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Sox , Delcarmen, end losing streak
If you're the Red Sox you hope your home grown reliever has that defining moment when the light, which has sometimes flickered through his development, finally goes on for good.
That moment when he finally comes of age as a major league reliever.
Did that moment finally come for Boston native Manny Delcarmen last night in the seventh inning?
If it did, the Red Sox, and more specifically Delcarmen, are huge benefactors. With Brendan Donnelly on the disabled list, and Mike Timlin not what he used to be, the Sox, who have been trying to find another strong arm out of the bullpen to support Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, got a huge lift when Delcarmen struck out Sammy Sosa with the bases loaded in the seventh to preserve a 2-1 lead and eventual win for the Sox over the Texas Rangers last night.
Tim Wakefield had given the Red Sox 6-2/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits and four walks and left the game with two on and two outs. Delcarmen, throwing 95-97 m.p.h., let it rip but couldn't locate in walking No. 3 batter Michael Young on a 3-2 count. It was almost as if Delcarmen was over-throwing. He started out 2-0 on Sosa before Mike Lowell jogged over from third as if to say, "calm down kid..." That's exactly what Delcarmen did.
While Sosa has likely lost a little bat speed as he's gotten older, there was no question what was coming. It was Delcarmen's best fastball against Sosa's hardest swing. Delcarmen won.
The Sox bullpen excelled after that. Okajima held the fort with a 1-2-3 eighth. Papelbon secured his 19th save in the ninth - though he put two on after he recorded the first two outs - but retired Michael Young (called third strike) with the tying run on second base - and the Sox slipped out of a three-game losing streak with Wakefield cast in the role of stopper.
The Sox offense scored two measly runs on balls that never got out of the infield, one on Wily Mo Pena's infield single in the fourth and the other on a Manny Ramirez fielder's choice on a ground ball the hit off Texas starter Jamey Wright's foot and bounded to third base where David Ortiz was tagged out but after Kevin Youkilis had scored the winning run.
Delcarmen has been up twice this season and he always seems to be the guy who has to go back down to Triple-A when the veteran is ready. Delcarmen, however, has never given the Sox brass a reason to keep him here. Donnelly is eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, though that could be delayed. Delcarmen will again be vulnerable, but the fact he was asked to pitch in a 2-1 game, without question the most crucial point of the game, speaks volumes of how the Sox are beginning to feel about him.
Delcarmen allowed two runs in the fifth inning Tuesday against Seattle, but had pitched four scoreless innings for the Sox prior to that after going 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA at Pawtucket over 20 appearances. He had also thrown 15-2/3 scoreless innings in his last 10 outings at Triple-A.
