The Boston Red Sox have been smacked around by the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's the last two weeks, but today they took some measure of revenge against the A's. Pedro Martinez (5-0, 1.74 ERA) had his "worst" game of the season by allowing 3 runs in 7 innings of work, but the Boston bats woke up to bail him out. Trot Nixon and Manny Ramirez both hit home runs, the team as a total pounded out NINETEEN hits including 13 off Oakland starter Gil Heredia. 8 out of 9 starters all had at least one hit and the Sox cruised to an easy 9-3 win over the A's at Fenway Park.
Pedro got the ball in the top of the first and Johnny Damon popped up to short to start. Mario Valdez struck out swinging and Jason Giambi struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox pounced on Heredia in the bottom of the first as Trot Nixon doubled to left to start. Jose Offerman singled to right and Carl Everett got a single to right to score Nixon with the first run. Manny Ramirez hit an infield single to third and Eric Chavez threw the ball onto the Mass Pike for an error to score Offerman. Dante Bichette singled to center to score Everett but Jason Varitek popped up to short. Shea Hillenbrand doubled to center to score Ramirez but Lou Merloni popped up to second. Mike Lansing flied out to center to end the inning but it was 4-0 Sox.
John Jaha struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Terrance Long doubled to right. Long moved to third on a grounder to third by Miguel Tejada and Chavez drew a walk. Mark Bellhorn took strike three to end the inning. Nixon singled to right to start the bottom of the second but was thrown out at third on the base hit to right by Offerman. Everett singled Offerman to third but Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning.
Sal Fasano took strike three to begin the top of the third before Damon grounded out to first. Valdez watched strike three go by to end the inning. Bichette went down hacking to start the bottom of the third before Varitek grounded out to second. Hillenbrand popped up to short to end the inning.
Giambi grounded out to short to open the top of the fourth and Jaha flied out to right. Long grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Merloni grounded out to second to start. Lansing grounded out to short but Nixon launched his fourth home run of the season to right to increase the lead. Offerman took strike three to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Tejada grounded out to third to begin the top of the fifth and Chavez struck out swinging. Bellhorn took strike three again to end the inning. The Sox poured it on in the bottom of the fifth as Everett grounded out to short to start. Ramirez then cracked a home run 500 feet to left....just inside the foul pole for a home run. Bichette grounded out to short but Varitek doubled to center. Hillenbrand singled to left to score Varitek and chase Heredia from the game. TJ Mathews came in and Merloni struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-0.
The A's struck back in the top of the sixth as Fasano was plunked to start. Damon struck out swinging but Valdez singled to right. Giambi hit a home run all the way to Mount St. Helens to cut the lead. Jaha struck out swinging and Long flied out to center to end the inning but Giambi's blast put the A's down 7-3.
The Sox responded in the bottom of the sixth as Lansing hit a line drive to center to begin. Nixon struck out swinging and Offerman flied out to center, but Everett doubled home Lansing to stop Oakland's momentum. Ramirez was intentionally walked and Chad Bradford was brought in to pitch to Bichette. Bichette singled home Everett then both runners moved over on a wild pitch. Hillenbrand grounded back to the mound to end the inning but it was 9-3 Sox.
Pedro returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh and Tejada struck out swinging to start. Chavez popped up to short and Bellhorn took strike three for the third time today to end the inning. Martinez made one mistake to Giambi but still pitched well, tossing 7 innings and allowing just the home run.
Merloni grounded out to short to start the bottom of the seventh before Lansing grounded out to third. Nixon singled to right and Offerman doubled Trot to third. Everett struck out swinging to end the inning.
"El Guapo" Rich Garces came in for the top of the eighth and Fasano struck out swinging to start. Damon grounded out to first and Valdez grounded out to second to end the inning. Ramirez struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the eighth but Bichette singled in the hole at short. Varitek flied out to left and Hillenbrand struck out swinging to end the inning.
Derek Lowe came in to close out the top of the ninth and Giambi flied out to left to begin. Frank Menechino pinch hit for Jaha and took strike three. Long grounded out to first to end the game, the Sox had won it 9-3.
The Good:
Trot Nixon was 4 for 5 with a home run and two total runs scored.
Jose Offerman was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Manny Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a walk, home run, two total rbis and 2 runs scored.
Dante Bichette was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Shea Hillenbrand was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Pedro Martinez earned the win with 7 innings of 3 run ball. He allowed 3 hits and struck out 12.
Rich Garces pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Derek Lowe pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Lou Merloni was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Jason Varitek was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Mike Lansing was just 1 for 4 with a run scored.
Final Thoughts:
After the game was over Boston media were joking that this was a "bad" start by Pedro but better than most other's "good" games. The truth is he made one mistake to Giambi, otherwise it would have been on par with all his other starts. As long as Pedro is healthy, the Sox have a guaranteed chance to win 1 out of 5 days. Obviously he can't possibly win every game but today was a big one. The Seattle Mariners and A's have had their number and to smack them around was pretty good. Everybody but Merloni got a hit and 6 of the 9 had multiple hits. The grumbling from players such as Bichette and Lansing about playing time worked because they've responded. It sounds like the clubhouse is pretty volatile when things go wrong so let's hope for everyone's sake they go on a nice long winning streak to overtake the New York Yankees. Speaking of New York, the win improved the Sox to 21-15, 0.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox have one more showdown with the A's tomorrow afternoon and it'll be Hideo Nomo taking the hill against Oakland ace Mark Mulder. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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