Taking healthy swings
Nixon's early impact powerful
BALTIMORE -- It's only four games into the season and, already, Trot Nixon gets the offensive credit for two of the three Red Sox wins. On two home runs, no less. The thanks from Josh Beckett and Matt Clement might be forthcoming.
Though he struck out in the first inning, a shocking gift to Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera, Nixon delivered the eighth and ninth runs of the evening. In the fourth inning, when he sent a drive into the seats in right-center field, just above the 373-foot marker, the game was getting out of control. Cabrera seemed willing to walk anyone able to step into the batter's box -- seven in his 1 1/3 innings of work -- and the Orioles couldn't get anything started against Clement.
But by the end, the game would be far closer than anticipated -- the Sox took a 14-8 decision that lasted longer than most of the fans did -- and Nixon's 2-for-4 night, with a home run off Orioles reliever Eric DuBose, plus two walks and 4 RBIs, stood out among the gaudy offensive numbers of his teammates. Timing, as they say, is everything.
Not that he appeared to have any idea.
With the ball he sent into the stands, Nixon emphasized he was simply trying to keep his shoulder in against the lefthanded DuBose. DuBose had thrown a fastball on the previous pitch and, when he tried to come inside, Nixon took him deep.
Nixon had just one home run in 85 at-bats against lefthanders in 2005.
''I feel fine at the plate," Nixon said. ''Just trying to keep it simple. See the ball and hit the ball. Stay slow up there and try to slow the ball down as much as you can. That's just about the gist of it."
Two nights before in Texas, Nixon took advantage of the sole mistake by Rangers starter Kameron Loe, sending a seventh-inning pitch out for his first homer of the season and the two runs that turned Beckett from a loser to a winner in his Sox debut.
He could have seemed happier about the situation than he seemed in the locker room after last night's game, though it might just have been exhaustion after a game that stretched for 3 1/2 hours.
''He's a good hitter," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ''He's been very aggressive with his swings. He's been that way all spring.
''He's healthy, and he's a good hitter."
Ah, health. Perhaps the unwelcome constant in the recent years of Nixon's career. It was back and quadriceps issues in 2004, and a strained rib cage last season. He's OK, though, this season, and has shown the power to prove it.
He did, however, have to duck out of the way of a Cabrera offering in the second inning that could have done a bit of damage. Headed for his helmet, the pitch had Nixon dodging out of the way. Not that he thought it was intended for that location. Cabrera had already walked six and was about to make Nixon his seventh. Maybe a little frustration for Cabrera, nothing more.
So, as of the end of the fourth game of 2006, Nixon's totals stand in fairly good contrast to the lackluster early numbers of 2005. Over 57 April at-bats last season, Nixon hit three homers, on his way to 13. He's already struck No. 2 this season, with seven RBIs, and his average is .333.
''It doesn't really matter what kind of start you have," Nixon said. ''It's a matter of how you end up. You like to start the season off on a good note, but the biggest thing is to win ballgames. If I just play the way I'm capable of playing, things will pan out in the end and hopefully they'll pan out in the end for this ball club, and we'll win a lot of ball games this year."
If that's his goal, two home runs into the season, it appears he's off to a pretty good start. 