Posted at 11:07 a.m., Saturday, October 27, 2007
Baseball: Rockies bench slumping leadoff hitter Taveras
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer
Taveras was in a 3-for-25 slide since returning from the DL before the NL championship series. He went 0-for7 at Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox won the first two games.
He is among several Rockies who have slumped in the postseason. Colorado batted just .180 in the first two games of the World Series.
The Rockies replaced Taveras with Cory Sullivan in center field and with Kaz Matsui at the top of the lineup. They also returned Troy Tulowitzki to second in the batting order. He had struggled in the seventh spot since Taveras' return.
Sullivan batted eighth and Yorvit Torrealba seventh.
Without a designated hitter in the NL ballpark, the Red Sox decided to keep David Ortiz in their lineup, moving him to first base in place of hot-hitting Kevin Youkilis.
Ortiz batted .332 with 35 homers and 117 RBIs this season, but he played just seven games at first base when the Red Sox visited NL parks in interleague play. He hasn't made an error this year.
