Pedro, Sox Blank Royals (4/19/02)

It was vintage Pedro Martinez (2-0, 4.43 ERA) tonight for the Boston Red Sox as they shut out the Kansas City Royals. After coming off rotator cuff surgery and looking up and down his first few starts of the season, Pedro was Pedro tonight. He held the Royals to just two baserunners in the fourth through 8 amazing innings. Meanwhile Shea Hillenbrand got the party start with a bases clearing triple in the top of the sixth inning. Johnny Damon scored on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth and that was more than enough cushion for Pedro. Rich Garces slammed the door in the ninth inning and the Sox had won the game 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium.

                                                          Sax approves of the win

Chris George got the ball for the Royals in the top of the first and Rickey Henderson grounded out to third to start. Johnny Damon got booed as he stepped to the plate but those turned to cheers when he took strike three on a curveball. Nomar Garciaparra struck out swinging to end the inning. Pedro took the mound in the bottom of the first as old friend Donnie Sadler grounded out to short to start. Neifi Perez grounded out to first and Carlos Beltran flied out to the centerfield warning track to end the inning.

The Sox blew a rally in the top of the second as Manny Ramirez popped up to short to start. Tony Clark broke a 1 for 28 slump with a double into the left field corner and Shea Hillenbrand walked as the rain started to really come down. Jason Varitek grounded out to short to move the runners over but Trot Nixon walked to load the bases. Old friend and Royals pitching coach Al Nipper came out to tell George to pitch better and Rey Sanchez popped up to second to end the inning. Mike Sweeney popped up to second to start the bottom of the second before Michael Tucker struck out swinging. Raul Ibanez flied out to left to end the inning.

Henderson flied out to left to start the top of the third before Damon lined out to right. Nomar flied out to center to end the inning. Pedro struck out old pal Luis Alicea swinging on a changeup to start the bottom of the third before Brent Mayne flied out to left. Carlos Febles grounded out to second to end the inning.

Ramirez grounded back to the mound to start the top of the fourth but Clark slapped a base hit to right. Hillenbrand banged into a double play to end the inning. Pedro ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth although Sox analyst Jerry Remy brought up everything wrong with Sadler in his time in Boston. Sadler flied out to right and Perez flied out to left, but Beltran reached on an error when Pedro dropped a throw from Clark off a grounder. Sweeney singled to center to move Beltran to third but Tucker struck out swinging to end the inning. That was Pedro's 2,000th career strikeout.

                                                  Pedro drops the ball

Varitek popped up to Tucker to start the top of the fifth and Nixon took strike three. Sanchez grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Ibanez flied out to left to begin the bottom of the fifth before Alicea grounded out to second. Mayne struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Sox struck first in the top of the sixth as Henderson singled to right to start. Damon dropped down a bunt but managed to beat it out for a single....only for Henderson to get picked off. Nomar drilled a base hit to center and that was it for George. The crowd booed Royals manager and old pal Tony Muser for pulling him for Blake Stein and Ramirez lined out to right. Clark walked to load the bases and Hillenbrand cleared them with a triple to the right field wall. The crowd booed Muser loudly and Varitek lined out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.

                                                    Hillenbrand with a triple

Pedro cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Febles lined out to right to start. Sadler took a curveball down the middle for strike three and Perez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Nixon flied out to right to start the top of the seventh and Sanchez flied out to center. Henderson lined out to center to end the inning. The Royals beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the seventh as Beltran grounded out to first to start. Jerry Remy brought up last night's Boston Bruins Game 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens as Sweeney grounded out to third. Tucker grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Sox struck again in the top of the eighth with Nate Field on the mound. Damon lined a base hit to right and promptly stole second. Nomar grounded out to second to move Damon to third and Manny was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Instead Field uncorked a wild pitch to score Damon with another run. Ramirez moved to second on the wild pitch as well and he moved to third on the grounder to first by Clark. Hillenbrand grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.

                                                    Damon scored a run

Pedro returned for one final inning in the bottom of the eighth and Ibanez took strike three to start. Alicea grounded out to first and Mayne grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedro was outstanding, holding the Royals to just 1 run in 8 innings while striking out 6.

                                                               Pedro gets it done

Another old friend, Brian Shouse came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Varitek grounded out to third to start. Nixon took strike three and Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning. "El Guapo" Rich Garces came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Febles flied out to right to start. Sadler grounded out to third but Perez dumped a base hit to right. Beltran grounded out to first to end the game with the Sox winning 4-0.

                                                          Sox win

Hero of the Night is Pedro Martinez. He tossed 8 innings and allowed just 2 baserunners while striking out 6 batters.

                                                            Hero Pedro

The Good:

Johnny Damon was 2 for 4 with a stolen base and 2 runs scored.

Tony Clark was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Shea Hillenbrand was 1 for 3 with a walk and 3 rbis.

Rich Garces pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Bad:

Jason Varitek was 0 for 4.

Rey Sanchez was 0 for 4.

The Ugly:

Ricky Henderson was just 1 for 4.

Nomar Garciaparra was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.

Manny Ramirez was 0 for 3 but walked.

Trot Nixon was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.

Final Thoughts:

Great win by the Red Sox who have now won four games in a row and six out of their last seven. Pedro looked like himself for the first time all season and the defense stepped up big. The stat sheet will show grounders to second, third and short but the Royals are very speedy so the Sox defenders had to work quickly to get them out. Pedro only struck out six guys so the fact that he himself was the only one that made an error is a tip of the cap to the fielders. Offensively the Sox were relatively stymied by Chris George but Muser pulled him and the Sox capitalized on Blake Stein. Hillenbrand's triple proved to be the difference in the game and it was good to see Clark get a couple of hits. If he gets back on track this team could be deadly offensively. More good news is on the horizon as John Burkett is supposed to come off the Disabled List to start tomorrow night's game and the rumors are Darren Oliver will be going on the Disabled List after getting hit on the hand in his last start. Either that or someone like Lou Merloni will be sent packing down to Pawtucket. Either way the Sox look to make it five wins in a row tomorrow night when Burkett takes on Dan Reichart of the Royals at 8:05 PM Eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.