Bullpen, Nomar Light Up Twins (4/12/00)

Nomar Garciaparra was 1997 AL Rookie of the Year but he has his sights set on 2000 AL MVP and today he took another step towards that, driving in as many runs as the Minnesota Twins scored by himself and aiding Jeff Fassero (1-0) into picking up his first win of the season. The Sox defeated the Twins 7-3 at Fenway Park.

                                                            PH Balance approves of the victory

Fassero got the ball in the top of the first and got Christian Guzman to ground out in the top of the first. Denny Hocking doubled but Matt Lawton popped up. Ron Coomer walked and both runners advanced on the passed ball by Varitek. Fassero recovered to get Butch Huskey to fly out to end the inning. Twins starter Johan Santana fared better than Joe Mays the day prior. Jose Offerman looked at strike 3, Darren Lewis flied out and Nomar Garciaparra flied out to right to end the inning.

The Twins struck first against Fassero in the top of the second inning. Matt LeCroy, Corey Koskie and Torii Hunter all singled to load the bases. Jason Maxwell hit a sac fly that scored LeCroy and advanced Koskie to third. Guzman hit a grounder to third and Wilton Veras gunned it home to nab Koskie at the plate. Hocking walked to re-load the bases but Lawton popped up to end the inning. It was 1-0 Twins but it could have been worse. The Sox got the run right back in the bottom of the second. Mike Stanley flied out but Troy O'Leary doubled. Carl Everett singled O'Leary to third and Gary Gaetti got his first rbi of the year with a sac fly that scored O'Leary. Jason Varitek flied out to end the inning but the game was tied 1-1.\

Fassero recovered to post a quick third inning. Coomer grounded out, Huskey popped up and LeCroy flied out in short order. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the third. Veras grounded out but Offerman and Lewis hit back to back singles. Nomar doubled them both in to put the Sox on top 3-1. Stanley singled Nomar to third and O'Leary doubled them both in. Everett singled home O'Leary but was picked off at first. Gaetti popped up to end the inning but the Sox were now up 6-1.

The Twins answered in the top of the fourth. Koskie grounded out but Hunter singled. Maxwell struck out but the speedy Guzman tripled home Hunter. Hocking singled in Guzman but Lawton popped up to end the inning. It was now 6-3 Boston. The Sox rallied again in the bottom of the fourth. Varitek singled but Veras struck out. Offerman walked but was erased on the force by Lewis. Nomar singled home Varitek and advanced Lewis to third. That was it for Santana as Twins manager Tom Kelly brought in Hector Carrasco to face Stanley. Mike grounded back to Hector but it was now 7-3 Sox.

Fassero came out for the top of the 5th and got Coomer to ground out. Huskey singled but LeCroy flied out. Koskie looked at strike 3 to end the inning. The Sox almost scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning. O'Leary grounded out and Everett reached on the error by Hunter. Gaetti popped up but Varitek walked. Veras grounded out to end the inning.

At 93 pitches, Sox manager Jimy Williams felt that was it for Fassero and pulled him for Rheal Cormier in the top of the 6th. Rheal struck out both Hunter and Maxwell before getting Guzman to ground out, ending the inning. Offerman grounded out to begin the bottom of the 6th but Lewis walked. Lewis was erased on the force by Nomar and Stanley flied out to end the inning.

Cormier returned for the top of the 7th inning. Hocking flied out while both Lawton and Coomer grounded out to end the inning. Carrasco kept the Sox in check in the bottom of the 7th. O'Leary grounded out while both Everett and Gaetti struck out.

Derek Lowe replaced Cormier in the top of the 8th inning. Huskey reached on an error by Veras but was erased on the LeCroy double play. Koskie singled and Midre Cummings pinch hit for Hunter. Cummings hit one right back to Lowe to end the inning. Cummings stayed in the game in left as Hocking moved to center. Varitek grounded out, Veras flied out and Offerman grounded out to end the bottom of the 8th inning.

Lowe returned for the top of the ninth to close the game out. Jacque Jones pinch hit for Maxwell and lined out. Guzman and Hocking grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won 7-3

Hero of the Night is once again Nomar Garciaparra. He was 2 for 4 with a run scored and 3 rbi's.

                                                         Hero of the Night: Nomar



The Good:

Darren Lewis was 1 for 3 with a walk and run scored. Troy O'Leary was 2 for 4 with a run scored and 2 rbi's. Carl Everett was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's. Jason Varitek was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Rheal Cormier and Derek Lowe both pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief apiece.


The Bad:

Wilton Veras was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.


The Ugly:

Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run. Mike Stanley was 1 for 4 with a run scored. Gary Gaetti was 0 for 3 but got his first rbi of the season. Jeff Fassero lasted only 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.