When the opposing pitcher does his job, there's not much you can do but give him credit and move on. Such was the case when James Shields of Tampa Bay threw a five-hit shutout against Boston earlier this week, and such was the case again Saturday night at Fenway Park, where veteran lefty Randy Wolf got the best of the MLB's premier offense.
Wolf allowed two runs on nine hits and a walk in seven innings, outdueling Jon Lester and improving to 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his career against the Red Sox. He wasn't dominant, but he was always in control and extremely effective anytime the hosts tried to mount a serious threat.
"You've got to tip your hat to Randy Wolf tonight," Lester said. "He threw the ball better than I did. That's the thing, you have to outpitch the other guy. He did that tonight."
The two southpaws were actually locked in a 2-2 tie after Boston rallied to tie it in the second. But Lester gave two right back in the top of the third, and that proved to be the difference. The final was 4-2.
The Sox got two runners on in the bottom of the third, but Wolf struck out Darnell McDonald to end it. They received a leadoff double from Marco Scutaro in the fourth. He never even reached third. Hits also came in the sixth and seventh, but Wolf never wavered.
After Dustin Pedroia lined a two-out single in the seventh and Wolf fell behind the leading hitter in all of baseball, Adrian Gonzalez, the largest crowd at Fenway Park this season began to stir, dreaming of the possibilities.
However, Wolf threw slider after slider to Gonzalez before getting him to ground weakly to second on his 111th and final pitch of the night. It was part of an 0-for-4 showing for Gonzalez, who had reached base in 17 straight games before encountering Wolf.
"Yeah, pitching dominates hitting and when you're on the way Wolfie was," Gonzalez said, leaving the thought incomplete but making his point nonetheless.
The Red Sox hit Wolf hard from time to time and had their chances. They left seven on base. When it was all said and done, they could only admire his ability to simply pitch, in the purest sense of the word.
"Wolfie, he kind of pitches with that fastball, it's got a little life at the end," manager Terry Francona said. "Gets on top of the barrel with some breaking balls and changeup, and really pitched effectively…Been doing it a long time. Has deception. Tough to run on."
Tough to do anything significant, which will happen from time to time. Like, say, twice in 14 games. Take your medicine and move on.
