Game 10

Astros 17, Red Sox 5
Sunday, July 22, 2007 @ Cumberland Valley High School

The Red Sox came into this game shorthanded, especially on the mound, and knew that they'd have to push a lot of runs across to keep up with the Astros.

For a while, everything went according to plan. The Astros opened up with 3 runs in the 1st inning, but the Sox got the counterattack rolling immediately in their half of the 1st. John Lindholm drew a leadoff walk and scored on Tim Wendel's triple to deep left. But the Sox couldn't knock Wendel in, and the inning ended in disappointing fashion.

The Sox batted around in the 2nd, scoring 4 runs to take a 5-3 lead, but also left 2 runners on base. They rallied again in the 3rd, but the inning ended suddenly when a runner was doubled off second base on an appeal play.

Bill Miller, making his first start of the season on the mound, shook off a bases loaded jam in the 4th, and the Sox maintained the lead.

The wheels came off in the 5th. The Astros tied it on a walk and a triple. Miller had a chance to get out of trouble, but the Sox were unable to get an out on a smash back to the box and a bunt in front of the plate. The Astros took advantage of the opening and built a 9-5 lead before the inning was over.

The Sox couldn't get anything going after that, and the Astros broke the game open with rallies in the 7th and 9th.

The bright spots for the Sox in this one were mostly on defense. While the game was still close, catcher Lance Strous made a sensational diving catch of a foul pop behind the plate, secondbaseman Dave Strock chased down a flare in shallow rightfield and made a tough over-the-shoulder catch, and shortstop Tim Wendel made a diving stop to his right to get an inning-ending forceout. John Lindholm in centerfield and Kirk Strous in left also made nice grabs of line drives in front of them.

Bill Miller battled through five gritty innings on the mound, and was able to reach back for a little extra in a couple of key spots to keep the Sox within striking distance.

At the plate, the Sox did bang out 13 hits, led by Miller and Wendel with 3 each, but Wendel's triple was the only one that went for extra bases, and the Sox wasted a lot of scoring chances in the first four innings. To give credit where it's due, the Astros didn't give the Sox much for free, as their defense came up with most of the balls hit to them, and their pitchers worked ahead in the count for most of the day.