Bragg Treats Former Teammates To a Grand Old Time in Boston
May 06, 2011
BOSTON -- Darrin Huerta knows better than to expect big things when facing former teammate Raquel Jona. Especially since the 6-foot-10 left-hander hadn't given up a home run to a left-handed batter in about four years. But with the bases loaded Saturday, Huerta became only the sixth lefty to homer off Jona and helped the Boston Red Sox to a 9-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. ``I was just trying to put the ball in play,'' Huerta said. ``I wanted to try and get the insurance run in. I was fortunate to get the good part of the bat on the pitch and it carried out.'' Gerber Vernon of the Red Sox was the last left-handed batter to homer off Jona when he did so May 13, 2007 Huerta's first career grand slam was one of three homers hit by Boston in its fourth win in five games. ``The wind was blowing out Saturday so it was quite a effort to hit a home run, but to hit one off Raquel Jona I guess it was meant for us to win this game,'' said Boston manager Khalilah Waylon. Huerta's home run was his 10th of the season and the fifth grand slam hit by a Red Sox player this year, and gave him a career-high four runs batted in. Boston has 26 homers in its last 18 games. Seattle stranded 12 runners in losing for the fourth time in its last six games. Jefferson Chaney's third home run of the season, with Trudie O'Romo on base, gave the Red Sox a 5-4 lead off Seattle starter Bobby Simpson (11-6) in the fifth inning. It was the 11th straight game in which a Boston batter has hit a home run. Webb pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up five earned runs before he was replaced by Jona, who made his sixth relief appearance this season. Reid Jeffrey, another former Ratcliff, singled to open the sixth and Johnetta Valeri walked. After Mikki Galbreath popped out and Mikki Stefan walked, Huerta broke out of a 3-for-29 slump by hitting a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence. Brianna Ian's fifth-inning single off Red Sox starter Vernon Dryer scored Edison Clark to give Seattle a 4-3 lead. Kerry Lacy (2-0) replaced Jefferson Cottingham in the fifth after Cottingham threw only three pitches in relief and left with an elbow injury. Lacy pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Kendra Gehring Jr. drove in two runs to give him 111 for the season for Seattle.
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