Wild, wild wrest

A's seize another win and gain game on Sox

By Bob Hohler, Globe Staff, 8/21/2003

The picture was as sharp as the wide-screen television in their clubhouse. The Red Sox, who spent the final seconds before their annual team photo yesterday watching the Yankees finish off the Royals, 8-7, were intimately familiar with their predicament.

Even before Tim Wakefield's first knuckleball fluttered in the gathering dusk, the Sox knew as keenly as their most fainthearted fans they needed to thwart the A's last night to keep their candle of hope aflame in the American League East and position themselves to regain the wild-card lead tonight behind Pedro Martinez.

Then came the latest blow to Boston's misfortunate boys of August. No sooner did they tote a 6-4 lead into the eighth inning than their closer Byung Hyun Kim came completely undone, coughing up four runs (three earned) as the A's surged back to bury the Sox, 8-6, and turn the Hub's flame of divisional hope into a tiny flicker before 34,798 at Fenway Park.

The loss also dumped the Sox two games behind the A's in the wild-card derby and deprived Martinez of a chance to help reclaim the lead tonight in the finale of the three-game series.

"We've got to stay strong as a team and at least fight for this wild card," catcher Doug Mirabelli said. "Obviously, we're still in that. You can't doubt eight games back [in the loss column] to the Yankees. We can't even see them right now."

Kim's collapse came as suddenly as a summer squall as he retired only one of the six batters he faced for his second blown save in 11 tries and the bullpen's 24th loss of the season.

"Not just me, but all the team knows how important this game was," Kim said through interpreter Chang Lee. "I did my best out there. I just didn't have my good stuff."

After he departed to a cacophony of boos, Kim became the latest in a long line of Sox players to express disdain for their percieved lack of public support.

"A lot of people have a negative attitude toward this team, but we have good hopes," he said. "And I know we're going to do well."

It may not be easy. "It's not a good spot to be in," said Johnny Damon, who collected three hits to improve his average to a season-high .279. "We needed the game [Tuesday] and we needed the game tonight, but there's a lot of baseball left. We just have to believe in ourselves."

Kim surrendered laser-like singles to four of the first five batters he faced to account for the first two runs. The go-ahead run scored when third baseman Bill Mueller tried to erase Erubiel Durazo scoring from third on a grounder by Mark Ellis, only for Mueller's throw to sail past Mirabelli for an error on the catcher. (Mueller was initially tagged with the error before a postgame scoring change.)

"I thought the ball was going to hit Durazo on his left arm," Mirabelli said, "so I sort of [short-armed] it and the ball never hit him and I missed it."

The damage ended with Chris Singleton launching a sacrifice fly off Kim's successor, Scott Sauerbeck. But the run was charged to Kim, who had not pitched since Saturday. The Sox have used Kim several times this year for two innings in closer situations or tie games.

"He was well rested," manager Grady Little. "He just had a little trouble getting people out there."

The Sox had a chance to recoup the runs in the bottom of the eighth when Jason Varitek (3 for 3 with two walks) and pinch hitter David McCarty each singled to put runners at first and second with none out. But they went no farther as Mirabelli, Todd Walker, and Damon went down in order.

Nomar Garciaparra also brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth when he singled with one out off Oakland closer Keith Foulke for his 1,200th career hit, becoming the 15th Sox player to reach the milestone. But Foulke fanned Manny Ramirez and got Kevin Millar to fly to right to complete the miserable finish for the Sox.

At first, the game appeared to mark the return of the Sox offense, as everyone in the starting lineup reached safely against Oakland starter Ted Lilly and his successors. The Sox even strung together their best rally in 13 games, striking for four runs in the third inning. But they otherwise failed to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities, stranding 17 runners despite banging out 17 hits and drawing seven walks. Varitek, Garciaparra and Damon led the Sox with three hits each, while Damian Jackson and Gabe Kapler each drove in two runs.

"We've got to find a way to get us going," Varitek said. "We've got a month and a week or whatever it is. This is not out of our reach. We just need to keep going and doing things we did earlier in the year."

The loss marked the second straight night the Sox blew a late lead to their chief rivals for the wild-card berth.

"We're at a point right now where we need to head upward," Little said. "I feel like tomorrow is a new day."

Before the fall, Wakefield did his part by spotting the A's four runs over six-plus innings, surrendering seven hits, including solo homers by Durazo and Miguel Tejada, before he gave way to the bullpen. But after Alan Embree and Mike Timlin helped Wakefield escape the seventh inning unscathed, the A's ganged up on Kim in the eighth.

What next? "It's a devastating loss, but we've had a few devastating losses this year and bounced back," Damon said. "Hopefully, we can again."