With rainout, Sox can't lose
BALTIMORE -- Rainouts aren't always the worst thing in the world for the Red Sox, especially when they're trailing, 4-2, in the third inning and their starting pitcher, Tim Wakefield, remains hampered by a shoulder injury he suffered when he was struck by a line drive July 17 in Anaheim, Calif.
So it was that the Sox offered few complaints after heavy rains forced postponement of their game last night against the Orioles. The game will be made up during the final series of the season in Baltimore (unless the teams play on a common off day Aug. 5 or Aug. 19. They also have a common off day Aug. 30, though the Sox would need to interrupt a 10-game homestand to make the trip to Baltimore.)
The extra rest provided welcome relief for the Sox bullpen, and Curt Schilling will pitch the series finale tonight at Camden Yards.
The Sox also avoided going deeper into the game against a nemesis, Rodrigo Lopez, who entered the night 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA against them this season.
"Not that we couldn't come back and win, but we were losing, we've got Schill [tonight], and we rest everybody one more day," manager Terry Francona said. "I think that's really good."
Wakefield, who allowed four runs on five hits, including a pair of home runs, and a walk in two innings, will receive another five days of rest before he returns to the mound Monday against the Devil Rays at Tampa Bay. Had the game resumed last night, Wakefield would have yielded to Bronson Arroyo, whose next start would have been affected.
The knuckleballer welcomed the extra rest. He threw 40 pitches in the two innings.
"It'll just take me all five days to get ready to pitch," he said, referring to the lingering effects of the injury. "It's not like a normal situation where I might be able to come back Friday and pitch. Why screw our rotation up? Let everybody get their regular rest and I'll come back Monday."
Wakefield said he was a bit discouraged that the injury continued to bother him, but he was not wary of any long-term consequences. He has scaled back his work between starts so as "not to waste any bullets."
"The doctors say it's not going to have any career-ending effect," he said. "But it's a really, really deep bruise and there's a lot of swelling underneath my scapula."
Wakefield surrendered a solo homer to Melvin Mora in the first inning and a two-run shot to B.J. Surhoff in the second before the Orioles picked up another run in the second inning on consecutive singles by Jerry Hairston and Karim Garcia, a walk to Javy Lopez, and an RBI ground out by David Newhan.
But the Sox began to rally in third inning after Bill Mueller drew a leadoff walk. A batter later, Gabe Kapler doubled home Mueller. Johnny Damon then singled home Kapler, making it 4-2. Lopez got Mark Bellhorn to fly out for the second out before the rain began falling so hard the game was delayed at 8 p.m. It was called after a 1-hour-16-minute delay.
The forecast called for rain today, which scotched any notion of the teams making up the game in a day-night doubleheader. Francona voiced no preference on whether the game is made up on one of the mutual off days, or during the final series of the season Oct. 1-3 at Camden Yards.
Making up the game in October may be the most feasible option, since both teams would have bolstered their rosters with September callups. Of course, the game could come amid the final hours of a heated pennant race. "I can live with that one," Francona said. "That would be a heck of a day."
