Usually when Pedro Martinez (4-0, 1.44 ERA) of the Boston Red Sox leaves the game with a 4 run lead and 6 outs to go, the game is pretty much over. Tonight the Oakland A's damn near completed an epic comeback on ESPN Sunday Night baseball against the Red Sox. The Sox took a 5-0 lead on a 3 run homer by Jose Offerman and a 2 run bomb by Troy O'Leary off A's starter Cory Lidle. Martinez dazzled for 7 innings but the Sox bullpen almost blew it. Rolando Arrojo allowed 2 runs in the eighth and Rich Garces gave up one in the ninth to pull the A's within a run. Rod Beck slammed the door to earn the save but the A's scared the bejesus out of the Sox, falling just short 5-4 at Oakland Coliseum.
Lidle got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trot Nixon led off with a ground out to first to start. Jose Offerman struck out swinging on a splitter in the dirt but Carl Everett was plunked. Manny Ramirez lined a base hit to right that moved Offerman to third and took second on the throw for a credited double. Troy O'Leary walked to load the bases but Jason Varitek grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedro got the ball in the bottom of the first and Johnny Damon dumped a base hit to left to start. Frank Menechino popped up to second and Jason Giambi grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Red Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second and Shea Hillenbrand grounded out to short on a nice play by Miguel Tejada to start. Chris Stynes grounded back to the mound and Mike Lansing grounded out to third to end the inning. Olmedo Saenz struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Terrance Long grounded out to short. Jeremy Giambi singled in the hole at short and a wild pitch moved him to second. Tejada lined a broken bat liner to Stynes to end the inning.
Nixon led off the top of the third by striking out on a nasty change to start. Offerman grounded out to first but Everett walked. Ramirez grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedro cruised in the bottom of the third as Chavez grounded out to third to start. Hernandez popped up to third and Damon flied out to left to end the inning.
Lidle cruised in the top of the fourth as O'Leary grounded out to first to start. Varitek grounded back to the mound and Hillenbrand flied out to left to end the inning. Martinez matched Lidle in the bottom of the fourth as ESPN Sunday Night baseball analyst Jon Miller said he signed up for the MLB package to listen to games on the radio for $9.99 a month. Joe Morgan his co-host was unimpressed much to the delight of Miller. Menechino hit a looper to left that O'Leary made a nice running catch to grab before Jason Giambi grounded out to second and Saenz took strike three on the inside corner to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the fifth inning as Stynes dumped a base hit to left to start. Stynes swiped second, Lansing walked and Chris moved to third on the fly ball to right by Nixon. Offerman launched his third home run of the season to give the Sox the lead. Everett grounded out to short but Ramirez walked. O'Leary blasted his second home run of the season to increase the lead but Varitek grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox suddenly had a 5-0 lead.
More than enough cushion for Pedro in the bottom of the fifth as Long flied out to right to start. Jeremy Giambi grounded out to first and Tejada struck out swinging to end the inning.
Hillenbrand beat out a chopper to third to start the top of the sixth and moved to second on a grounder to short by Stynes. ESPN showed a graphic of how the Red Sox have the best pitching in the American League as Lansing hit a bullet to Chavez who doubled off Hillenbrand at second to end the inning.
The A's struck back in the bottom of the sixth as Nixon fell down on a double by Chavez. Everett picked the ball up and threw it into the first base bleachers for an error to allow Chavez to reach third on the error. Hernandez reached on a swinging bunt to Pedro and Chavez scored on the double play Damon grounded into. Pedro blew away Menechino with a fastball to end the inning with the A's down 5-1.
Mike Magnante came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Nixon went down swinging to start. Offerman and Everett stroked back to back singles to chase Magnante. Jim Mecir came in and Ramirez struck out swinging. O'Leary went down hacking to end the inning. Pedro returned for one final inning in the bottom of the seventh and Jason Giambi popped up to Everett on the first pitch to start. Saenz took strike three and Long struck out swinging to end the inning. Pedro was masterful tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball while allowing just 4 hits.
Varitek doubled to right to start the top of the eighth but Hillenbrand grounded out to third. Stynes popped up to short and Lansing took strike three to end the inning. Rolando Arrojo got tagged in the bottom of the eighth although Jeremy Giambi struck out swinging to start. ESPN showed highlights of Pedro hitting Edgar Martinez with a curveball in last week's game and right on cue Arrojo sent Tejada sprawling with a hit by pitch to the leg. Chavez doubled to the centerfield wall to score Tejada with another run. That was the first run allowed by Arrojo this year and Mario Valdez pinch hit for Hernandez. Chavez stole third and scored on the Valdez grounder to second to cut the lead. That was it for Arrojo as "El Guapo" Rich Garces came in to pitch to Damon and got him to ground out to first to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 5-3.
Sal Fasano took over behind the plate, with Valdez in for Damon and Jason Isringhausen now on the mound for the top of the ninth inning. Nixon flied out to right to start but Offerman singled to center. Everett forced Offerman at second and tried to steal a bag. Fasano threw the ball away and Everett took third. Ramirez was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners but O'Leary grounded out to second to end the inning. Garces came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and Menechino singled to center to begin. Menechino moved to second on a balk, to third on defensive indifference and scored on the Jason Giambi grounder to first. Sox manager Jimy Williams sent Rod Beck in to get the final two outs and Beck plunked Saenz to put the tying run on. Eric Byrnes pinch ran for Saenz but was forced at second by Long. Beck froze Jeremy Giambi for strike three on the inside the corner to end the game. The Sox had held on to win it 5-4.
Hero of the Night is Pedro Martinez. He dominated the A's by allowing 1 run in 7 innings on 4 hits while striking out 6.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 3 for 5 with a 3 run home run.
Carl Everett was 1 for 3 with a walk, stolen base and a hit by pitch.
Manny Ramirez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Rod Beck earned the save by getting the final two outs in the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Trot Nixon was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Rolando Arrojo allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Rich Garces allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4 with a walk but the one hit was a 2 run home run.
Jason Varitek was just 1 for 4.
Shea Hillenbrand was just 1 for 4.
Chris Stynes was just 1 for 4 but stole a base and scored a run.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Last year the Red Sox bullpen was one of their strengths but this year its been pretty shaky. It doesn't matter who pitches the ninth, no one has been able to do it consistently. Derek Lowe, Beck and now Rich Garces have faltered. Of the 12 losses the Sox have, 6 of them have come via the bullpen. Pedro, Hideo Nomo and Paxton Crawford can only do what they can but the bullpen must be able to finish the games. The Sox got lucky this time but won't get so lucky in the future if this keeps up. The Sox got all their runs in one inning but it just happened to be enough. Its good to see O'Leary and Offerman show some pop since Ramirez and Everett can't be the only ones who can hit the longball. The A's and Mariners are good teams so the Sox need to make a statement by taking the majority of these games if they have any hope for October baseball this year. The win improved the Sox to 19-12, tied for first place with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Sox now return to Boston for a revenge series against the Seattle Mariners beginning on Tuesday night. Hideo Nomo (3-2) looks to keep the momentum going against old friend Jamie Moyer of the Mariners. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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