Red Sox manager Terry Francona implied this afternoon that the Red Sox will carry just two catchers in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim but that George Kottaras will accompany the team on the road and Dusty Brown will be assigned to Fort Myers, Fla., just to keep him sharp.
"That gives us a guy that's been with us all year with us," Francona said, "and a guy that we think is a good defensive catcher continuing to catch so if we run into a problem with all these crazy start times, we have one guy with us and one guy preparing to be with us.
"Hopefully, we can make a choice, but sometimes with all these schedules are and with everything on the West coast, we have everything covered there."
A reporter asked Francona if Kottaras would be allowed to catch in the bullpen if he's not on the roster, and Francona gave no indication that Kottaras was a consideration to be on the roster.
"It's like a gentleman's agreement -- and the league is OK with it -- that you have (inactive) guys on the bench," Francona said. "You're allowed to have them there. I need to check about (the bullpen). That, actually, I don't know. If he is, we'd like him to do it. I don't know if they're allowed or not. It's not really a competitive advantage, but sometimes they have rules in play. (If they're on) the DL, you can't. We'll check."
The key phrase there is the one in the middle: "If he is (allowed to catch in the bullpen), we'd like him to do it."
That certainly makes it sound as if Kottaras will not be active as a third catcher.
That leaves only Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek as active catchers on the Red Sox roster for that series. The Red Sox carried three catchers against the Angels a year ago but seem to have settled on two catchers for this series. Could that mean new life for Manny Delcarmen? It certainly could.
***
Junichi Tazawa will accompany the team to California for Games 1 and 2 but go home to Japan from there. Tazawa, on the 60-day disabled list, isn't eligible for the roster, but the team wanted him to experience the postseason just a little bit before going home for the winter.
Brian Anderson and Joey Gathright both will accompany the team to Los Angeles. One of the two likely will make the roster, but it's hard to believe both will. Josh Reddick will join the team if J.D. Drew's shoulder is still an issue; if not, he'll go to Fort Myers to stay sharp just in case.
Pitchers Fernando Cabrera, Hunter Jones and Dustin Richardson all will head home at the conclusion of the season, but Michael Bowden will throw in Fort Myers in case the Red Sox need him.
Showing posts with label kottaras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kottaras. Show all posts
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Projecting the ALDS roster
Theo Epstein and Terry Francona this week both deflected opportunities to make any type of announcement about the 25-man roster the Red Sox will take with them into the postseason. Those decisions, both said, will be made Monday or Tuesday, after the season, at a meeting likely to take place after the Red Sox arrive in Los Angeles in advance of Game 1.
There's no reason, though, why we can't go ahead and speculate.
Here, then, is a preliminary look at how the roster might shape up -- and this is independent of which schedule the Yankees choose to play:
Pitchers (10): Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka; Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Ramon Ramirez, Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner.
The Red Sox, either way, are going to want four starting pitchers on their postseason roster. If they play the shorter of the two ALDS schedules, they'll need to start Matsuzaka. If they play the longer of the two ALDS schedules, they'll need a starting pitcher in reserve just in case: Imagine the nightmare scenario in which Jon Lester takes another line drive off the knee in Game 1, not only torching the bullpen but sidelining him for Game 4.
(The Red Sox could remove him from the roster and replace him, but he'd then be ineligible for the ALCS. If the injury was severe enough to cost him a start but not enough to cost him three starts, they wouldn't want to do that.)
The question, then, becomes how many relief pitchers the Red Sox will need. A year ago, they chose to go with 10 pitchers, total, with Paul Byrd as the long reliever and emergency starter. (He did not appear in a game.) There's no reason they'd change that number this year.
Both David Aardsma and Mike Timlin were left off the roster for the ALDS a year ago, but Timlin was added for the ALCS. It appears that the roller-coaster ride that is Manny Delcarmen will fill the same role: He'll keep throwing and be ready in case someone blows out an elbow during the ALDS, but he likely won't be on the roster until the ALCS.
Catchers (3): George Kottaras, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek.
It might be tempting to go with just two catchers thanks to Martinez's flexibility, but it's far too risky: If Martinez were to sprain an ankle, the Red Sox would have just one true catcher on the roster. Kottaras might not play, but he's necessary insurance.
Infielders (6): Alex Gonzalez, Casey Kotchman, Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
Lowrie earns the nod over Nick Green as a backup middle infielder both because he's healthier and because he's the better player. Green deserves all the praise that has come his way this season for helping the Red Sox tread water at shortstop, but if Lowrie is healthy enough, he should be the guy.
(Note: Gonzalez was hit by a pitch on Saturday night and removed from the game. If it's anything serious and Green still can't go, you might see Chris Woodward fill that spot.)
Outfielders (5): Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bay, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Joey Gathright.
Leaving an extra pitcher off the roster means the Red Sox have the luxury of adding Gathright for late-inning substitutions -- he can fill the Dave Roberts pinch-running role, but he also could replace Bay in the outfield late in a close game.
Designated hitter (1): David Ortiz.
The guy has something of a postseason history, it seems.
There's no reason, though, why we can't go ahead and speculate.
Here, then, is a preliminary look at how the roster might shape up -- and this is independent of which schedule the Yankees choose to play:
Pitchers (10): Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka; Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Ramon Ramirez, Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner.
The Red Sox, either way, are going to want four starting pitchers on their postseason roster. If they play the shorter of the two ALDS schedules, they'll need to start Matsuzaka. If they play the longer of the two ALDS schedules, they'll need a starting pitcher in reserve just in case: Imagine the nightmare scenario in which Jon Lester takes another line drive off the knee in Game 1, not only torching the bullpen but sidelining him for Game 4.
(The Red Sox could remove him from the roster and replace him, but he'd then be ineligible for the ALCS. If the injury was severe enough to cost him a start but not enough to cost him three starts, they wouldn't want to do that.)
The question, then, becomes how many relief pitchers the Red Sox will need. A year ago, they chose to go with 10 pitchers, total, with Paul Byrd as the long reliever and emergency starter. (He did not appear in a game.) There's no reason they'd change that number this year.
Both David Aardsma and Mike Timlin were left off the roster for the ALDS a year ago, but Timlin was added for the ALCS. It appears that the roller-coaster ride that is Manny Delcarmen will fill the same role: He'll keep throwing and be ready in case someone blows out an elbow during the ALDS, but he likely won't be on the roster until the ALCS.
Catchers (3): George Kottaras, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek.
It might be tempting to go with just two catchers thanks to Martinez's flexibility, but it's far too risky: If Martinez were to sprain an ankle, the Red Sox would have just one true catcher on the roster. Kottaras might not play, but he's necessary insurance.
Infielders (6): Alex Gonzalez, Casey Kotchman, Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
Lowrie earns the nod over Nick Green as a backup middle infielder both because he's healthier and because he's the better player. Green deserves all the praise that has come his way this season for helping the Red Sox tread water at shortstop, but if Lowrie is healthy enough, he should be the guy.
(Note: Gonzalez was hit by a pitch on Saturday night and removed from the game. If it's anything serious and Green still can't go, you might see Chris Woodward fill that spot.)
Outfielders (5): Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bay, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Joey Gathright.
Leaving an extra pitcher off the roster means the Red Sox have the luxury of adding Gathright for late-inning substitutions -- he can fill the Dave Roberts pinch-running role, but he also could replace Bay in the outfield late in a close game.
Designated hitter (1): David Ortiz.
The guy has something of a postseason history, it seems.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Kottaras hits first big-league home run
Rocco Baldelli on May 9. David Ortiz hit his first home run on May 20. Mark Kotsay hit his first home run on on June 7. Heck, even Josh Beckett hit his first home run on June 14.
But it wasn't until Friday night against the Mariners that George Kottaras got the monkey off his back, blasting a line drive over the visitors' bullpen in right field to become the final Red Sox regular to hit his first home run of the season -- and, incidentally, the first home run of his career.
"A couple of guys have given me a hard time about not hitting one for a while, but I don't go up there trying to hit a home run," he said. "If it happens, it's going to happen. Tonight, I didn't try to do it. It just happened."
(Who, specifically, has given him a hard time? "I can't say," he said with a smirk. "That's clubhouse talk.")
Kottaras had come awfully close to his first home run in the seventh inning, turning on a 94-mile-an-hour fastball from Felix Hernandez and driving it to the warning track before Ichiro Suzuki hauled it in. But when reliever Mark Lowe threw a 98-mile-an-hour fastball in almost the same spot in the 11th inning, Kottaras left no doubt.
"I didn't quite get all of that first one," he said. "The one I hit out, I hit pretty well. That felt pretty good."
Said catcher Jason Varitek, "That ball got out of there in a hurry."
The ball took one hop and landed in the hands of Manchester's Amanda Townsend -- who was promptly whisked away by Fenway Park security. She and her dad presented the ball to Kottaras outside the Red Sox locker room; Kottaras disappeared back into the locker room for a few minutes and re-emerged with an autographed bat.
"One of the security guys came over -- and I actually thought, 'I know I didn't hurt anybody!'" Townsend said. "I was nervous. He was like, 'You've got to come with me.' I was like, 'Am I in trouble?' He said, 'No. It was just his first home run, and he'd like the ball.'"
The ball went right into Kottaras' locker and likely will find its way back to Ontario in the near future.
"I'm sure my mom will put it away somewhere and keep it," he said. "She takes care of all that stuff."
Kottaras hadn't let himself get too worked up over his inability to hit a home run in his relatively brief major-league career. It's not easy to get a feel for the plate when you're only playing once or twice a week.
Still, though, it was a little bit odd to see a guy who had hit 22 home runs in fewer than 400 at-bats in Triple-A last season go this long without going deep.
"He matches up good against any fastball pitcher -- but sometimes he gets tough draws," shortstop Nick Green said. "He got a tough draw with Felix tonight."
Skeptical? Among the pitchers Kottaras had faced through the first three months: Matt Garza, Jair Jurrjens, Cliff Lee, Javier Vazquez and Jered Weaver. On top of that, the lefthanded hitter hit a stretch between mid-April and mid-May in which he'd had almost as many plate appearances against lefthanded pitchers (13) as against righties (21).
"He had a rough draw the first month or two," said left fielder Jason Bay about his fellow Canadian. (Bay became a U.S. citizen on Thursday but did not renounce his Canadian citizenship.) "It seemed like every time Wake pitched, we were facing a lefty. It was unbelievable the way it worked out. He's a guy that only gets out there once, twice a week, and now you're getting a lefty. He scuffled at the beginning, but his last four or five starts, he's looked really good and swung the bat well."
In his last six starts, in fact, Kottaras is hitting .364 with four doubles -- and that elusive home run.
"He's a strong kid, and when he gets it in that area where he can get the head (of the bat) to it, he can hit it a long way," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
But it wasn't until Friday night against the Mariners that George Kottaras got the monkey off his back, blasting a line drive over the visitors' bullpen in right field to become the final Red Sox regular to hit his first home run of the season -- and, incidentally, the first home run of his career.
"A couple of guys have given me a hard time about not hitting one for a while, but I don't go up there trying to hit a home run," he said. "If it happens, it's going to happen. Tonight, I didn't try to do it. It just happened."
(Who, specifically, has given him a hard time? "I can't say," he said with a smirk. "That's clubhouse talk.")
Kottaras had come awfully close to his first home run in the seventh inning, turning on a 94-mile-an-hour fastball from Felix Hernandez and driving it to the warning track before Ichiro Suzuki hauled it in. But when reliever Mark Lowe threw a 98-mile-an-hour fastball in almost the same spot in the 11th inning, Kottaras left no doubt.
"I didn't quite get all of that first one," he said. "The one I hit out, I hit pretty well. That felt pretty good."
Said catcher Jason Varitek, "That ball got out of there in a hurry."
The ball took one hop and landed in the hands of Manchester's Amanda Townsend -- who was promptly whisked away by Fenway Park security. She and her dad presented the ball to Kottaras outside the Red Sox locker room; Kottaras disappeared back into the locker room for a few minutes and re-emerged with an autographed bat.
"One of the security guys came over -- and I actually thought, 'I know I didn't hurt anybody!'" Townsend said. "I was nervous. He was like, 'You've got to come with me.' I was like, 'Am I in trouble?' He said, 'No. It was just his first home run, and he'd like the ball.'"
The ball went right into Kottaras' locker and likely will find its way back to Ontario in the near future.
"I'm sure my mom will put it away somewhere and keep it," he said. "She takes care of all that stuff."
Kottaras hadn't let himself get too worked up over his inability to hit a home run in his relatively brief major-league career. It's not easy to get a feel for the plate when you're only playing once or twice a week.
Still, though, it was a little bit odd to see a guy who had hit 22 home runs in fewer than 400 at-bats in Triple-A last season go this long without going deep.
"He matches up good against any fastball pitcher -- but sometimes he gets tough draws," shortstop Nick Green said. "He got a tough draw with Felix tonight."
Skeptical? Among the pitchers Kottaras had faced through the first three months: Matt Garza, Jair Jurrjens, Cliff Lee, Javier Vazquez and Jered Weaver. On top of that, the lefthanded hitter hit a stretch between mid-April and mid-May in which he'd had almost as many plate appearances against lefthanded pitchers (13) as against righties (21).
"He had a rough draw the first month or two," said left fielder Jason Bay about his fellow Canadian. (Bay became a U.S. citizen on Thursday but did not renounce his Canadian citizenship.) "It seemed like every time Wake pitched, we were facing a lefty. It was unbelievable the way it worked out. He's a guy that only gets out there once, twice a week, and now you're getting a lefty. He scuffled at the beginning, but his last four or five starts, he's looked really good and swung the bat well."
In his last six starts, in fact, Kottaras is hitting .364 with four doubles -- and that elusive home run.
"He's a strong kid, and when he gets it in that area where he can get the head (of the bat) to it, he can hit it a long way," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Maybe Kottaras really is going to be the guy
The Red Sox have not yet traded for a successor to Jason Varitek. Despite all the rumblings this winter and all the rumblings this spring, the Red Sox have not yet pulled the trigger on a deal for a young catcher.
Here's the thing: They might not ever trade for a young catcher. They might just believe they have their future catcher in-house already.
George Kottaras now is hitting just .188 in his rookie season; he went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Thursday against the Tigers.
But after seeing his batting average tumble to .133 on May 19, Kottaras actually had three hits (including three doubles) in his next 14 at-bats to bring his batting average back up above .200. That's certainly not great, but it's also not terrible considering the fact that he (a) spends most of his time focused on catching the knuckleball, not hitting, and (b) is playing only once ever five days.
"It's not easy, but on the days when I'm not playing, I do as much as I can to keep my rhythm going," he said in early May.
It's also not terrible considering what some of his predecessors have done. Catchers often are late bloomers at the plate -- with the variety of pitchers they have to handle in the minor leagues, it's a wonder they get to work on their hitting at all. Jason Varitek and Kelly Shoppach -- the latter being the catcher who likely would have Kottaras' job now had he not been traded to Cleveland -- both endured the same early struggles as they broke into the big leagues, too.
Heck, even Jorge Posada went 1 for his first 15 in his first coffee with the Yankees in 1995 and 1996, and his batting average was .240 as late as July of his rookie season.
Here's a look at how Kottaras stacks up to Varitek and Shoppach in their first full seasons in the major leagues:
Jason Varitek (age 26 in 1998)
Final year down in Triple-A: .244/.321/.421
First 30 plate appearances: .214/.267/.250
First 50 plate appearances: .244/.333/.289
Kelly Shoppach (age 26 in 2006)
Final year down in Triple-A: .253/.352/.507
First 30 plate appearances: .222/.323/.296
First 50 plate appearances: .255/.314/.426
George Kottaras (age 26 in 2009)
Final year down in Triple-A: .243/.348/.456
First 30 plate appearances: .160/.267/.240
First 50 plate appearances: .205/.275/.318
That .160 batting average certainly stands out. But even then, Kottaras had the same on-base percentage as Varitek through 30 trips to the plate -- and he's got a better slugging percentage than Varitek through 50. (One thing to keep in mind: Varitek was playing at least every other day at that point, too. He split time pretty much evenly with Scott Hatteberg that year.)
None of this is to say that Kottaras is guaranteed to become the next Varitek. Far from it. Fifty plate appearances is an absurdly small sample size from which to draw conclusions.
But Kottaras is holding his own. And based on the way he has played defensively so far this season -- that disaster with Daisuke Matsuzaka aside -- it wouldn't be outrageous to suggest the Red Sox see Kottaras as a strong candidate to be their catcher when Varitek retires.
Here's the thing: They might not ever trade for a young catcher. They might just believe they have their future catcher in-house already.
George Kottaras now is hitting just .188 in his rookie season; he went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Thursday against the Tigers.
But after seeing his batting average tumble to .133 on May 19, Kottaras actually had three hits (including three doubles) in his next 14 at-bats to bring his batting average back up above .200. That's certainly not great, but it's also not terrible considering the fact that he (a) spends most of his time focused on catching the knuckleball, not hitting, and (b) is playing only once ever five days.
"It's not easy, but on the days when I'm not playing, I do as much as I can to keep my rhythm going," he said in early May.
It's also not terrible considering what some of his predecessors have done. Catchers often are late bloomers at the plate -- with the variety of pitchers they have to handle in the minor leagues, it's a wonder they get to work on their hitting at all. Jason Varitek and Kelly Shoppach -- the latter being the catcher who likely would have Kottaras' job now had he not been traded to Cleveland -- both endured the same early struggles as they broke into the big leagues, too.
Heck, even Jorge Posada went 1 for his first 15 in his first coffee with the Yankees in 1995 and 1996, and his batting average was .240 as late as July of his rookie season.
Here's a look at how Kottaras stacks up to Varitek and Shoppach in their first full seasons in the major leagues:
Jason Varitek (age 26 in 1998)
Final year down in Triple-A: .244/.321/.421
First 30 plate appearances: .214/.267/.250
First 50 plate appearances: .244/.333/.289
Kelly Shoppach (age 26 in 2006)
Final year down in Triple-A: .253/.352/.507
First 30 plate appearances: .222/.323/.296
First 50 plate appearances: .255/.314/.426
George Kottaras (age 26 in 2009)
Final year down in Triple-A: .243/.348/.456
First 30 plate appearances: .160/.267/.240
First 50 plate appearances: .205/.275/.318
That .160 batting average certainly stands out. But even then, Kottaras had the same on-base percentage as Varitek through 30 trips to the plate -- and he's got a better slugging percentage than Varitek through 50. (One thing to keep in mind: Varitek was playing at least every other day at that point, too. He split time pretty much evenly with Scott Hatteberg that year.)
None of this is to say that Kottaras is guaranteed to become the next Varitek. Far from it. Fifty plate appearances is an absurdly small sample size from which to draw conclusions.
But Kottaras is holding his own. And based on the way he has played defensively so far this season -- that disaster with Daisuke Matsuzaka aside -- it wouldn't be outrageous to suggest the Red Sox see Kottaras as a strong candidate to be their catcher when Varitek retires.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Bailey, Kottaras get things rolling
There's a school of thought that goes like this: When a new pitcher comes into a game and there are men on base, you take a pitch or two to gauge his stuff -- lest you get burned by a first-pitch breaking ball and bounce into a rally-killing double play.
There's another school of thought that goes like this: When you're 3-for-22 on the season and not getting any kind of regular playing time and you get a first-pitch fastball over the plate, you jump the heck on it.
"To be honest with you, sometimes you sit offspeed -- but in that situation, I said, 'I'm just going to sit fastball,'" said first baseman Jeff Bailey, whose bases-loaded double in the sixth inning broke Thursday's game wide open. "That's a situation where it's going to be one or the other. They're trying to get a bad swing, a double-play ball, something like that, and I guessed right. It was middle-in, and I got the head out -- I didn't crush it, but it was enough."
Bailey was part of a makeshift lineup cobbled together in spite of injuries to Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz -- the latter of whom discovered during batting practice that he couldn't turn his neck to face the pitcher without feeling pain.
Since Tim Wakefield was pitching, George Kottaras was behind the plate -- meaning the Red Sox were only playing four regular starters in the field plus Julio Lugo at designated hitter.
"We were scrambling," manager Terry Francona said.
But after starter Jeremy Sowers pitched five solid innings, the Red Sox started to get things going in the sixth. The first six batters of the inning, in fact, all reached before Sowers could record an out. Jason Bay's double to left scored a run to tie the game at 2, and Rocco Baldelli's single to right-center field plated two more to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.
When J.D. Drew walked on a slider outside, Cleveland manager Eric Wedge called upon Masa Kobayashi to face Bailey with the bases loaded and no outs.
It was certainly still a game at that point. If Kobayashi could have gotten Bailey to hit the ball on the ground, he could have wiggled out of the jam with no further damage -- and Bailey had hit into double plays in back-to-back games.
Not Thursday, though.
"I was just looking fastball," Bailey said. "He started it in the middle and it ran in a little bit, and I got my hands through."
The result was a double to left field that scored Baldelli and Mike Lowell to push the Red Sox lead to 6-2 -- and also push Bailey's batting average up above .150 for the first time in almost a week.
"You never want to go under .100," he said with a wry grin.
Two batters later, it was Kottaras' turn. Nick Green had just beaten out an infield hit; Kobayashi failed to cover first base on a slow roller to the right side of the infield, and that loaded things right back up for a catcher who had been having a similarly tough time in limited action.
Heading into Thursday night, Kottaras' batting average was .143; he'd then popped to center and popped to short in his first two at-bats. That's how it sometimes goes, though, when you're a backup catcher who plays once or twice a week.
"It's not easy, but on the days when I'm not playing, I do as much as I can to keep my rhythm going," he said.
Just like Bailey, Kottaras didn't wait around for Kobayashi to get ahead in the count. He got a first-pitch fastball up and away and lifted it into center field for a two-run single.
"You're just trying to be aggressive in the situation and take what you can get," he said.
With that hit, he lifted his batting average back above .150, higher than it's been since April 22. He also knocked in more runs on that play than he had in his first 23 at-bats.
"It's great getting a hit anytime," he said. "I just went up there and tried to simplify what's going on."
Julio Lugo followed Kottaras with an infield hit, and Dustin Pedroia then singled home two more runs before Jason Bay hit a three-run home run over the Red Sox bullpen. This all, of course, came before the Indians had recorded an out.
It made for quite the memorable inning.
"It's always great to put some runs on the board," Kottaras said. "Guys had some great at-bats and hustled some balls out. We just went out there and made things happen."
Said Bailey, "It gets crowded at the helmet rack, I know that. Everybody wants to get up there."
And don't think their contributions got lost in the onslaught.
"On a night when David doesn't play, it's very satisfying getting guys involved -- getting George to stay on a pitch long enough to get it over the infielder's head, and Bails had some real good at-bats," Francona said. "Right in the middle of that big inning, it's great."
Said Baldelli, "It's a good-hitting team over here, and I think everybody knows that. Especially when the bottom of the order is really contributing like they did tonight, good things are going to happen."
There's another school of thought that goes like this: When you're 3-for-22 on the season and not getting any kind of regular playing time and you get a first-pitch fastball over the plate, you jump the heck on it.
"To be honest with you, sometimes you sit offspeed -- but in that situation, I said, 'I'm just going to sit fastball,'" said first baseman Jeff Bailey, whose bases-loaded double in the sixth inning broke Thursday's game wide open. "That's a situation where it's going to be one or the other. They're trying to get a bad swing, a double-play ball, something like that, and I guessed right. It was middle-in, and I got the head out -- I didn't crush it, but it was enough."
Bailey was part of a makeshift lineup cobbled together in spite of injuries to Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz -- the latter of whom discovered during batting practice that he couldn't turn his neck to face the pitcher without feeling pain.
Since Tim Wakefield was pitching, George Kottaras was behind the plate -- meaning the Red Sox were only playing four regular starters in the field plus Julio Lugo at designated hitter.
"We were scrambling," manager Terry Francona said.
But after starter Jeremy Sowers pitched five solid innings, the Red Sox started to get things going in the sixth. The first six batters of the inning, in fact, all reached before Sowers could record an out. Jason Bay's double to left scored a run to tie the game at 2, and Rocco Baldelli's single to right-center field plated two more to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.
When J.D. Drew walked on a slider outside, Cleveland manager Eric Wedge called upon Masa Kobayashi to face Bailey with the bases loaded and no outs.
It was certainly still a game at that point. If Kobayashi could have gotten Bailey to hit the ball on the ground, he could have wiggled out of the jam with no further damage -- and Bailey had hit into double plays in back-to-back games.
Not Thursday, though.
"I was just looking fastball," Bailey said. "He started it in the middle and it ran in a little bit, and I got my hands through."
The result was a double to left field that scored Baldelli and Mike Lowell to push the Red Sox lead to 6-2 -- and also push Bailey's batting average up above .150 for the first time in almost a week.
"You never want to go under .100," he said with a wry grin.
Two batters later, it was Kottaras' turn. Nick Green had just beaten out an infield hit; Kobayashi failed to cover first base on a slow roller to the right side of the infield, and that loaded things right back up for a catcher who had been having a similarly tough time in limited action.
Heading into Thursday night, Kottaras' batting average was .143; he'd then popped to center and popped to short in his first two at-bats. That's how it sometimes goes, though, when you're a backup catcher who plays once or twice a week.
"It's not easy, but on the days when I'm not playing, I do as much as I can to keep my rhythm going," he said.
Just like Bailey, Kottaras didn't wait around for Kobayashi to get ahead in the count. He got a first-pitch fastball up and away and lifted it into center field for a two-run single.
"You're just trying to be aggressive in the situation and take what you can get," he said.
With that hit, he lifted his batting average back above .150, higher than it's been since April 22. He also knocked in more runs on that play than he had in his first 23 at-bats.
"It's great getting a hit anytime," he said. "I just went up there and tried to simplify what's going on."
Julio Lugo followed Kottaras with an infield hit, and Dustin Pedroia then singled home two more runs before Jason Bay hit a three-run home run over the Red Sox bullpen. This all, of course, came before the Indians had recorded an out.
It made for quite the memorable inning.
"It's always great to put some runs on the board," Kottaras said. "Guys had some great at-bats and hustled some balls out. We just went out there and made things happen."
Said Bailey, "It gets crowded at the helmet rack, I know that. Everybody wants to get up there."
And don't think their contributions got lost in the onslaught.
"On a night when David doesn't play, it's very satisfying getting guys involved -- getting George to stay on a pitch long enough to get it over the infielder's head, and Bails had some real good at-bats," Francona said. "Right in the middle of that big inning, it's great."
Said Baldelli, "It's a good-hitting team over here, and I think everybody knows that. Especially when the bottom of the order is really contributing like they did tonight, good things are going to happen."
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