BOSTON -- Right-handed reliever Scott Williamson, who has been struggling on the mound for the most part since joining Boston, had an MRI of his right shoulder yesterday. The results were encouraging.
There were no signs of anything serious, but Williamson is suffering from tendinitis and will be held out of action for a day or two. Then he'll throw on the side to make sure he is healthy enough to enter a game.
Williamson, though, has been troubled by off-the-field problems as well. His wife, Lisa, gave birth to a son, Scott Reese, on July 29, the day he was traded to Boston from Cincinnati. Lisa had to be hospitalized because of complications with the delivery.
His son had to return to the hospital a few days ago and underwent a spinal tap during his stay. While Williamson still wasn't sure what was wrong with his son, he was released from the hospital yesterday and headed home, which, naturally, was a relief to the new father.
Sleepwalking on the job
It's the last week of the season and the Red Sox are chasing a playoff spot, so you would think they'd be playing with maximum intensity and concentration.
But Johnny Damon made a mental mistake that cost Manny Ramirez a chance to bat with a runner in scoring position in the third inning.
Damon, running from first with two outs on a 2-and-1 pitch to Ramirez, easily beat the throw from catcher Brook Fordyce, sailing into the bag standing up.
The Sox' center fielder, though, thought Ramirez had fouled off the pitch, so he ran through the bag, pivoted and started to jog back to first base. After straying about 15 feet toward first, Baltimore pitcher Jason Johnson's attention was called to the situation. He pivoted and threw to second baseman Brian Roberts who slapped a tag on the embarrassed Damon, ending the inning.
"There were no cheers so I thought Manny fouled the ball off," admitted a sheepish Damon. "That's my mistake. I have to check that. It was embarrassing. When he tagged me I still thought it was a foul ball. I'm just glad it didn't cost us."
Nomar is off his game
The Red Sox committed two errors on one play in the first inning.
A hot one-hopper hit by Baltimore's Luis Matos eluded shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, ticking off his glove for the first error. And when Ramirez had trouble picking up the ball in left-center, Matos hustled into second on that error.
For Garciaparra, the error was his 19th of the year.
After playing great defense for a long stretch, Garciaparra has been racking up the errors lately. Last night's error was his third in the last five games. Garciaparra went 32 games without an error from July 21 to Aug. 26. But in the 24 games since, Garciaparra has been charged with 5 errors.
At the plate, Garciaparra batted second again and went 0-for-3 with two infield popups and a liner to the 379-foot marker. He's 2-for-16 (.125) in five games in the second spot. His overall average is down to .305, the lowest it has been since he was at .303 on May 23.
A Little sarcasm
Manager Grady Little has become weary of being second-guessed on a nightly basis by Bob Rodgers, host of the postgame show on NESN. He let those feeling show yesterday when asked what tinkering he might do to ready his roster for the playoffs after a berth is clinched.
"We've got several things in mind, but I think before we go to make a decision I think we have to talk to Bob Rodgers about what we're doing because he seems to be an authority on everything that goes on with a major league team from all of that experience he's had with the Little League teams and high school teams he's coached," said Little.
"The job we've got out here is a whole lot easier to do after the game is over," said Little.
Around the horn
Trot Nixon launched his 28th homer of the year, setting a career-high with his solo blast into the right-field seats. . . . The run Damon scored in the first inning was his 100th of the year, marking the sixth straight season he has hit the century mark. . . . Left-hander Casey Fossum, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 6, is suffering from tendinitis of the left shoulder. . . . The monitor in the Red Sox' bullpen was dark. . . . Ramirez's homer was his 36th of the season and fourth in his last six home games. . . . One throw should be enough to nail an enemy baserunner in a rundown. It took the Sox six throws to finally tag out Brian Roberts when he was picked off first base in the fifth inning. The scoring went 1-3-4-1-6-4. . . . The Orioles' Matos beefed on a strike call in his fifth-inning at-bat, getting in the face of plate umpire Doug Eddings before manager Mike Hargrove interceded. Matos hit the next pitch for a homer. In his next at-bat, he objected to a strike call that made it 0 and 2. He got in Eddings's face and was thumbed before first-base coach Rick Dempsey could get him away from the umpire.
