Ortiz continues hot hitting, Wakefield cruises in Red Sox win
Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz (right) is back. He drove in three runs over two at-bats in the fourth inning--a homer to start the rally and a two-run single to end it--to spark a victory against the Florida Marlins. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
The 3-1 count is always dangerous. Pitchers, in order to avoid walking the hitter, have to throw a strike. The hitter knows this, and expects a pitch–usually a fastball–right down the middle. In the first game of the series between the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins, the Marlins’ Chris Volstad found himself in this unenviable situation, facing the rejuvenated David Ortiz.
Volstad, a rookie with a lively fastball, tried to sneak one past the bat of Ortiz. The Red Sox slugger knew this, and zeroed in, looking for the fastball to fall in the heart of the plate. It did, and Ortiz made Volstad pay, depositing the offering past Boston’s bullpen in right field and amongst the raucous fans.
A month ago, Ortiz would have swung right through the pitch, weakly tapped a grounder, or topped it for a pop-up. Not now, as Ortiz has overcome his nightmarish woes that haunted him for the better part of two months. He rumbled around the bases, while Volstad, flustered, walked around the mound. It was Big Papi’s fourth home-run of June, and his fifth overall.
Volstad’s outing would get a lot worse, as Ortiz’s longball opened the floodgates. In the second inning, Jacoby Ellsbury singled, proceeded to steal second base, then scored when Nick Green’s two-out dribbler evaded both Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and trickled into the outfield.
Two innings later, after Ortiz provided the spark, it was deja vu for Ellsbury. The speedy center-fielder singled on Volstad’s first pitch fastball, then stole second. Again, he would score, and again, it would be because of Green. Volstad threw the Red Sox shortstop one too many fastballs, and Green capitalized, lacing a 2-2 pitch down the left-field line, plating Ellsbury easily.
The next hitter, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher George Kottaras feasted on another Volstad fastball, knifing it through the right side of the infield to score Green. Dustin Pedroia singled, then, with two out, Kevin Youkilis walked, chasing Volstad. Reliever Burke Badenhop was the next victim, and picked up where Volstad left off, walking Jason Bay to force in a run. For the second time in the inning, Ortiz would bat.
His second appearance in the frame wouldn’t lead to a home-run, but Ortiz provided the next best thing. Badenhop’s velocity on his fastball was less than Volstad, which didn’t bode well. Ortiz took advantage, nubbing a single into center-field. Pedroia and Youkilis scored. The Red Sox rally, started and finished by Ortiz, helped grab a commanding 8-1 lead.
This was more than enough offense for Wakefield, who continued to make his case for the All-Star team, a selection that would be the first of his career. He baffled Florida over the first four innings, then had a classic Wakefield inning, the fifth.
The knuckleball is a very unpredictable pitch. It flutters, traveling 65 miles-per-hour with no spin. Wakefield, Kottaras, nor the hitter know where it’s going. The reason the pitch is so effective and makes hitters look so ridiculous is because it throws off thier timing. A majority of the time, hitters are used to 95 miles-per-hour fastballs, as well as sliders and changeups thrown in the high 70’s to mid-80’s. A knuckleball, however, is unsettling. They wait and wait, then once it arrives, the hitter either flails miserably or makes solid contact and crushes the pitch into the seats.
Cody Ross began the inning. He worked a favorable 2-1 count, then fouled off a knuckler. With the count even, Wakefield tossed another knuckleball. Ross’s knees buckled, watching the pitch clocked at 58 miles-per-hour loop helplessly into the strikezone for strike-three. He dropped his bat in disbelief, as the offering that started at head’s height had dropped below the belt.
John Baker was next. He gave himself a fighting chance, but the result was the same. He missed the fifth pitch of the at-bat by a good two feet, forced to take the long embarrassing walk to the dugout to contemplate what had just transpired. In Wakefield’s long career, this has happened countless times. Unfortunately, what happened next has as well.
Emilio Bonaficio and Chris Coghlan, unlike their predecessors, were comfortable facing such the knuckleball. Bonifacio waited patiently, then reached for the outside pitch and tagged it high off the Green Monster in left. Coghlan has similar success, nailing the knuckler into the left-field corner, scoring Bonifiacio.
Ross Gload could not duplicate the plate-appearances of Bonifacio and Coghlan. He managed to make contact, but could only hit the offering two feet in distance, as it bounced high in front of the plate. He was tagged out by Kottaras, ending the threat. A little bit of everything happened for Wakefield in the frame, which is nothing new for the ageless righthander.
The rest of the game was quite tame, as three relievers, Manny Delcarmen, Takashi Saito, and Daniel Bard, tossed three shutout innings to complete Wakefield’s ninth win of the season. If the laughable hacks by the Marlins are any indication, Wakefield will accomplish a first in his 17-year career and become an All-Star.
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