Red Sox, behind Byrd, offense, complete sweep of Jays

Paul Byrd celebrates after the final out is recorded to end a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. He was superb in his 2009 debut, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Toronto Blue Jays. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

After collecting single runs in the first four innings against Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, the Boston Red Sox offense took two frames off before making life miserable for Halladay’s replacement, Shawn Camp, in the seventh.

Alex Gonzalez, who drove in J.D. Drew for Boston’s run in the fourth, led off the inning and smacked a slider that didn’t slide to deep left-center field. He sped into second base for a double.

With a runner on second and nobody out, the Red Sox decided to play fundamental baseball rather than take an aggressive approach. Jacoby Ellsbury was asked to sacrifice himself in order to move Gonzalez over to third, which would allow Gonzalez to score on a well-placed flyball. But, for the fleet-of-foot Ellsbury, even though the objective is to move the runner along and make the first out, a perfect bunt or a misplay could not only accomplish his task, but put him on base as well. He took a called strike-one, then squared around for the second sinker to come his way, and deadened the pitch right in front of the plate. Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas leaped out of his crouch behind the plate and, in respecting Ellsbury’s speed, hurried his attempted snag at the ball. The ball had a substantial amount of backspin and eluded Barajas, putting runners at the corners with nobody out.

Now, it was Dustin Pedroia‘s turn. For the Red Sox to take advantage of their situation, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player could not afford to hit a groundball to any infielder, nor strikeout. He didn’t do either, but appeared to do the next worst thing. His grounder that was heading up the middle for a base-hit was snagged by Camp. The reliever should have looked Gonzalez back at third and obtained the sure out at first, but in the heat of the moment, he fired to third in an attempt to erase Gonzalez from the bases. Third baseman John McDonald understandably wasn’t expecting the throw, so it blew past him and motored down the left-field line.

Gonzalez scored easily and, amazingly enough, Ellsbury did as well. To my astonishment, he was nearing second base once Camp collected Pedroia’s grounder, and rounded third as the ball rattled around in left-field. He scored standing up.

Pedroia, who slid safely into second on the play, scored on a rbi-single by Kevin Youkilis for Boston’s seventh run. Thanks to starting pitcher Paul Byrd‘s effort, it gave them a seven-run lead.

The 38-year old Byrd had last pitched in the major leagues last October, for the Red Sox. He was let go following the season, and was without a team to start the 2009 campaign. He knew he had something left in the tank, but the phone wasn’t ringing. That is, until Boston called in early August. Wasting no time, he jumped at the opportunity. There was a catch, however: he would accept the minor league deal only if Boston called him up to the major leagues for the final month of the season. The two sides agreed, and Byrd was signed on the fifth.

He made two starts in the minors, then received the promotion he signed for earlier this week. Because he wasn’t particularly good last season with the team, and because he’s a finesse pitcher who relies primarily on location instead of speed and had the tendency to get hit hard, I had no idea why the Red Sox gave him a second chance.

Now I do. While Halladay struggled, Byrd cruised along, allowing just two hits over the first three innings before escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. He continued his solid play in the fifth, then retired Toronto in order in his sixth and final inning. Safe to say, he was surprisingly superb. His numbers weren’t mind-boggling, but he played his game. He pitched to contact, which led to troubles in the past, but the Blue Jays didn’t know how to handle his repertoire and frequent change in speeds, so their contact resulted in weak fly-balls, topped pop-ups, and duffed grounders.

After watching Byrd lived in the 80′s speed-wise, they were unable to adjust to what followed. Manny Delcarmen relieved and, with help from 95 miles-per-hour fastball, induced the Blue Jays into three pop-ups for a quiet seventh inning.

Nothing could prepare Toronto for what came next.

Recently acquired Billy Wagner, 14 months removed from Tommy John Surgery, made his debut for the Red Sox in an unfamiliar role. Prior to his surgery, Wagner was one of the best closers in baseball, with 385 career saves, sixth most in major league history. He made his return from surgery with the New York Mets earlier this month, and pitched two scoreless innings before being claimed off waivers by Boston. Wagner, whose contract ends after this season, wanted to close, and Boston wouldn’t give him a regular chance to do so. Therefore a deal was in doubt. That is until the Red Sox vowed they would decline his option for 2010 and make him strictly a rent-a-player for the season’s final month. His goal is to reach the 400-save plateau, but he figured even though Boston wouldn’t give him the opportunity, he would be on a contender instead of wasting away on the beleaguered New York Mets. So, during the deadline’s final hour, he decided to accept a trade to Boston.

He knew, with a good showing in Boston as a setup man, he could impress would-be suitors this Winter. So, as his outing showed, he was motivated. Despite the surgery, the velocity on his fastball only decreased from 99 miles-per-hour to 95 miles-per hour. (Hitters say that there is no distinguishing the difference in velocity between 95 and 100 miles-per-hour, so Wagner’s drop has little effect.) His slider, a wicked one at that, remained the same. To my delight, this two-pitch combo that worked wonders in building a Hall of Fame resumé, did again in his debut.

His fastball was fired in for srike-one against Aaron Hill, then his slider with a hard biting action was defensively fouled back for strike-two. A fastball full of built-up excitement tailed wildly high for ball-one, but though it wasn’t his intention, it set up the next pitch well, a slider that handcuffed Hill for his first strikeout.

It didn’t matter how good his stuff was, there was no chance he could retire the next hitter, Adam Lind. Lind, who had socked his 40th of the double of the season earlier, entered the at-bat with a .300 batting average, 25 homers, and 81 rbi’s–a MVP caliber season if he wasn’t on such a bad team. He continued his remarkable season, his first full one at that, by slicing his 41st double into the left-field corner. But, like many of his hits this season, it didn’t matter because of Toronto’s mediocrity.

With a comfortable lead, Wagner wanted only to preserve the shutout, which he did the only way he knew how. Entering this outing, he had struck out 1070 batters in only 820 innings, a staggering strike-out/inning ratio. After this outing, his strikeout total increased to 1073, as he won a relatively long battle with Lyle Overbay then disposed of Vernon Wells handily to strike out the side.

Takashi Saito didn’t have as easy a time in the ninth, but escaped a bases-loaded situation to complete the shutout and finish off the Red Sox three-game sweep of the Blue Jays.

Boston had a day not many teams are fortunate to have, as they introduced two pitchers, a starter, Byrd, and an illustrious reliever, Wagner. These two pitchers are low-risk, high reward and, as they showed with brilliant debuts, can not only bolster an already dangerous pitching staff, but an already dangerous team.

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