Kottaras caught off guard by own pitchers
MINNEAPOLIS - George Kottaras is used to catching knuckleballs, so he expects to be all over the place behind the plate. But while he said he had no expectations about catching a more traditional pitcher in Daisuke Matsuzaka last night, after chasing six wild pitches he might have longed for Tim Wakefield's dancing pitch.
Kottaras had a night he probably won't soon forget.
Besides the six wild pitches - four by Matsuzaka - Kottaras also had a pitch bounce off of him and into the home dugout, he made a throwing error to center field on a stolen base attempt, and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, including the final out of the game in the 4-2 loss to the Twins. On the plus side, he took a hellacious hit from Carlos Gomez, who was trying to score in the seventh inning on a ground ball to second. Kottaras stood his ground, took the blow, and held onto the ball to secure the out.
Kottaras should not be blamed for the loss, but he was blaming himself for not keeping some of those wild pitches in front of him.
"There was a lot going on in and around the dirt area," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "George's Canadian background came into play and he looked like a goalie at times."
Kottaras said after the game he never played hockey, but if he had, last night's performance would have come close to a goalie trying to make sure the puck didn't get behind him.
"I think that puts him in a difficult position," said Francona of Kottaras. "With runners on base, your first thought is to get down and keep it in front of you. I can see where that doesn't lend itself to feeling real comfortable."
And there probably wasn't a lot of comfort between Kottaras and Matsuzaka, teaming up in a regular-season game for the first time. They didn't seem to find any real rhythm, with
"I was trying to do my best to help Daisuke through it," Kottaras said. "I wanted to keep us in the ballgame and he did. He had good stuff tonight and sometimes he couldn't repeat some pitches. I thought he pitched pretty well. I made that one throwing error and kind of cost us a little bit."
The error came in the third inning, after Denard Span reached on an infield hit and then broke for second on an attempted steal. Kottaras seemed to hesitate before he threw and the ball sailed into center field, sending Span to third. He came home on Joe Mauer's sacrifice fly.
The seventh was also eventful. There was the collision with Gomez, who said after the game, "I don't feel so good." While Gomez came in high and knocked Kottaras off his feet, the catcher bounced right back up and seemed fine. He said he suffered no physical issues from the collision. He was complimented by Jason Varitek for "keeping us in the game with that play. He prevented a run there and it allowed us to keep ourselves in the game. He did a great job."
"I was trying to block the plate and waiting for the throw, and as soon as I got the throw he had nowhere else to go but through me," Kottaras said.
On the last wild pitch, by Masterson in the seventh (Manny Delcarmen also threw one in the sixth), the ball hit Kottaras on the forearm and darted into the Twins' dugout. Kottaras showed off the bruised forearm as proof of his efforts.
This was a tough catching night. There were catchers likely watching from all over the globe cringing at the kind of night Kottaras was forced to endure.
Was he exhausted?
"After a game I should be exhausted. I should be leaving it all on the field and doing whatever I can. We just didn't come out on top today," he said.
Kottaras wants badly to show he can catch in the big leagues. He was out of options in spring training and the Sox felt he had the ability to perhaps hit, and hit for power, if he got his chance. That hasn't developed. He showed the ability to catch Wakefield, so the organization let Josh Bard go. As long as Wakefield is pitching, Kottaras will likely have a job.
"Everything's different than catching Wake," he said. "I was trying to stay focused but it was just one of those things where I just didn't keep the ball in front of me sometimes. I really don't come into the game thinking it's going to be any easier catching a traditional pitcher. I just prepare myself for what I'm going to get out of it. I feel fine. I enjoyed doing it."
He'd probably enjoy it more with a little more help from his pitchers. He'll go back to catching Wakefield tomorrow in Toronto. That's a heck of a lot easier than what transpired last night.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. 
