Alleviate
| Game 35: May 12, 2007 | |||
| Orioles | 4 | L: Jon Leicester (0-1) | 18-19, 1 game losing streak 5-6-1 series record |
 Red Sox |
13 | BS, W: Javier Lopez (1, 1-0) H: Hideki Okajima (9) |
24-11, 1 game winning streak 9-2-2 series record |
| Highlights: Okajima shutdown the Orioles lineup in his one and two-thirds innings of work. Julio Lugo went 4-for-5 with with one RBI, although he was picked off in the first inning after lining a single into left. One could blame it on Chris Guccione, however; he waited until the fifth to call Steve Trachsel on his balky pitch delivery. | |||
This game went from a nail-biter to a laughter in short order. The offensive Orioles pitching staff saw that nearly every Red Sox starter had an RBI to his name. Everyone, that is, except Dustin Pedroia. What can a rookie do when The Smartest Player in Baseball (trademarked by Jerry Remy) Alex Cora is nipping at your, well, in Pedroia’s case, torso.
Cora continued to ignore the fact that he is Cora whenever he pinch hits. He came to the dish with runners at second and third, two out, and the score 5-4 in his team’s favor thanks to Coco Crisp breaking the 4-4 tie in the prior at bat. With his signature aplomb, the utility man laced a ground ball into right field to notch two insurance runs.
Curt Schilling usually attempts to make himself the center of the story, especially on his starts. He was solid until the sixth when he abruptly was boxed around. Schilling relinquished three consecutive singles and eventually allowed the visitors to come within one run. The beleaguered righty turned the game over to the bullpen, but not before the veteran starter had the chance to jaw at Chris Guccione for the called ball that rendered the count for Jay Payton full and eventually led to a run being walked in.
In just his second outing this season, Javier Lopez bore down in his inning of work. He inherited a shoddy legacy of a bases loaded, one out situation and allowed only one run to score by inducing two ground outs. He bequeathed a unstained estate to Brendan Donnelly in the seventh, and even gifted his heir an out via strikeout. Donnelly quickly squandered it, however, and left his successor with two runners. If anyone can salvage such a ruin, it is Okajima. After too long a time laying fallow, Jonathan Papelbon got in some work.
Today Mike Lowell and Pedroia get the day off. Perhaps Terry Francona sensed a touch of fatigue in Lowell’s high throw to first in the seventh yesterday. The off-target toss had Kevin Youkilis elevating and toeing the first base sac for the final out of the inning. Youkilis will have to summon his muscle memory of playing at the hot corner while Eric Hinske and Cora have their chance to start in the rubber game of this series.
