August 16, 2004: Keith Foulke earns 20th save as Red Sox begin summer surge

Keith Foulke signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox on January 7, 2004.1 The 2003 team had finished one win short of the World Series while relying on Byung-Hyun Kim to close 35 games and Brandon Lyon to close 31.2 General manager Theo Epstein looked to Foulke after the 31-year-old right-hander, formerly of the Oakland A’s, led the majors in 2003 by closing 67 games and topped the American League with 43 saves.

Foulke, who entered 2004 with 143 career saves in seven big-league seasons, began his tenure in Boston by saving the Red Sox’ first win of 2004, on April 6 against the Baltimore Orioles. Through August 14 (game 115 of the Red Sox season), Foulke had appeared in 50 games and had 19 saves to his credit. His earned-run average was 1.80.

He was called upon again on Monday, August 16, in the opener of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. The Blue Jays were in last place in the AL East Division, 26½ games behind the division-leading New York Yankees and five games behind the fourth-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Red Sox were second, but 10½ games behind New York and seven games ahead of third-place Baltimore.

Starting for Terry Francona’s Red Sox was Derek Lowe (10-10 with a 5.33 ERA). John Gibbons had taken over as manager of the Blue Jays just the previous weekend, replacing Carlos Tosca. The Jays were only 2-6 to this point for Gibbons. His starter was right-hander Justin Miller, who was 1-1 (4.38) in 10 prior appearances.

Lowe struck out the first batter he faced, then allowed a single, but slugger Vernon Wells grounded into a 4-3 double play quite impressively executed by Doug Mientkiewicz, who was playing second base for just the second time in his seven-season major-league career. Miller saw almost the same scenario in the bottom of the first, but it was a single, double play, and strikeout.

Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado drew a leadoff walk at the end of a 10-pitch plate appearance in the top of the second, but three groundouts followed without a run scoring. The first groundball was hit to Mientkiewicz, who fielded the ball between first and second. It resulted in an out as Delgado intentionally bowled over second baseman Mientkiewicz to prevent the double play. Mientkiewicz held the ball for the out but had some words for Delgado.3 The Boston Globe said Delgado had “decked Mientkiewicz with his two massive forearms.”4

The Red Sox got the first run of the game in their half of the second. After a leadoff double to left-center by DH David Ortiz and a walk, catcher Jason Varitek hit into a force at second base, Ortiz taking third. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly, also to left-center, and Ortiz tagged and scored.

In the third, Lowe faced three batters and struck them all out, each on a swinging third strike. The Red Sox were also retired in order.

The Jays tied it, 1-1, in the fourth. Second baseman Orlando Hudson lined a single to center. He stole second and scored when center fielder Wells singled to right.

The tie lasted only until the bottom of the inning, when the Red Sox retook the lead. Left fielder Manny Ramírez singled. He took second and Ortiz reached first on Hudson’s error. First baseman Kevin Millar walked, loading the bases with no outs. Varitek’s sacrifice fly to center scored Ramírez with the go-ahead run, and Cabrera’s single to left made it a 3-1 Boston lead.

Two groundouts and a strikeout were all the Jays did in the fifth, while the Red Sox boosted the lead in their half. Right fielder Dave Roberts walked, Ramírez doubled him to third, and Ortiz was intentionally walked. Millar doubled off the top of the Green Monster, scoring Roberts and Ramírez for a 5-1 lead. After Millar’s double, Sean Douglass replaced Miller. He issued an intentional walk to Varitek. The strategy succeeded, as Cabrera hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

In the sixth, the only runner for either team was Bill Mueller, who drew a leadoff walk from Douglass. He stole second while second baseman Mientkiewicz was striking out, but was out on the subsequent play, a fielder’s choice. Roberts struck out to end the inning.

Lowe had cruised through six innings, allowing just three hits. But in the top of the seventh, after two straight one-two-three innings, the Jays scored three times and made it a one-run game. It started when Lowe hit Delgado with the first pitch of the inning, deemed a “retaliatory” one by the Toronto Star correspondent after Delgado had knocked down Mientkiewicz in the second inning.5 Warnings were issued to both benches.

DH Frank Catalanotto struck out on three pitches, but third baseman Eric Hinske singled to left field. Shortstop Chris Woodward hit a ball that resulted in a “through-the-wickets error” by Cabrera at short,6 and Delgado scored.

Woodward then stole second. Left fielder Gabe Gross singled and drove in Hinske. Gregg Zaun pinch-hit for catcher Kevin Cash. Lowe picked Gross off first base, but Woodward took advantage of the throw over to run home. He didn’t draw a throw. Gross was out at second, but Woodward’s run cut the deficit to 5-4.

Zaun grounded out to first base unassisted. He then took Cash’s place behind the plate, and Justin Speier came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. After two outs, Millar swung at a wild pitch, striking out, but reached first safely since the ball was not caught. Varitek then walked, but Cabrera struck out on a ball catcher Zaun held.

Heading into the eighth, the Red Sox made a couple of defensive moves in the infield, Ricky Gutierrez taking over at second base and Mientkiewicz moving from second to first. Francona also brought in Foulke in hopes of a two-inning save. Foulke wasn’t a stranger to being asked to work two innings for a save; he already had six two-inning stints in the season. But his record in those situations wasn’t particularly good—he had one win, two losses, and one blown save, along with two no-decisions.

Jays right fielder Álex Ríos grounded out to Cabrera at shortstop. Hudson doubled to right field, putting the tying run on second base with just one out. Foulke got Wells to ground out, short to first, Hudson holding at second. Delgado was given an international walk. Catalanotto struck out on the sixth pitch, on a foul tip.

The Red Sox added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Vinnie Chulk took over the pitching for Toronto. As the Toronto Star noted, the Jays had a “big vulnerability—a bullpen carried all season by rookies who were now hitting the wall.”7 It was Chulk’s 33rd appearance of the year; the 25-year-old right-hander, who had debuted in the majors with three appearances in September 2003, was 0-3 with an ERA of 3.79. He’d picked up the third loss pitching to six Orioles batters the night before and giving up five runs (four earned) while getting just one out.

Chulk faced only three Boston batters in this game and got no one out. The hits got progressively worse for Chulk and the Blue Jays: a single to right field for Bill Mueller, a double down the left-field line for Mientkiewicz, and a two-run triple to right-center for Johnny Damon.8 Gibbons summoned Kerry Ligtenberg to replace Chulk. Dave Roberts hit his second pitch for a ground-rule double. The Red Sox had an 8-4 lead.

With the additional breathing room, Foulke made easy work of the Blue Jays in the ninth, dispatching Hinske, Woodward, and Gross in order. Lowe got the win, improving to 11-10.

Foulke earned his 20th save. He pitched in all three games of the Toronto series, earning the win with a scoreless ninth the next night and recording the final three outs in a nonsave situation the night after that. The sweep of the Blue Jays started a Red Sox surge of 20 wins in 22 games through September 8, which left Boston just two games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

The Red Sox ultimately came in second, three games behind New York, but their 98 wins were enough for the AL’s wild-card spot. Foulke finished the regular season with 32 saves and a 2.17 ERA. He then worked in 11 of Boston’s 14 postseason games, logging 14 innings and yielding just one run. He got the win in Game One of the World Series and recorded the save behind Lowe in Game Four, closing out the Red Sox’ first World Series title since 1918. His postseason ERA was a minuscule 0.64.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Len Levin. 

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org. Thanks to Adrian Fung for supplying Toronto newspapers.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200408160.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B08160BOS2004.htm

Some highlights of the game offered by ESPN are available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL_fwdKlSnQ  

Notes

1 The deal had been announced in mid-December, but the formal signing took place on this date.

2 In November 2003, Lyon had been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as one of four players dealt for Curt Schilling.

3 “It was a clean play by the rules,” wrote the Globe and Mail’s Larry Millson, “but under baseball’s code, sometime during the game, there was going to be payback.” Larry Millson, “Even Sloppy Sox Are Too Much,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 17, 2004: S1. Kevin Youkilis was out with an ankle injury from the previous game, and Mark Bellhorn was out with a fractured finger, which prompted some shifting around on infield defense. Mientkiewicz had previously played second base for a total of one inning, for the Twins on June 16, 2003, but had volunteered for the responsibility. Mientwiewicz had told the media, “I always used to goof around out there at b.p.” See the ESPN game highlights on YouTube.

4 Adam Kilgore, “Taking a Crash Course,” Boston Globe, August 17, 2004: 44.

5 Geoff Baker, “Blue Jays Sink Lower into the Basement,” Toronto Star, August 17, 2004: D20. Baker wrote, “Delgado expected to get hit because he ran over Mientkiewicz in the second inning when the latter scooped up a grounder and attempted to tag him as he headed to second.” If it was intentional, it contributed toward the Blue Jays rallying.

6 Kilgore.

7 Baker.

8 Damon was 2-for-5 and was, according to the Boston Globe, then hitting .338 in 55 home games. He had two RBIs in the game, as did Cabrera and Millar.