July 8, 2008
Longball Aids Twins in Win Over Sox
Minnesota 6, Boston 5
Daisuke Matsuzaka is averaging 1.25 home runs allowed per nine innings. Coming into last night's action, he had allowed 18 home runs, which was good for 15th in the league. The Twins are ninth in the American League with just 85 home runs. With the exception of Justin Morneau's 22, the only other Twin in double-figures is Mike Lamb with 12.
Last night, though, the Twins took advantage of Matsuzaka's tendency to over-work the count and profited with their patience. Minnesota hit three round-trippers, led by Justin Morneau's 23rd and 24th of the season.
After falling behind 1-0 on a Morneau solo shot in the fourth, Boston rallied back against starter Livan Hernandez in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Manny Ramirez single and J.D. Drew double to put runners into scoring position. A base-on-balls to Dustin Pedroia loaded the bases for Jason Varitek. A weak grounder to second was just enough for Ramirez to hustle home from third to tie the game. Alex Cora followed with a two-run single to put Boston ahead before Julio Lugo popped out to the catcher to end the inning.
The Twins came back to tie the game in the sixth on a trio of singles. Delmon Young led off the inning with a single to left. After retiring Morneau, Mike Lamb and Michael Cuddyer hit back-to-back singles to bring home a run. Jason Kubel followed with a fielders choice to tie the game at three. Mike Redmon would advance Kubel to third, but Brendan Harris struck out looking on three pitches to end the threat.
Despite barely surviving a difficult sixth, manager Terry Francona sent his starter back onto the mound for the seventh with his pitch count already creepy close to the magical number of 100. (95 to be exact) While Matsuzaka has shown an ability to pitch high counts all season long (he threw 130 back on 6/1 in a GC against Baltimore), Francona did have the strongest bullpen in the American League at his disposal.
In a fashion almost validating Francona decision, Matsuzaka struck out Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Gomez to start the inning before things fell apart. Delmon Young singled to center to put the go-ahead run on first. With the left-handed Morneau due up next, Francona stuck with his starter. After falling behind 2-0 to the slugger, Matsuzaka grooved a fastball on the inside corner of the plate that Morneau deposited into the right-field bleachers for his second home run of the evening off Matsuzaka. Mike Lamb followed with his own solo home run on the first pitch of his at-bat to put the Twins ahead by three. Sensing the damage done, Francona stuck with his starter as he retired Michael Cuddyer on the groundout to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth with Hernandez still on the mound, the Sox rallied. After a Kevin Youkilis fly-out, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit a pair of singles to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. A base-on-balls to J.D. Drew loaded the bases. Dustin Pedroia, coming off a .187 June, struck out swinging. With two outs, Joe Nathan relieved Hernandez and allowed a single to Jason Varitek, bringing home Ortiz and Ramirez. Alex Cora, subbing in for the resting Mike Lowell struck out swinging on a full count to end the rally.
Nathan would retire the Sox in order in the ninth to close out the win.
W: Hernandez (4-8) L: Matsuzaka (12-5) SV: Nathan
Player of the Game: Justin Morneau (3-4, 2 HRs (23,24), 3 Rs, 3 RBIs)
Around the League:
...Baltimore Orioles SP Radhames Liz (9-6, 3.89 ERA) strained his achilles tendon and will mist 3 weeks of action...
New England Makes Easy Work of Minnesota in US Cup
Despite losing Taylor Twellman to an injury in just the sixth minute, the Revolution didn't let down against the Minnesota Thunder of the American Second Division to advance to the US Cup Quarter Finals.
"We didn't like to play without him, but we have depth for a reason," coach Steve Nicols said after the match. "We are a team, and we play as a team. Taylor is an exceptional talent, no doubt. But we can compete with anyone with the rest of team."
A testy Nicols didn't take any more questions, instead letting his team's performance speak for itself.
Pat Noonan, making just his eighth appearance of the season for New England, scored the first goal of the match in the 25th minute for the Revolution. A long clear by keeper Doug Warren found Noonan in the midfield, and the midfielder shot up the seam in the Minnesota defence, breaking in on the goal box. With twenty yards separating himself and the keeper, Noonan chipped a shot into the right corner to put the Revs ahead.
Late in the ninetieth minute, with four extra minutes of stoppage time added, the Revolution added an insurance goal to secure their move to the next round. Noonan, once again in on the action in place of Twellman, found himself pinned into the corner against Juarez after recovering a long rebound from Joe Warren . Noonan launched a long pass into the box that Edison Buddle headed to Gabriel Ferrari that found the back of the goal for the nail in the coffin.
New England will next face FC Dallas in the US Cup Quarter Finals on the 5th of August. It is well worth noting that FC Dallas have not lost to New England in the last 3 meetings between the two sides.
Elsewhere, the shock of the round was a win for Second Division outfit Rochester Raging Rhinos against league runners up the Los Angeles Galaxy on penalties. The Portland Timbers of the Second Division are also through to the Quarter Finals after shocking the Kansas City Wizards. Also advancing along with the Revolution were the Columbus Crew, the Colorado Rapids and CD Chivas USA.