Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Chuck Knoblauch grounded out to third to start. Derek Jeter also grounded out to third but Paul O'Neill walked. David Justice grounded out to first to end the inning. Hernandez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Trot Nixon flied out to left to start. Jose Offerman was rung up on a full count strike three but Carl Everett walked. Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Crawford cruised in the top of the second inning as Jorge Posada flied out to right to start. Tino Martinez flied out to center and old friend Michael Coleman struck out swinging to end the inning. The Yankees TV broadcast tried to paint the Red Sox as the bad guys by putting a graphic saying Coleman was mistreated by Sox manager Jimy Williams.
Troy O'Leary led off the bottom of the second by lining out to short but Scott Hatteberg singled up the middle. Shea Hillenbrand forced Hatteberg at second and Brian Daubach struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the third inning as Alfonso Soriano dumped a base hit to right to start. Scott Brosius walked but Knoblauch popped up to right. Jeter lashed a base hit to center and Soriano came chugging around third. Everett's throw came to the plate...SAFE! Both runners moved over but O'Neill hit one up the elevator shaft. Justice grounded out to first to end the inning with the Yankees head 1-0.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Mike Lansing flied out to right to begin. Nixon walked and Offerman dropped a base hit to left, but Everett lined out to second. Ramirez struck out swinging again to end the inning.
Daubach made a great stab to rob Posada of a hit to start the top of the fourth and Martinez flied out to the left field wall and Coleman grounded out to short to end the inning. For some reason Clay Bellinger took over for Coleman to start the bottom of the fourth and O'Leary singled to left to start. Hatteberg flied out to center and Hillenbrand flied out to right, but Daubach singled to right. Lansing flied out to right to end the inning.
Soriano flied out to right to start the top of the fifth but Brosius hit a bullet off the Monster for a single that would have been gone in Yankee Stadium. Knoblauch singled off the glove of Lansing and Offerman bobbled a double play at second hit by Jeter to put runners at the corners. O'Neill grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Nixon grounded out to second to start. Offerman struck out swinging but Everett was plunked in the hand. Just as New York Yankee fans were gloating the game was in the bag, Ramirez doubled off the centerfield wall to score Everett to tie the game.
Everett scores the tying run
Crawford came back for one more inning in the top of the sixth and Justice walked to start. Posada singled to right but Martinez banged into a double play. Bellinger hit a grounder to third and Daubach scooped a bad throw by Hillenbrand to end the inning. That was it for Crawford who threw 6 innings and held the Yankees to just 1 run.
Ramiro Mendoza replaced Hernandez for the bottom of the sixth and Hatteberg grounded out to second to start. Hillenbrand struck out swinging and Daubach grounded out to third to end the inning.
"El Guapo" Rich Garces came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Everett ran down a Soriano line drive on the centerfield warning track to begin. Brosius lined out to second and Knoblauch flied out to right to end the inning. Lansing grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the seventh and Nixon popped up to center. Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning.
Rod Beck came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Jeter flied out to right to start. O'Neill grounded out to second and Justice grounded out to first to end the inning. Everett struck out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth before Ramirez grounded out to short. O'Leary lined out to second to end the inning.
Beck returned for the top of the ninth and Posada struck out swinging to start. Martinez also went down hacking but Bellinger hit a line drive off the Monster for a hit. Bellinger was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
Mike Stanton came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Jason Varitek pinch hit for Hatteberg to start. Varitek popped up to first, Hillenbrand grounded out to first and Daubach flied out to center to end the inning to send the game to extras. The Yankee pitchers had retired 12 batters in a row.
Derek Lowe came in to crap his pants in the top of the tenth as Soriano doubled to right to start. Brosius hit a grounder to third but Soriano was in the way and Hillenbrand couldn't make the play. Soriano scored on the hit and Knoblauch dropped down a bunt to move Brosius to second. Jeter walked but O'Neill struck out swinging. Justice popped up to second to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 2-1.
Mariano Rivera came in to close out the bottom of the tenth and Lansing grounded back to the mound. Nixon hit a grounder up the middle for a hit but Offerman struck out swinging. Down to their last strike, Everett singled to left to bring up Ramirez. Manny was 0 for 12 against Rivera coming into the at-bat and the Yankees chose to pitch to him rather than walk him to get to O'Leary. A passed ball moved the runners over and Manny lashed a base hit through the legs of Rivera to score Nixon and Everett to win the game. The Sox had won it 3-2 in 10 innings.
Hero of the Night is Manny Ramirez. His 2 run single won the game in the bottom of the 10th.
The Good:
Carl Everett was 1 for 3 with a walk, hit by pitch and 2 runs scored.
Scott Hatteberg was 1 for 3.
Paxton Crawford tossed 6 solid innings of 1 run ball.
Rich Garces pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Rod Beck tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jason Varitek was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Shea Hillenbrand was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 4.
Derek Lowe vultured the win by allowing a run in the top of the tenth.
The Ugly:
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of three strikeouts.
Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Its only the first game of 19 between the two teams but the addition of Manny Ramirez may pay dividends going forward. Having an all-star slugger that can hit the Yankees best pitchers is the ingredient the Sox have been missing the last few years. Nomar Garciaparra and Carl Everett could barely be counted on to hit Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Stanton and Rivera but Manny can. How big was Crawford's 6 innings to get them to Beck, Garces and Lowe.....and what is with Lowe this season? He blew 2 of the first 3 games in Baltimore and he would have been the loser tonight if it wasn't for Manny's heroics. The Sox are missing Nomar big time as they're not getting much out of the shortstop position but if the Sox can hang on until he comes back, this could be a damn good team when he does. Hopefully Hillenbrand can be a good third basemen because John Valentin may not come back and Wilton Veras proved to be a disappointment. All in all it was a good win and tomorrow is another monster match between Roger Clemens of the Yankees and Pedro Martinez (1-0, 0.68 ERA) of the Red Sox. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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