Boston – The Red Sox have been such a terrific team through the first 12 weeks that they sit comfortably in first place and angst is the last thing on their fans’ minds.
They returned to Fenway Park after a strange trip through the West Coast that featured a team that stopped hitting and a pitcher (Curt Schilling) who came within one out of a no-hitter.
The Red Sox own a baseball-best 41 wins and have put themselves in position to win their first division crown since 1995. They are that rare team that has lived up the billing, baseball’s version of “Spiderman” or “Harry Potter.”
What made the Rockies’ 2-1 loss to American League bully so irritating is the reality that they couldn’t have pitched much better.
Aaron Cook threw a season-high 119 pitches and allowed just two runs in 7 1/3 innings. It was his first time in Boston since winning the Tony Conigliaro Award two winters ago for his courageous comeback from fluid in his lungs. Given the opponent and the lineup he tamed, it represented Cook’s most stinging defeat.
Cook’s gem unraveled after Dustin Pedroia reached on a single in the eighth. Jeremy Affeldt was summoned with one out and couldn’t stem the rally. David Ortiz doubled and with the bases loaded following an intentional walk to Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew plated the winning run on a sacrifice fly. The Rockies had no answer for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
He baffled them for eight innings, yielding just four hits and one run on a Yorvit Torrealba eighth-inning single.
Staff writer Troy Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
