Offense dries up in rain

Rangers' Loe blanks Red Sox before game is called in the bottom of the sixth

May 13, 2006|Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

Last night, the Red Sox were fighting the weather. They were fighting Texas starter Kameron Loe's heavy, biting sinkers. Most of all, they were fighting the pace that the Rangers, who were anxious to make the game official, were setting while the rain continued to pelt the field.

''It just stinks because you feel like you're racing against the innings, especially after they scored first," said Mike Lowell, who stood by a fast-growing pool of water along the third base line. ''It didn't feel like a real baseball game. And now that we did play five, we lose."

The 6-0 loss, which was settled at 10:04 after a 48-minute rain delay, stood in stark contrast to Thursday's postseason-like atmosphere in which the Sox battled the Yankees for a 5-3 win before a packed house in the Bronx. Last night, by the time crew chief Gerry Davis called for the tarp at 9:16, during David Ortiz's at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, most of the 36,102 fans at Fenway had scurried off for warmer and drier conditions, leaving the few faithful stewing in a rainstorm that made the loss feel even more miserable.

''It wasn't playable," Kevin Youkilis said of the conditions later in the game. ''It was getting real bad, real quick. It wasn't easy. I understand that they tried to get the game in looking at the weather forecast for the next two days."

The Sox' bats, which wore out the Yankee bullpen Thursday, were soaked more by Loe's sinker than the raindrops that hammered the field, especially by the third inning. In the third, already down, 4-0, the Sox had runners on second and third with one out. But Loe (2-3, 4.23 ERA) got Mark Loretta to ground to third, where Hank Blalock kept Alex Gonzalez from scoring before throwing to first.

An inning later, the Sox repeated the trick after Trot Nixon had a check-swing single down the third base line and Jason Varitek, who entered the showdown against Loe hitless in his last 14 at-bats, stroked an opposite-field double. But Lowell grounded to Blalock, who again held the runner at third before throwing to first. With two outs, Wily Mo Peña cranked a full-count hot shot down the third base line, but Blalock went to his right, scooped the ball neatly, and fired across the diamond to Mark Teixeira, who was pulled off the bag, but tagged Peña for the inning's final out.

''We didn't get much going," said Sox manager Terry Francona, whose team recorded five hits. ''When we did, his two-seam sinker was really effective. Guys were coming back saying the movement was pretty good. When we had runners on, we beat the ball into the ground, and that's exactly how he has success."