Tempers Flare Against Indians as Sox Prevail (4/30/00)

One thing's for sure, you don't mess with Pedro Martinez or his team. Martinez (5-0, 1.27) ERA was dominant against the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field until a beanball war led to his removal. The Sox held on to win but could lose Pedro to a possible suspension.

                                          Reptile loves a good fight and this didn't disappoint

 

Indians starter Charles Nagy (1-4, 6.03 ERA) was equally as tough as Martinez. Jose Offerman led off the game with a ground out. Trot Nixon struck out and Brian Daubach grounded out. Pedro took the mound and got Jolbert Cabrera to pop out, Omar Vizquel to fly out and struck out Roberto Alomar.

Nagy got Nomar Garciaparra to ground out leading off the second before getting Troy O'Leary and Carl Everett to fly out. Martinez worked around a single by Jim Thome to strike out Manny Ramirez, David Justice and Travis Fryman all swinging.

Nagy continued to dominate in the third, getting Mike Stanley to ground out. Jason Varitek also grounded out before Manny Alexander lined out. Pedro ran into trouble in the bottom of the third. He walked Richie Sexson and gave up a double to Einar Diaz. He then got some help from his defense when second baseman Jose Offerman snared a linedrive hit by Cabrera. Pedro took care of the rest by striking out Vizquel and getting Alomar to fly out.

In the top of the 4th, Nagy continued his hot streak by getting Offerman and Nixon to ground out. Daubach popped up to short center as Nagy had thrown 4 perfect innings. Manny Ramirez led off the bottom of the bottom of the fourth with a single but was stranded when Justice flied out, Thome popped up and Fryman whiffed.

Garciaparra whiffed to lead off the top of the 5th but the Sox finally got on the bases when O'Leary doubled. He was stranded when Everett and Stanley both flied out to end the threat. Pedro came back out and got Sexson to fly out but was tagged by Diaz again for another double. Cabrera moved Diaz to third on the ground out but Martinez struck out Vizquel to end the inning.

The Sox struck first in the top of the 6th. Varitek poked one through the hole and Alexander sacrifice bunted him over to second. Offerman grounded out but Tek moved to third on the play. Nixon stepped in and lashed one through the hole to score Varitek and give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Daubach followed with a single but Garciaparra struck out again to end the inning. Pedro got a little wild in the bottom of the 6th. He got Alomar to fly out and Ramirez to ground out but uncharacteristically walked Justice and Thome. Pedro cleared his head to strike out Fryman to end the threat.

The Sox struck again in the top of the 7th. Nagy got both O'Leary and Everett to ground out but Stanley stepped in and belted his 3rd homer of the year to left center to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Varitek followed with a single but Alexander struck out to end the inning. Martinez came back for the 7th and struck out Sexson to open the inning. Einar Diaz had hit Pedro twice so Martinez buzzed him with a high fastball. The Indians were not amused but Martinez struck Diaz out anyway. Cabrera singled but Vizquel popped up to end the inning.

Things got hairy in the 8th. Nagy responded to the brushback by hitting Offerman who had to be restrained from charging the mound. The benches emptied but no fighting took place. When things settled down Nixon grounded out but Offerman moved to second. Daubach struck out and Nomar popped up. Pedro then sent a message by hitting Alomar on the ass to lead off the bottom of the 8th earning himself the heave ho from umpire Tim Tschida. Derek Lowe came on to pitch the six out save. Alomar responded by swiping second but Ramirez popped up. Alomar then swiped third as Justice walked and stole second himself when Thome struck out. With the tying runs on, Lowe beared down to get Fryman to ground out.

Sean DePaula replaced Nagy for the 9th and got O'Leary to ground out before giving up a single to Everett. Carl stole second but Stanley struck out. Varitek was intentionally walked to get to light hitting Alexander who struck out. Lowe almost melted down in the bottom of the 9th when Richie Sexon led off with a home run. He got Einar Diaz to ground out but walked pinch hitter Mark Whiten. Vizquel hit a rocket to Alexander who snared it but threw the ball away, allowing Whiten to reach 3rd. With the tying run 90 feet away Lowe got Alomar to ground out to earn his 5th save of the year.

Hero of the night is a tough one. I'll have to go with Pedro Martinez. He shut down one of the best offenses in baseball for 7 innings to earn the win. If he wasn't ejected, he could have gone the distance.

                                           Hero of the night: Pedro Martinez

The Good:

Jason Varitek was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

The Bad:

Jose Offerman was 0 for 3.Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 4 with an error. Manny Alexander was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

The Ugly:

Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 with an rbi. Brian Daubach, Troy O'Leary and Carl Everett were all just 1 for 4. Mike Stanley was 1 for 4 but his one hit was a solo home run. Derek Lowe gave up a run but earned his fifth save of the year.

Final Thoughts:

The win moved the Sox to 12-9 for the month, 2 games out of first place. Other than Jose Offerman and Troy O'Leary the offense is stepping it up but other than Pedro Martinez, Rich Garces and Derek Lowe...the pitching has not. The Sox look to Jeff Fassero (2-1) to continue the momentum against the Detroit Tigers tomorrow against CJ Nitkowski.