Bailey's Daily!
This is Bailey's Daily Blog site to complain, compose, give utterance to, or just plain wax poetic. I am, if I may say, an adorable, sweet, TALENTED, 4 1/2 year old Beagle (that's 32 in people years who was rescued from Zell Miller's and Saxby Chambliss' South Georgia!). I love the Red Sox, my mom, gramdma's cooking, ice cream and playing in the dog park! I am learning how to email and blog with no opposable thumbs! IT'S BLOG-GONE FUN! WOOF!:)Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Renteria lets his Bat do the Talking
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
OAKLAND -- Some 3,000 miles to the East, there was more fodder on the talk shows back home about Edgar Renteria's early struggles with the Red Sox. Renteria's former manager Tony La Russa even chimed in on a mid-day WEEI show, wondering if Boston, with its intense fan and media scrutiny, was a good fit for the veteran shortstop, who is shy by nature.
Renteria, quiet by mouth, let his bat do a lot of talking in leading the Sox to a 7-5 victory over the A's on Tuesday night at McAfee Coliseum. On this night anyway, worries about Renteria were brushed aside. With the Sox down by a run and the bases loaded with one out in the top of the eighth, Renteria took the first pitch he saw from A's reliever Huston Street and roped it to the opposite field for a two-run single that put Boston in front for good. In perhaps a sign Renteria's luck is about to change, he had additional fortune on the play, as the ball rolled past Eric Byrnes, allowing Renteria to scoot all the way to third, and more importantly, permitting a third run to score.
Meanwhile, the doubters aren't high on Renteria's list of things to worry about.
"I think I'm going to be fine," said Renteria. "It's just my personality. I don't care what people say. I just come to do my job and play hard every day. Whatever happens happens. That's why I don't worry what somebody says. I just try and do what I can to beat the other team, that's the kind of player I am." Renteria's resurgence was just part of a spirited win for the Sox, who drew a season high of 11 walks, enabling them to win on a night they had just four hits. The opportunistic aspect of the win was particularly sweet for the Sox in that it came a day after they stranded 13 runners in a 6-4 loss.
"A lot of walks, a lot of good at-bats," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "We didn't knock the cover off the ball, but we made them work, we took our walks, we got baserunners. That's how we're successful."
The A's, holding a 5-3 lead entering that eighth, self-imploded leading up to Renteria's at-bat. A's reliever Juan Cruz began the inning by hitting Jason Varitek, then he walked Bill Mueller and Jay Payton. With one out, Johnny Damon hit an RBI grounder to first to bring the Sox within one and the play wound up worse for the A's with Scott Hatteberg making an error on the play, allowing the Sox to keep the bases loaded for Renteria.
The clutch knock capped a solid night for Renteria, who roped a double off the wall in the first inning and wound up scoring, and also sparked a rally in the fifth by drawing a leadoff walk against Barry Zito and then scoring on a double to left-center by David Ortiz.
Renteria, who was moved to the No. 2 spot in the reshuffled Boston lineup on Saturday, has looked more comfortable at the plate the last few days. "I feel good," Renteria said. "I feel better. It just takes time."
His veteran teammates have been more than happy to give him all the time he needs.
"It's taken him a month or so to get going," said Damon. "We know what kind of player he is. We got him knowing what we were going to get. We're going to get 10-plus home runs, 70-plus RBIs, we're going to get 100 runs scored. We know we're going to get that from Edgar, and great defense, too. It was just a matter of him starting for him to feel at home." Before Renteria delivered the key hit of the game, the contest wasn't all that artistic.
The control problems Zito (career-high seven walks) was having seemed to rub off on Sox starter Matt Clement in the bottom of the fifth, as he walked Mark Kotsay and Jason Kendall to load the bases with one out. Eric Chavez got a run home on a fielder's choice grounder and Hatteberg tied it up with an RBI single to right. The A's nearly went ahead on Hatteberg's hit, but Payton nailed Kendall at the plate.
Clement continued to struggle in the sixth, this time getting into a big jam after retiring the first two batters. Matt Watson and Marco Scutaro got things rolling with consecutive singles. Then the Sox went to Matt Mantei, who couldn't get Clement (5 2/3 innings, six hits, five runs, four walks) out of the inning unscathed. Byrnes connected on an RBI single to give the A's their first lead at 4-3. Kotsay followed with an RBI single to boost the lead to two runs, putting Clement in danger of suffering his first loss of the season.
But the Sox would be back before it was all said and done. The bullpen stepped up in a big way, with Alan Embree giving the Sox 1 2/3 flawless innings for his first win of the season and a recently revitalized Keith Foulke coming on in the ninth for his 10th save of the season.
"To get picked up when you're on the hook, that's nice," said Clement. "Most importantly, we won the game."
And that was made largely possible by the shortstop. "They got Edgar for a reason," said Ortiz. "Everyone knows Edgar is a great player. People just need to be patient with him. The guy works hard and believe me, he's going to be here."
OAKLAND -- Some 3,000 miles to the East, there was more fodder on the talk shows back home about Edgar Renteria's early struggles with the Red Sox. Renteria's former manager Tony La Russa even chimed in on a mid-day WEEI show, wondering if Boston, with its intense fan and media scrutiny, was a good fit for the veteran shortstop, who is shy by nature.
Renteria, quiet by mouth, let his bat do a lot of talking in leading the Sox to a 7-5 victory over the A's on Tuesday night at McAfee Coliseum. On this night anyway, worries about Renteria were brushed aside. With the Sox down by a run and the bases loaded with one out in the top of the eighth, Renteria took the first pitch he saw from A's reliever Huston Street and roped it to the opposite field for a two-run single that put Boston in front for good. In perhaps a sign Renteria's luck is about to change, he had additional fortune on the play, as the ball rolled past Eric Byrnes, allowing Renteria to scoot all the way to third, and more importantly, permitting a third run to score.
Meanwhile, the doubters aren't high on Renteria's list of things to worry about.
"I think I'm going to be fine," said Renteria. "It's just my personality. I don't care what people say. I just come to do my job and play hard every day. Whatever happens happens. That's why I don't worry what somebody says. I just try and do what I can to beat the other team, that's the kind of player I am." Renteria's resurgence was just part of a spirited win for the Sox, who drew a season high of 11 walks, enabling them to win on a night they had just four hits. The opportunistic aspect of the win was particularly sweet for the Sox in that it came a day after they stranded 13 runners in a 6-4 loss.
"A lot of walks, a lot of good at-bats," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "We didn't knock the cover off the ball, but we made them work, we took our walks, we got baserunners. That's how we're successful."
The A's, holding a 5-3 lead entering that eighth, self-imploded leading up to Renteria's at-bat. A's reliever Juan Cruz began the inning by hitting Jason Varitek, then he walked Bill Mueller and Jay Payton. With one out, Johnny Damon hit an RBI grounder to first to bring the Sox within one and the play wound up worse for the A's with Scott Hatteberg making an error on the play, allowing the Sox to keep the bases loaded for Renteria.
The clutch knock capped a solid night for Renteria, who roped a double off the wall in the first inning and wound up scoring, and also sparked a rally in the fifth by drawing a leadoff walk against Barry Zito and then scoring on a double to left-center by David Ortiz.
Renteria, who was moved to the No. 2 spot in the reshuffled Boston lineup on Saturday, has looked more comfortable at the plate the last few days. "I feel good," Renteria said. "I feel better. It just takes time."
His veteran teammates have been more than happy to give him all the time he needs.
"It's taken him a month or so to get going," said Damon. "We know what kind of player he is. We got him knowing what we were going to get. We're going to get 10-plus home runs, 70-plus RBIs, we're going to get 100 runs scored. We know we're going to get that from Edgar, and great defense, too. It was just a matter of him starting for him to feel at home." Before Renteria delivered the key hit of the game, the contest wasn't all that artistic.
The control problems Zito (career-high seven walks) was having seemed to rub off on Sox starter Matt Clement in the bottom of the fifth, as he walked Mark Kotsay and Jason Kendall to load the bases with one out. Eric Chavez got a run home on a fielder's choice grounder and Hatteberg tied it up with an RBI single to right. The A's nearly went ahead on Hatteberg's hit, but Payton nailed Kendall at the plate.
Clement continued to struggle in the sixth, this time getting into a big jam after retiring the first two batters. Matt Watson and Marco Scutaro got things rolling with consecutive singles. Then the Sox went to Matt Mantei, who couldn't get Clement (5 2/3 innings, six hits, five runs, four walks) out of the inning unscathed. Byrnes connected on an RBI single to give the A's their first lead at 4-3. Kotsay followed with an RBI single to boost the lead to two runs, putting Clement in danger of suffering his first loss of the season.
But the Sox would be back before it was all said and done. The bullpen stepped up in a big way, with Alan Embree giving the Sox 1 2/3 flawless innings for his first win of the season and a recently revitalized Keith Foulke coming on in the ninth for his 10th save of the season.
"To get picked up when you're on the hook, that's nice," said Clement. "Most importantly, we won the game."
And that was made largely possible by the shortstop. "They got Edgar for a reason," said Ortiz. "Everyone knows Edgar is a great player. People just need to be patient with him. The guy works hard and believe me, he's going to be here."
Archives
May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005
