Just when it looked like the Pawsox were settling into a nice little groove, the Baseball Gods decided to shake things up a bit.
Thursday, the Pawsox lineup was dealt quite a blow in the final game of their four-day, six-game series against the Ottawa Lynx. In the seventh inning, first baseman Juan Diaz dislocated his right ankle while attempting to slide into second. Reportedly, Diaz had been working on his sliding technique (or lack thereof) with Pawsox coaches last week. His delayed attempt in Thursday’s game may have cost him the rest of the season.
Trainers from both teams and the Ottawa team doctor spent nearly 20 minutes attending to Diaz before he was removed from the field on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital. Diaz remained in Ottawa over the weekend, where he underwent surgery.
Prior to the injury, Diaz had hit seven home runs for the Pawsox in just 13 games. He was batting .289 while driving in 18 runs, including 2 in Thursday’s game. Overall this season, while splitting time with Sarasota, Trenton and Pawtucket, Diaz had hit 28 home runs.
Freak accident for Crawford
As if the injury to Diaz wasn’t enough for the Pawsox, right-handed pitcher Paxton Crawford was injured when he rolled out of bed and landed on a glass which he left on the floor of his hotel room. The injury required eight stitches and may have cost Crawford the chance to return to Boston.
Ohka re-called
Friday, the Red Sox placed Pete Schourek on the disabled list and recalled Tomo Ohka. Ohka, who had pitched the first perfect game in Pawsox history July 2, is scheduled to be tonight’s starter against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway.
Berry picked for Boston
The Pawsox also lost third baseman Sean Berry on Saturday when the Red Sox signed him to a major league contract. Berry was on the verge of exercising the option in his contract that would allow him to seek free agency if he was not in Boston within 15 days. The 15-day deadline expired at Noon on Friday. While with the Pawsox, Berry was batting .368 in 16 games with two home runs and four RBIs.
Within a period of 72 hours, the Pawsox lost a total of four players, all of whom had been a significant part of the team’s recent success.
But the loss of these key players didn’t hurt the Pawsox too much. While they lost their first game Friday night in Rochester, they came back over the weekend to win the final two games of the series.
Player Notes
Bret Saberhagen will make a rehab appearance tonight at McCoy Stadium as the Pawsox open an eight-game homestand against the Indianapolis Indians (Reds) and Columbus Clippers (Yankees) . . . Dernell Stenson was in left field on Saturday night for the first time since 1998 when he was with Trenton. He did make a couple of nice plays and was credited with the defensive play of the game . . . Reliever Rob Stanifer, whose ERA has risen to 0.58, gave up his first home run in nearly a year on Saturday night. Stanifer does not have enough innings to qualify for the league leaders in ERA . . . Second baseman David Eckstein now leads the International League with 15 hit by pitches, which is also a new Pawsox single-season record. He also leads all IL second basemen with a .993 fielding percentage . . . Right-handed pitcher Kevin Foster made his Pawsox debut Saturday night with an impressive performance. He allowed one run on four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Foster, who the Red Sox signed as a free agent before the season, was recalled from Trenton on Friday after the promotion of Ohka and the injury to Crawford.
