Nomo got the ball in the top of the first inning and Chuck Knoblauch flied out to right to start. Derek Jeter walked but Paul O'Neill popped up to third in foul territory. David Justice flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox threatened Yankees starter Andy Pettite in the bottom of the first inning as Darren Lewis led off with a grounder to short that Jeter booted for an error. Jose Offerman singled to left and Carl Everett beat out a double play ball before Manny Ramirez was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Dante Bichette forced Offerman at home with a grounder and Jason Varitek grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the second inning when Jorge Posada hit a home run all the way to Raccoon City to put New York on top. Tino Martinez grounded out to second, Alfonso Soriano lined out to center and Scott Brosius lined out to left to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
Shea Hillenbrand grounded out to second to start the bottom of the second before Lou Merloni grounded out to first. Mike Lansing walked but was forced at second by Lewis to end the inning.
Clay Bellinger popped up to second to start the top of the third before Knoblauch flied out to left. Jeter walked but O'Neill flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Offerman led off with a double to left to start. Jose took third on a grounder to the mound by Everett but was thrown out at home on a grounder to third by Ramirez. Bichette grounded into a force to end the inning.
Nomo cruised in the top of the fourth as Justice flied out to right to start. Posada and Martinez both struck out swinging to end the inning. Pettite cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Varitek grounded out to second to start. Hillenbrand singled to left but Merloni banged into a double play to end the inning.
Soriano grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth but Hillenbrand booted a grounder by Brosius for an error. Bellinger struck out swinging and Knoblauch lined out to right to end the inning. The Sox fought back in the bottom of the fifth as Lansing singled to center to start. Lewis sacrificed Lansing to second with a bunt but Offerman struck out swinging. Everett lined a base hit to center to score Lansing to tie the game and then the Sox caught a break. Knoblauch looked to have made a sliding catch on a Ramirez bloop single but umpire Tim Tschida curiously ruled it a trap and a base hit. Replays show he did catch the ball but the call stood. Bichette took advantage of the call with a base hit to center to score Everett to give the Sox the lead. Varitek grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Nomo returned for one final inning in the top of the sixth as things fell apart. Jeter hit a routine grounder to Hillenbrand who threw the ball 100 feet over the head of Offerman for an error. Nomo had Jeter picked off first but Offerman threw the ball over the head of Hillenbrand in return for another error. O'Neill compounded the errors with a 2 run home run to Brazil to give the Yankees the lead. Justice grounded out to third but Posada beat out an infield single to short. Martinez and Soriano both whiffed to end the inning but the Yankees were ahead 3-2. That was it for Nomo who was victimized by errors had allowed 3 runs in 6 innings.
The Sox incompetence extended to the plate in the bottom of the sixth as Hillenbrand grounded out to short to start. Merloni singled to center but got picked off by Pettite. Lansing singled to left and Lewis doubled to right, but Offerman lined out to third to end the inning.
"El Guapo" Rich Garces came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Brosius took strike three to start. Bellinger also took strike three but Knoblauch walked. Jeter grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox finally rallied in a weird bottom of the seventh as Everett tripled into the right field corner to start. Ramirez lined a double off the Monster to tie the game and Bichette singled Manny to third. Varitek lit the crowd up with a base hit to left to score Ramirez and give the Sox the lead. Todd Williams came in to pitch and Brian Daubach pinch hit for Hillenbrand. Daubach whiffed but Bichette took third when the ball got away. Merloni hit a sac fly to score Bichette to extend the lead. Randy Choate came in to pitch and it was a disaster. Trot Nixon pinch hit for Lansing and got plunked before Choate threw two straight pitches to the backstop to score Bichette. Yankees manager Joe Torre pulled Randy before he killed someone in the middle of the at-bat to Lewis. Brian Boehringer came in and got Lewis to pop up to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Daubach took over at first, Grebeck took Bichette's spot but played short, Nixon moved to right, Offerman moved to second, Merloni went to third, Lewis went to left and Sox closer Derek Lowe came in to pitch the top of the eighth. O'Neill singled to left but Justice hit into a double play. Posada walked and Martinez doubled him to third, but Sorianio struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the eighth as Offerman walked to start. Everett singled to right but Ramirez took strike three. Grebeck flied out to right but Varitek walked to load the bases. Daubach grounded out to second to end the inning.
Lowe came back in the top of the ninth and Brosius singled to center to start. Luis Sojo pinch hit for Bellinger and singled to center to chase the incompetent Lowe. Rolando Arrojo came in to pitch and Knoblauch hit a pop up into foul territory that Daubach fell into the dugout to retrieve. Brosius took third on the play and he scored on the Jeter force at second. With the tying run at first....O'Neill popped up to short to end the game. The Sox had survived and had won it 5-4
Hero of the Night is Rolando Arrojo. He was thrust into a 2 on, no out situation and got the save in the top of the ninth.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 2 for 4 with a walk.
Carl Everett was 3 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Manny Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch, rbi and run scored.
Dante Bichette was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Lou Merloni was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Mike Lansing was 2 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Trot Nixon was hit with a pitch.
Hideo Nomo tossed 6 innings and allowed just 2 earned runs (3 total). He allowed 3 hits and 2 walks.
Rich Garces tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Derek Lowe was charged with a run in 1 plus innings of work.
The Ugly:
Darren Lewis was just 1 for 4.
Jason Varitek was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Shea Hillenbrand was 1 for 3 but made two costly errors, one that led to a run.
Brian Daubach was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but made a great catch in the ninth inning.
Final Thoughts:
That was one of the strangest wins of the season but a win is a win. Its a very small victory early in the season but these of the kinds of games the Yankees have traditionally won in the past. Tim Tschida calling the Knoblauch catch a trap was highly unusual as was the Sox coming back after O'Neill put the Yankees ahead. Andy Pettite usually doesn't melt like that and the Yankees bullpen now has a weakness. Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera are lights out but when it comes to the other relievers, look out. If you were to tell me before the series that Paxton Crawford could match Orlando Hernandez and Hideo Nomo could match Andy Pettite, I wouldn't have believed you. As it is, the Sox are a win tomorrow morning away from taking 3 of 4 from the Yankees. The Sox look to win the series tomorrow morning when they send Frank Castillo (0-1, 5.00 ERA) up against Mike Mussina of the Yankees for a special Patriots Day matinee. The game begins at 11:00 AM at Fenway Park.
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