So I’ll admit my column today was going to tear the Sox apart, rip the mediocre hitting and talk to specific players on the team.
I was ready to criticize Varitek’s batting average of .229 and his lackluster 10-82 (1 for his last 30) slump and his striking out in every key situation with two outs.
Like I said, I was going to do that.
Until, in the bottom of the eighth last night Varitek did something that he hasn’t done in a while. He came through in the clutch. Bringing in the go ahead run when I thought there was no chance he gets a hit in that situation. Maybe it was my “Mr Anti-Clutch” comment in yesterdays column, but he came through big time for the Sox.
Of course V-Tek’s heroics were set up by Mike Lowell’s two run double that tied the game. The Sox were flustered by a soft tossing Doug Davis and it wasn’t until he gave up consecutive singles in the bottom of the eighth that they got to the Arizona pen and started the comeback.
Nice to see that Chris Smith continued to dazzle out of the pen (after his impressive post grand slam work on Saturday). And Papelmania got the save despite walking a batter.
The bottom line on the whole lineup being anemic is that without Papi in there different people need to step up. Drew stepped up for a while, Youk stepped up for a while, but when you have a hole like that in the lineup, slumps like Varitek’s are amplified that much more.
Tonight the Sox look to avoid their first losing home stand since September 2006 when they face off against Randy Johnson. He will be opposed by Tim Wakefield in a game being touted as the Senior Citizen Game. If only Grandpa Timlin was here to see it (sniffle).
