Know how baseball people talk about having a nice mix of old players and young ones? The Red Sox demonstrated the meaning on Tuesday in Baltimore with a 7-2 win over the uh-O’s at Camden Yards.
Let’s start with the old(er) guy.
Jason Varitek went 2-for-5 with a double and another home run, his second in two nights. Varitek spent a considerable amount of time after the game answering questions about his recent burst of power, though he has always placed relatively little emphasis on offense. Still, he feels like he has been swinging the bat better since the All-Star break, even is he is batting just .220 since the break.
“I can’t change my batting average, but I can still help this team win,” said the 36-year-old Varitek, batting .218 overall. I’ve had competitive at-bats (since the All-Star break). I went through that stretch - however long it was - where I had some pretty feeble at-bats. I’ve done that to myself in the past. It’s just never lasted that long before.”
One other thing about Varitek: He admits to having only limted exposure to Carl Yastrzemski, who underwent triple bypass surgery Tuesday night at Mass General Hospital. Still, Yaz went out of his way to express delight after the Sox re-signed Varitek following the 2004 season, and he occasionally sends messages to Varitek through intermediaries. Most of them have to do with baseball issues, like Varitek’s swing, for instance.
“I’ve always appreciated that,” Varitek said.
A bond between captains?
As for the young(er) guys, they’re not all so young, though they are all under 30. We start with 29-year-old Kevin Youkilis, who went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI; he’s now batting .339 with nine home runs and 24 RBI in 28 games since the All-Star break after entering the second half with a reputation as a player who wears himself out (physically and mentally) during the season. Meanwhile, Daisuke Matsuzaka (another 20-something) improved to 15-2 with a 2.77 ERA despite another maddening performance in which he walked five and threw 105 pitches in five innings. Regardless, the Red Sox are now 18-4 in Matsuzaka’s 22 starts, each of which will grow in importance if there are any lingering issues with Josh Beckett.
As for Jacoby Ellsbury, he stole two bases to bring his season total to 40, making him just the eighth player in club history to steal as many as 40 bases in a season, the first since Otis (My Man) Nixon stole 42 in 1994. (Incidentally, Ellsbury’s mere existence disproves the notion that the Red Sox uniform is laced with lead.) With three more steals, Ellsbury will post the third-highest steal total in club history behind Tommy Harper (54 in 1973), Tris Speaker (52 in 1912) and Speaker again (46 in 1913).
Know what that means? It means Ellsbury might soon be just the second Red Sox player to steal as many as 43 bases in 95 years.
Finally, one other thing: Manager Terry Francona got two big innings out of Justin Masterson, which might have been more valuable than you might guess. Partly because Masterson was able to pitch a scoreless seventh and eighth, Francona was able to use Manny Delcarmen in the ninth and bypass Jonathan Papelbon, who had pitched two days in a row. With an off day on Thursday, Papelbon can now pitch on Wednesday and still be rested for Friday’s series opener in Toronto. The Sox then have another day off on Monday entering a series opener Tuesday in New York.
The point? Even in a relatively one-sided game, outs can be critical because they affect bullpen availability for subsequent days.
All for now.
