a two-one count. Wells then grounded out to short and Overbay grounded out to second to end the potential rally.
The game didn't start out looking like it was going to need ninth inning heroics to get them out of it. The game was love-love until the seventh inning when David Ortiz hit a homerun (his fifth of the season-he's creeping up pretty quickly on Manny) to right. The Jays answered with a point of their own in the eighth, which led to a tied game going into the bottom of the ninth. Ortiz started off the inning with a single to right (he was eventually pinch run for by Jed Lowrie.) Manny walked. Brandon Moss hit a single to center and Jed Lowrie headed for home. Not willing to let what happened yesterday happen again, Vernon Wells got to that ball, got a good grip on it, and threw it really well home. Thanks to a good block of the plate by their catcher, Lowrie was out. And the game went on. Jason Varitek sidled up to the plate. "Let's see you try that again," he thought. He got a ball, he swung and missed, got another ball, and then sent another single out to center. Manny trundled around the bases, beat the throw, and then triumphantly threw his batting helmet into the dirt. As if to say: "Ha! I knew you couldn't do that again."
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