BOSTON – Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis pounded Fausto Carmona sinkers into the ground for seeing-eye singles, David Ortiz walked and, boy, were the Red Sox, with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first, set up.
But then Manny Ramirez struck out on another Carmona sinker, this one at the ankles, and Mike Lowell couldn’t get a fly ball more than 100 feet into right field to get Pedroia home. Fate, which can take control early in a Game 6, not only late, was fingering J.D. Drew.
We mean Just Dreadful Drew, who drove in 64 runs this year after opting out two years into a five-year, $55 million deal with the Dodgers and signing with the Red Sox for five years at $70 million.
Been hurt even worse than Joe Torre’s feelings has been J.D. Drew, who has averaged only 62 RBIs in his eight seasons but, in the best move of his life, hired Scott Boras as his agent. Boras has gotten five teams, including the Cardinals, who doubled the money to sign Drew in 1997 after he had refused a first-round draft by the Phillies the previous year, to raise the ante despite the fact that only twice has his client bettered 93 RBIs.
Of course Boras, being nothing if not patient, markets Drew almost entirely on his patience. Despite a career .270 batting average, the guy has an on-base percentage of .390, which is why your basic Sabrematrician like Red Sox GM Theo Epstein thought the sometimes right fielder was worth the investment (albeit with a two-year club opt-out, if Drew’s cranky shoulder breaks down for good). Also, why, with Carmona still struggling with the strike zone, Drew proved to be the man for last night’s job.
“I’m not afraid to take a pitch,” he said. [Carmona’s] not a guy you hit home runs off of, and I was just trying to drive a pitch up the middle.”
He reached down for a sinker that didn’t sink enough or move away from the middle of the plate to hit a grand slam into the television camera stand in straight-away center.
“Changed the whole complexion of the game,” said manager Terry Francona.
Suddenly the Red Sox fans, up 4-0 and on the way to celebrating a 12-2 victory, had all the patience in the world for Judiciously Dependable Drew, once he poked his head out of the dugout for a curtain call, of course.
“I’ve had a few in my career, not here so far,” he said. “It was great. It wasn’t the year I wanted to have, but in September I started to get things turned around.”
If Fenway needed further convincing, Drew lined a third-inning RBI single to stretch what, considering the way Curt Schilling is nibbling these days, was still a shaky 4-1 lead. The floodgates opened into a six-run inning. And now the Indians, once up 3-1 in games, are in danger of drowning in the anxiety Schilling says Drew never feels.
“If it were anybody else, any of you media or fans who have railed on him for six months, you wouldn’t produce because you would be stressed,” said the pitcher. “The part of his personality that upsets people is that he is the definition of even-keel.”
He’s been so even-keel in going 1-for-5 with a walk that last night Fenway almost keeled over. While Big Game Schilling was settling in to last seven innings, the Red Sox made Carmona throw 63 pitches in two-plus, then teed off on Rafael Perez as if they have had practice in facing elimination or something.
Tonight, with the disappointing Daisuke Matsuzaka facing Jake Westbrook, Tim Wakefield stands by, and if needed, Francona will not hesitate to use Josh Beckett. Neither will Red Sox Nation any longer to toast Drew. Another big hit from him tonight and these people would endorse a new deal, Boras standing by as always waiting for an opportunity.