Millar feeling like contributor
When Kevin Millar broke his bat on a run-scoring single in the sixth inning, he didn't fret that his favorite lumber had splintered.
"I broke a couple of bats this week," said Millar, who was coming off his best series as a professional ballplayer. "It wasn't a lucky bat or anything. What's going on with my swing is a feeling."
Millar went 3 for 4 last night, with a home run and four RBIs, in the Red Sox's 9-6 victory over the Yankees. In the three weekend games against New York, Millar was a spiffy 10 for 13 with four home runs and eight RBIs. Overall against the Yankees this season, he is hitting .348 (16 for 46) with five home runs and 10 RBIs.
But it's not been just the Yankees who have gotten him going. He finished the six-game homestand -- three with New York, three with Baltimore -- with a .700 average (14 for 20), raising his season average from .269 to .297.
Manager Terry Francona, who stuck with Millar during hard times, believes in him. "It's gratifying," said Francona. "I know he's been taking some heat. But we're counting on him to supply us with a lot of production in our lineup. And what he's done -- whatever roll he's on -- has been huge. "He's gotten big hits for us, and we needed that. It wasn't clicking, and now it is. Thank goodness. With good hitters, they usually get where they're supposed to be. Hopefully, that will be the case, and we can ride him for a while."
Millar savors his groove.
"Personally, I got out of my coma that I've been in for 2 1/2 months," he said. "The big thing is that this is a family in the clubhouse and we believe in each other. That's what it's about. We don't let all that riffraff outside of the clubhouse bother us. We just keep plugging away."
The riffraff, Millar explained, is the media.
His reversal of fortunes at the plate has come about, Millar believes, because of an adjustment he made in the batting cage after the Red Sox returned from their recent trip to the West Coast.
"I made an adjustment at the plate and it's worked," said Millar. "I couldn't stop dipping, so I finally opened up my stance. The problem was I wasn't bringing my top hand through, and opening my stance really helped that. [Curt] Schilling told me that [Cal] Ripken had 20,000 difference stances, and I made the adjustment."
He has been the bellwether for Red Sox fortunes since joining the club last season.
Consider this: When he has knocked in a run in a game this year, Boston is 16-6. Over the last two years, the Red Sox are 60-18 when he records an RBI.
Problem is, Millar hadn't been getting many RBIs this season, knocking in only 28 before the weekend series with the Yankees.
But now Millar has found his groove.
His fifth-inning homer -- his fourth of the weekend and 11th of the season -- was a bottle rocket. He connected on a 1-0 pitch from Yankees starter Jose Contreras leading off the inning. His rising liner caromed off the Coke bottles above the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 7-2 lead.
"This is a big series for us," said Millar. "We had to start winning ballgames. We can't worry about what the Yankees are doing. We have to take care of our own business. We've got a big road trip coming up, and we've got to play good baseball."
He's looking forward to facing the Orioles. "We came out tonight and kept that momentum going," said Millar. "We have to go to Baltimore and keep it going. They played us tough, and it's time to give them a little bit of payback."
