Pena, Sox Blank Jays (5/14/99)

The bad news was the Boston Bruins lost Game 4 of their second round NHL playoff series to the Buffalo Sabres but the good news was the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays. Juan Pena (2-0, 0.69 ERA) once again dazzled in his second ML start, shutting out the Jays for 7 strong innings. Meanwhile the Boston bats scratched out four runs against David Wells, 3 of which coming courtesy of Jason Varitek. John Valentin drove in two runs while Derek Lowe and Rheal Cormier slammed the door. It all added up to a 5-0 victory over the Jays at the Skydome.'

                                                      Tiffany Towers approves of the win

Wells got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Offerman grounded out to third to start. John Valentin took strike three and Nomar Garciaparra popped up to second to end the inning. Pena got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Shannon Stewart grounded out to short to start. Craig Grebeck singled to right but Shawn Green struck out swinging. Carlos Delgado got a base hit to left but Tony Fernandez lined out to center to end the inning.

Mike Stanley grounded out to third to start the top of the second and Troy O'Leary struck out swinging. Damon Buford walked but Jeff Frye grounded out to third to end the inning. Willie Greene struck out swinging to open the bottom of the second and Jose Cruz took strike three. Pat Kelly grounded out to third to end the inning.

Jason Varitek led off the top of the third with a liner to short, but Darren Lewis drew a walk. Offerman grounded into a double play to end the inning. Mike Matheny grounded out to second to start the bottom of the third but Stewart singled in the hole at second. Stewart was thrown out at second trying to steal but Grebeck walked. Green flied out to right to end the inning.

Valentin flied out to center to open the top of the fourth and Nomar did the same. Stanley grounded out to third to end the inning. Delgado struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth but Fernandez got a base hit to right. Greene struck out looking but Fernandez swiped second. Cruz struck out swinging to end the inning.

                                                          Almost had him

The Sox broke through in the top of the fifth as O'Leary singled in the hole at short to start. Buford grounded back to the mound to move Troy to second and Frye flied out to right to move O'Leary to third. Varitek doubled to left to score O'Leary and Lewis tripled into the centerfield gap to score Jason. Offerman grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.

                                                              Varitek drives in a run

Kelly caught the Sox asleep with a bunt single down the third base line to start the bottom of the fifth and Matheny beat out a roller to short. Stewart hit a bullet.....right to Frye who doubled off Kelly at second. Grebeck forced Matheny at second to end the inning.

Valentin got a base hit to right to start the top of the sixth and and Nomar followed with a single to center. Stanley struck out swinging, O'Leary flied out to center and Buford popped up to first to end the inning. Green grounded out to first to start the bottom of the sixth but Delgado walked. Fernandez grounded back to the mound to move Carlos to second but Greene lined out to second to end the inning.

The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh as Frye beat out a roller to third to start. Varitek launched his first home run of the year to ice the game but Lewis struck out swinging. Offerman doubled to center but Valentin flied out to center. Nomar took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.

                                                          Varitek with his first of 99

Cruz grounded out to first to start the bottom of the seventh and Kelly popped up to first in foul territory. Matheny struck out swinging to end the inning and that was it for Pena. He was masterful, tossing 7 shutout innings allowing just 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.

                                                          Great effort by Pena

Stanley got a base hit to left to start the top of the eighth but O'Leary forced him at second. Buford took strike three and Frye popped up to first to end the inning. Derek Lowe came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Stewart grounded out to third to start. Grebeck walked and that was it for Lowe just like that. Green forced Grebeck at second and Delgado lined out to second to end the inning.

The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth with Tom Davey now on the mound. Varitek beat out a roller to second and took second on a wild pitch. Lewis walked and Varitek was thrown out at third trying to steal on the swinging strikeout by Offerman. Valentin doubled to center to score Lewis and took third on a wild pitch. Garciaparra flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 5-0.

                                                           Valentin drives in a run

Cormier returned for the bottom of the ninth and Fernandez flied out to center to start. Jacob Brumfield pinch hit for Greene and grounded out to third. Cruz flied out to left to end the game. The Sox had won the game 5-0.

                                                         Sox win

Hero of The Night is Juan Pena. He tossed 7 shutout innings allowing just 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7

                                                             Juan The Hero

The Good:

John Valentin was 2 for 5 with an rbi.

Jason Varitek was 3 for 4 with a 2 run home run, 3 total rbis and 2 total runs scored.

Darren Lewis was 1 for 2 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.

Derek Lowe got the first out of the eighth inning

Rheal Cormier tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Bad:

None

The Ugly:

Jose Offerman was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.

Nomar Garciaparra was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.

Mike Stanley was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.

Damon Buford was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.

Jeff Frye was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Final Thoughts:

Looks like the Sox might have something with Pena. The 21 year old as looked unhittable in both starts this season and the sky is the limit for sure. The Sox desperately need young pitching to compliment Pedro Martinez and Juan might be the guy to do it. It would be unfair to expect this kind of dominance every game but the Sox also need arms to match the New York Yankees. A 1-2 punch of Pedro and Pena might be enough to take out Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte....but that's just wishful thinking. As for this game, good work by Varitek to drive in 3 runs and Valentin for driving in another. Don't know why Jimy Williams yanked Lowe so quickly but Cormier got the job done. Between Pena and Martinez going deep into games, the bullpen can save their bullets for games that matter. Hopefully the momentum continues moving forward. The win improved the Sox to 19-15, 1 game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against Toronto and three wins in a row total tomorrow afternoon when Mark Portugal of the Sox takes on Roy Halliday of the Blue Jays. The game begins at 4:05 PM at the Skydome.