Makeshift lineup makes do

After being shut out Saturday night for the first time this season, the Red Sox returned the favor, shutting out the Pirates, 8-0, in the deciding game of their three-game set at Fenway Park.
Sox starter Matt Clement turned in another strong outing -- seven innings, nine strikeouts, one walk and three hits, all singles -- to improve his record to 8-1. It was the second consecutive game in which Clement has allowed one walk while striking out nine.

"I think he has been terrific," manager Terry Francona said. "He's been there since the first [game]. This guy's been good for us. He walked one guy today. Even when he gets behind in the count, because his fastball moves so much, cutter, slider, you don't see a lot of good swings. There's been that one game [in St. Louis on June 7 when he gave up seven runs on seven hits in four innings]. Other than that, he's been terrific."

Clement is settling in nicely at Fenway Park in his first year with the Sox. He is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.74 at home, compared to 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA on the road.

"I obviously feel comfortable at Fenway," he said. "You want to work to feel comfortable in your home park, because you're going to pitch there the most. I don't feel uncomfortable on the road. Hopefully, the trend continues if I keep pitching well here and we figure out how to maybe pitch a little better on the road.

"I try to feel comfortable every start I make. There's been starts here at Fenway I haven't felt great or very comfortable at the beginning and I've had to find my rhythm."

With Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez out of the starting lineup nursing injuries -- Damon, a right shoulder he strained making a diving catch two weeks ago on Orlando Cabrera's line drive, and Ramirez, a left leg that was hit by a Dave Williams' pitch in Saturday's game -- Francona sent out a new-look lineup. Trot Nixon had the leadoff spot, with Kevin Millar taking Ramirez's spots both in left field and in the cleanup slot, John Olerud in the five-hole, and Jay Payton batting seventh.

"You're built on a 25-man roster," said Millar, who hit .389 during the six-game homestand. "That's what this club has. There's going to be days when guys are banged up. Johnny's been battling through some stuff, and Manny got drilled [Saturday] night. This club has guys who can contribute."

Francona's juggling worked, as Nixon went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Millar was 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBIs. Payton, who entered the game hitting .167 in the seventh spot, had two hits, including a two-run home run and two runs scored.

"I actually had a pretty good leadoff hitter and cleanup hitter," Francona said. "We had a good lineup in there today. We don't want to miss Johnny and Manny for a long period of time, obviously. I was actually pretty comfortable with that lineup we put out there."

Nixon, for one, was happy the Sox jumped out to an early lead.

"It's very satisfying to come back out and score quite a bit of runs," he said. "Get some of that cushion out there. That just makes our lineup that much stronger from top to bottom. It doesn't matter who's in the lineup or not."

Clement K-Meter
Pittsburgh at Boston, June 19, 2005
Matt Clement (8-1) fanned nine of the 25 Pirates he faced in his victory to increase his season strikeout total to 78 and career strikeout total to 1,106, through June 19. A look at his Ks:
K Strikeout victim Inn. Count
1 D. Ward (swinging) 2 2-2
2 R. Doumit (swinging) 2 1-2
3 J. Castillo (swinging) 3 1-2
4 R. Doumit (swinging) 4 1-2
5 R. Mackowiak (swinging) 4 1-2
6 H. Cota (swinging) 5 2-2
7 J. Bay (looking) 6 3-2
8 D. Ward (looking) 6 3-2
9 R. Doumit (swinging) 7 1-2
Key numbers for Clement:
Pitches-strikes: 112-69; Groundouts-flyouts: 4-8;
Season strikeouts-walks: 78-32; WHIP: 1.26

The Sox opened the scoring in the second inning as Millar singled and advanced to third on walks to Olerud and Payton. Bill Mueller's sacrifice fly to right scored Millar, putting the Red Sox up, 1-0.

The Sox added five runs in the third, giving Clement, a native of Butler, Pa., a comfortable cushion. After Nixon and Renteria singled, David Ortiz legged out a rare triple -- his first of the season and first since July 22, 2004, against the Orioles -- to deep center field. Ortiz then scored on the first of Millar's two sacrifice flies on the afternoon.

Payton's fifth home run on the season added two more runs, as Jason Varitek, who singled and scored ahead of Payton, as the Sox jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

Payton, who has seen limited playing time this season, has taken advantage of his recent games.

"It is what it is," he said. "I'm trying to make the most of it, just stay positive."

In his last six games, he is hitting .500 (8-for-16) with two home runs, four doubles and three RBIs. He is batting .375 in June, raising his season average to .270.

"Jay swung the bat good today," Francona said. "He's got some at-bats under his belt. I think you can tell he's getting a little more comfortable, getting through the ball better. He'd gone through a little period there where he was kind of moving is hands around or trying to find a comfort zone with his hands. Now, he's got some at-bats. He's swinging the bat with some authority. We're [ahead] 4-0, he hits that home run, to me that's big. He spread out the lead, gives Clement some room if he does make a mistake. It really changes the game."

The Sox knocked out Pittsburgh starter Kip Wells in the fourth inning and they added single runs in the fourth and fifth, extending their lead to 8-0.

Alan Embree, who took the loss in Saturday's game, entered in relief to open the eighth inning. In his two innings, he gave up one run while striking out three, including his 500th career strikeout -- Michael Restovich, swinging, on a 94 mph fastball.

"It was nice for the fact that I felt good Saturday, but I wasn't happy with the results," Embree said. "But I was happy with the way I felt [Saturday]. I had confidence going into today and got out of that jam in the eighth [when Jack Wilson tripled to right] and my confidence builds from that. Start getting some positive vibes instead of, 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' It's been going so bad lately that when the runner was on third, you knew somebody was going to hit a fly ball, the runner was going to tag up and score type of thing. And to be able to put that guy away without anybody scoring, it's like, 'OK, you've done that now you're ready to go, let's go.'"

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/