Another lights-out show
He enters a game now not to the menacing sound of Metallica. Mariano Rivera does that -- and Rivera is on the outside looking in. Keith Foulke needs no impending-doom tune to signal his arrival. His pitching seems to be working just fine.
In the words of Red Sox pitching coach Dave Wallace, Foulke has been "lights out" in the postseason. In the words of Foulke: "I'm still not as sharp as I'd like to be." He's closer to Wallace's description, as, once again, Foulke made the big pitches at the right time and emerged with the win in Boston's wild, weird 11-9 victory over the Cardinals in Game 1 of the World Series last night.
Foulke has been as close to automatic as one can get in his 10 2/3 innings of postseason work. Last night was no exception. He actually gave up two hits. He was victimized by two Manny Ramirez errors. Yet, when the big pitches needed to be made, he made them.
He entered a chaotic game with one out in the eighth and the Red Sox leading, 9-7. To those of you who have been following the Sox in the playoffs, Foulke appearing in the eighth is not a stop-the-presses situation. In five of his eight appearances, he has gone more than one inning.
"You figure when you get that deep into the game, you want your best guy," Wallace said. "He has had some tough situations the last few outings."
The Cardinals had runners on first and second with one out and the dangerous Edgar Renteria at the plate. He promptly greeted Foulke with a single to left, which should have loaded the bases. But Ramirez bobbled the ball, allowing pinch runner Jason Marquis to score. That made it 9-8. Ramirez then stumbled and dropped a Larry Walker floater, allowing the tying run to score. With runners on second and third, Albert Pujols was walked intentionally, bringing up Scott Rolen.
Foulke threw him a fastball inside. Rolen popped to third.
"That," said Wallace, "was a huge play."
Shrugged Foulke, "Every out is big. My job is to get the guy out. I try to keep them off balance and if I can pitch them inside, it makes it tough on them."
Foulke then finished the job by getting Jim Edmonds on a pitcher-friendly called third strike on the inside corner. Yes, the Cardinals had tied the game. But Foulke had made the pitches when he absolutely had to have them.
Said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, "I think [Rolen and Edmonds] got pitched tough."
They did indeed. Foulke was well-rested, having not pitched since Tuesday, when he struck out Tony Clark with two runners on to save Game 6 of the ALCS for the Red Sox. That had capped a stretch where he made 100 pitches over three straight days, with the Red Sox winning all three games.
"And he was upset he didn't pitch in the last game in New York," Wallace said of Foulke. In truth, with the Red Sox leading, 10-3, Foulke wasn't needed.
But there was more than enough to go around last night. He could have gone Jarrod Washburn on everyone after the Ramirez miscues. He instead got out of the jam against two very good hitters. Opposing hitters are batting .132 against him in the postseason.
"As a pitcher, you can't worry about about plays like that," Foulke said, referring to the Ramirez errors. "It's the same thing as if I give up a hit. I still have to make the next pitch and that's what I focus on."
The next time Foulke took the mound, the Red Sox had regained the lead, 11-9, on Mark Bellhorn's two-run homer. He gave up a one-out double to Marlon Anderson, keeping things mildly interesting. But Yadier Molina popped harmlessly to first base and Foulke fanned Roger Cedeno to end the game.
The strikeout capped yet another vintage Foulke night: 1 2/3innings, two hits, no earned runs, and three strikeouts. Of the 36 pitches he threw, 24 were strikes. And by the look and sound of him, he'll be ready, willing, and able tonight in Game 2. You wonder what will happen if he ever gets as sharp as he'd like to get.
