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.
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.
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.
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