Nomo ran into trouble immediately in the top of the first when Matt Lawton walked to start. Jason Maxwell walked but Corey Koskie took strike three. Lawton moved to third on a David Ortiz fly ball to center but Doug Mientkiewicz also flied out to center to end the inning. Milton allowed a leadoff double to center to Chris Stynes to open the bottom of the first but Jose Offerman popped up to second. Carl Everett flied out to center and Manny Ramirez flied out to right to end the inning.
Torii Hunter grounded out to short to begin the top of the second and Jacque Jones struck out swinging. AJ Pierzynski flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Dante Bichette singled to center to start. Jason Varitek walked but Shea Hillenbrand flied out to left. Mike Lansing stepped up with a base hit to center to score Bichette with the first run. Darren Lewis flied out to center and Stynes hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Luis Rivas walked to start the top of the third but Lawton popped up to short. Rivas stole second but Maxwell struck out swinging. Koskie flied out to left to end the inning. Offerman took strike three to start the bottom of the third and Everett flied out to right. Ramirez singled to left but Bichette grounded out to third to end the inning.
Ortiz grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth and Mientkiewicz flied out to right. Hunter also flied out to right to end the inning. Varitek singled to center to begin the bottom of the fourth although Hillenbrand flied out to right. Lansing flied out to left but Lewis dropped a base hit to left. Stynes grounded out to third to end the inning.
Jones struck out swinging to open the top of the fifth and Pierzynski flied out to right. Rivas popped up to second to end the inning. Nomo had not allowed a hit through five innings so far. Milton stayed tough in the bottom of the fifth as Offerman flied out to right to start. Everett struck out swinging but Ramirez walked. Bichette struck out swinging to end the inning.
Lawton walked to start the top of the sixth but Maxwell flied out to center. Lawton swiped second and third but Koskie struck out swinging. Ortiz walked to put runners at the corners but Mientkiewicz struck out swinging to end the inning with the no-hitter intact. Varitek doubled to center to start the bottom of the sixth but Hillenbrand popped up to short. Both Lansing and Lewis grounded out to third to end the inning,
Hunter led off the top of the seventh with a sinking liner to right and Lewis slid to catch it....but the ball bounced off his glove. The official scorer ruled it a hit to break up the no-no as Fenway Park exploded in boo's, not at Lewis but for the scoring rule. Brian Buchanan pinch hit for Jones and struck out swinging before Hunter stole second on the Pierzynski swinging strikeout. Rivas flied out to left to end the inning and Nomo settled on 7 innings of 1 hit shutout ball. Good work Nomo!
Milton did his part for the Twins as Stynes flied out to center to start the bottom of the seventh. Offerman flied out to center and Everett grounded out to short to end the inning.
Derek Lowe came in for the six out save with Craig Grebeck in at short for Lansing to begin the top of the eighth. Lawton grounded out to second, Maxwell grounded out to short and Koskie grounded out to second to end the inning. Old pal Hector Carrasco came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Ramirez walked to start. Troy O'Leary pinch ran for Ramirez and took second on a wild pitch. Bichette grounded out to short and O'Leary moved to third on the grounder to third by Varitek. Hillenbrand doubled off the Monster to score O'Leary with the insurance run. Greneck flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Lowe returned to close out the top of the ninth with Trot Nixon now in right for defense with Lewis taking over in left. Ortiz grounded out to second but Mientkiewicz singled to center to bring the tying run to the plate. Mientkiewicz moved to second on the grounder to short by Hunter and Buchanan struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 2-0.
The Good:
Manny Ramirez was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.
Troy O'Leary scored a run as a pinch runner.
Jason Varitek was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Mike Lansing was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Derek Lowe earned his third save with 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jose Offerman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Carl Everett was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Chris Stynes was just 1 for 4.
Dante Bichette was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Shea Hillenbrand was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Darren Lewis was 1 for 3 but dropped Hunter's fly ball to break up the no-hitter.
Honorable Mention:
Trot Nixon played right field in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
As dominant as Pedro Martinez has been the last 3 years, not even he has had the buzz that Hideo Nomo gets when he pitches. Nomo fell just 9 outs short of another no-hitter and a lot of people say that Lewis should have been charged with an error. Lewis himself after the game says he should have had it and he feels bad he let Nomo down. Nomo to his credit shook off the dropped ball to still toss a 7 inning shutout. New York Yankee fans could be getting nervous because Pedro Martinez has been trying to strong arm the Red Sox to the playoffs almost by himself the last few years and now he has a bonafide number 2 to help. The offense didn't do much against Milton but Hillenbrand and Lansing drove in all the runs Nomo needed. If Nomo and Ramirez have been the two most important pieces of this year's team, Hillenbrand and Frank Castillo aren't too far behind. There's a long way to go in this season but so far Dan Duquette may be on to something here if the Sox can keep up this pace. Derek Lowe shook off his recent disasters to toss a six out save, hopefully he can leave his rocky start to the season behind. The Sox now welcome the Kansas City Royals to Fenway for a three game set to close out the month of April. Frank Castillo (2-1) gets the start for the Red Sox against Blake Stein of the Royals. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment