Shining moment in the rain
Smoltz is a bright spot among clouds
BALTIMORE - John Smoltz flicked his glove over his left shoulder, a universally understood gesture he has made countless times the past two decades.
As rain blanketed Camden Yards, he would throw one more warm-up pitch, his seventh, before the fifth inning.
“It’s the fastest warm-up I’ve ever had,’’ Smoltz said.
But he never threw the seventh pitch. Smoltz had seen the black clouds gathering since the early innings, and he knew he was one more warm-up toss and three outs from a likely win. The rain had come suddenly, and it lasted long enough to end his second start with the Red Sox prematurely and rob him of a chance for his first American League win.
Before the Red Sox’ epic collapse in a stunning 11-10 loss to the Orioles wiped it away, Smoltz threw four innings that provided the reasons the Red Sox added him this offseason despite his 42 years and a major shoulder operation.
The nerves from his first start Thursday, when he allowed four runs in the first inning against Washington, disappeared. Smoltz replaced them with a powerful slider and control in the lower half of the strike zone.
Smoltz needed only 52 pitches, and he struck out two, both in the first inning. He retired the first five batters he faced and ran into trouble only in the third, when he allowed his only run. He surrendered just three hits and a walk.
Manager Terry Francona thought Smoltz looked more like himself, far different from his nervous performance against the Nationals.
“A lot better,’’ Smoltz said. “There won’t be any of those situations. I mean, there could be some games where I give up runs in bunches, but not to the degree like I did in Game 1. I had an out-of-body experience. I didn’t know where my legs were. I didn’t know where to stand on the mound. It’s stuff like that that only happens once.’’
Smoltz believes he will settle into a true rhythm within three or four starts. Last night, before he left and the Orioles stripped and sold the Red Sox bullpen for parts, Smoltz pitched more like he expects he will.
“That’s a big positive that we can take out of this game,’’ Dustin Pedroia said.
After 45 minutes, Smoltz knew he wouldn’t be coming back out. That meant an hour break, too long a wait. Smoltz poked his head into manager Terry Francona’s office to let him know he understood. He would not throw another pitch on this night.
Smoltz’s first Red Sox victory will have to wait until at least Monday, when he’ll make his first start at Fenway Park, one of his favorite places to pitch on the road when he played for the Braves.
In the meantime, Smoltz feels he can still make improvements. His main objective is to establish command of his fastball, and he felt himself pull a couple fastballs last night, yanking them across the plate. He wants to fix a small timing issue in his delivery.
“The thing you learn about me is, I always want to be perfect,’’ Smoltz said. “I have some I still want to work on. The frustration, besides the obvious, was I really could have worked on some things for the next two innings. It’s one of those games you feel you’re going to go six, seven, eight innings.’’
But Smoltz had to sit and watch his teammates. For a few fleeting moments, Smoltz thought he had his first Red Sox win all but wrapped up. Instead, he watched something he had never seen, not even in his two decades in the game.
“It’s just one of those games, you shake your head,’’ Smoltz said. “And you can’t believe what you just saw.’’ 