Royals centerfielder Johnny Damon has been hitting at a .400 clip since the All-Star Break. Someone should tell Rolando Arrojo that.
Just enough contributions from Arrojo, the good half of the Sox pen, and the offense highlighted the 12th win in 17 games for the Sox. But the offense sputtered after a promising first, and Arrojo left the game with an ankle contusion suffered in the dugout, a result of kicking a water jug in the dugout after surrendering a two-run homer to Damon.
The offense, buoyed by the return of Nomar Garciaparra, jumped all over all over Royal starter Brian Meadows for four in the first. Brian Daubach's two-run homer and Scott Hatteberg two-run single capped the inning, in which six of the first seven hitters reached base, all via the hit. As is wont in recent memory, the bats took the rest of the night off against Meadows and a pedestrian Royal bullpen, scoring only one run -- on a Jason Varitek RBI single -- the rest of the way. Garciaparra scored two runs and had three singles of the Sox's 14-hit "attack".
Arrojo and the pen made the four runs stand up. With one out in the sixth, Arrojo came out due to his injury, but Hipo Pichardo, Rich Garces and Derek Lowe held down the fort the rest of the way, giving up only one run. Lowe picked up his 31st save of the year, retiring the dangerous Damon as the game-tying run on a grounder to short.
The good news for the Sox is that Arrojo's injury is not believed to make him miss a start. After going 3-0 in 5 starts in August, Arrojo is settling in nicely in the Sox staff. With his help, the Sox leapt back to the top of the wild card race, after a loss by Oakland to the hated Yankees earlier in the day.