Pedro took the mound in the top of the first inning and Enrique Wilson popped up to the returning Johnny Damon in center to begin. Derek Jeter singled out of the reach of Bill Mueller but was erased on the force by Jason Giambi. Bernie Williams grounded out to second to end the inning. Damon lit the fuse on a first inning rally against Clemens in the bottom of the first when he lined one off Wilson to start. Todd Walker lined a double off the Monster but Nomar Garciaparra looked at strike three on the inside corner. Manny Ramirez lined a single into the gap in center to score both Damon and Walker to give the Sox the lead. The Yankees got a huge inning ending double play when Ortiz was rung up for strike three and Ramirez was easily thrown out at second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Yankees struck back in the top of the second when Jorge Posada doubled off the Monster to start. Johnson grounded back to the mound and Hideki Matsui popped up to second, but Karim Garcia singled to right to score Posada to cut the lead. Alfonso Soriano flied out to left to end the inning but the Yankees were down 2-1.
Clemens settled down in the bottom of the second as he whiffed Kevin Millar on a high slider to start. Trot Nixon grounded out to second and Mueller lined out Johnson to end the inning.
The Yankees tied it up in the top of the third inning although Wilson whiffed to start. Jeter crushed a solo home run completely out of Fenway to start the inning. Giambi was caught looking on a breaking ball before Williams whiffed to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the third when Jason Varitek flied out to the centerfield warning track to start. Damon lined one off the glove of Jeter for a hit but Walker popped up to center. Nomar grounded into a force to end the inning.
Things got testy in the top of the fourth as the Yankees took the lead. Posada walked to open the frame and Johnson advanced him to third with a single off the Monster. Matsui smacked a ground rule double to right to score Posada and give the Yankees the lead. All of a sudden Pedro intentionally plunked Garcia and Karim was justifiably upset. Joe Torre came out to complain about Pedro's headhunting and the Yankee dugout started shouting invectives. Soriano banged into a double play to score Johnson but Garcia slid late into Walker at second and the two started jawing at each other. The Yankee dugout then started shouting at Pedro again and this time Pedro responded. He pointed at his own head and shouted at what looked to be Posada. Torre saw this and the imbecile Tim McCarver on commentary said that meant he's going to hit Posada in the head. Posada and Pedro kept jawing at each other with Don Zimmer of all people shouting with Jorge. Wilson popped up to second to end the inning but it was 4-2 Yankees.
The powder keg exploded in the bottom of the fourth as Clemens threw a high fastball and Ramirez started barking at him despite the ball not coming that close to him. The benches emptied and old man Zimmer charged Pedro. Pedro threw Zimmer to the ground as Bill Lee stood up and applauded wherever he was. Joe Buck and McCarver cried foul on commentary as Ramirez had to be calmed down by Ortiz. When play finally resumed Clemens punched out Ramirez (not literally though) and Ortiz flied out to deep right. Millar grounded out to third to end the inning.
All of a sudden Pedro turned unhittable in the top of the fifth as Nixon made a leaping grab to rob Jeter of a 300 foot home run in right. Giambi flied out to left and Williams grounded out to second to end the inning. Clemens also stayed tough in the bottom of the fifth as Nixon grounded out to second to begin. Clemens blew away Mueller and Varitek to end the inning.
A pissed off Pedro blew away Posada to begin the top of the sixth and told him to go sit down afterwards. Pedro blew away Johnson and got Matsui to ground out to first to end the inning. The Sox looked to rally when Damon lined a single to left to begin. Walker drew a walk but the slumping Nomar whiffed. Manny banged into a double play to end the inning, huge squander by the Sox. That was it for Clemens in his final start at Fenway before he retires. Goodbye Rocket.
Pedro returned for one final inning in the top of the seventh and dominated. Garcia grounded out to first before Soriano whiffed. Wilson hit a high chopper to third to end the inning and that was it for Pedro. After he plunked Garcia not a single batter reached base but he left trailing giving up 4 runs in 7 innings.
Felix Heredia replaced Clemens with Aaron Boone now taking over at third for the bottom of the seventh. The Sox finally rallied as Ortiz walked to start the inning and Yankees manager Joe Torre shook his head and took out Felix. Jose Contreras replaced Heredia and Millar greeted him with a base hit that advanced Ortiz to third. That was it as Nixon banged into a double play that did manage to score Ortiz but Mueller walked to put the tying run on. Varitek popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox down 4-3.
Mike Timlin took over for Pedro in the top of the eighth and Jeter whiffed on a pitch in the dirt to begin. Giambi grounded out to a bumbling Nomar before Williams took strike three to end the inning. Mariano Rivera came on for the six out save in the bottom of the eighth and got Damon to ground back to himself to start. Walker flied out to the left field warning track and Nomar grounded out to short to end the inning.
Alan Embree took over for the top of the ninth and got Posada to ground out to first to begin. Johnson poked a single to center but Matsui banged into a double play to end the inning. Rivera returned to close out the ninth but before he could there was another fracas, this time in the New York Yankees bullpen. Apparently one of the Sox staff mouthed off to reliever Jeff Nelson and they went at it. Karim Garcia hopped into the bullpen and started punching the guy and both security and police had to get involved. Garcia apparently hut his hand punching the guy and had to be replaced by Juan Rivera.
When action resumed, the Sox went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Ramirez grounded to first and Johnson made a great play on an Ortiz liner. Millar popped up to center to end the game. The Yankees had taken Game 3 but a score of 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Nomar Garciaparra. He came up twice with two on an nobody out, striking out both times.
The Good:
Johnny Damon was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Todd Walker was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Alan Embree pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Trot Nixon was 0 for 3.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Manny Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but the one hit drove in two runs.
David Ortiz was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Kevin Millar was 1 for 4.
Bill Mueller was 0 for 2 but walked.
Pedro Martinez took the loss by giving up 4 runs in 7 innings but didn't allow a single runner to reach base after Garcia was plunked in the 4th inning.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox are in trouble now. If they couldn't beat the Yankees with their best pitcher, how are they going to do it with their worst tomorrow? I don't know what's wrong with Nomar but his bawfulness was the final nail in the Game 3 coffin. He came up twice with two men on and did nothing. Who would have ever thought Clemens would outduel Pedro either? I know the Yankees have figured out Martinez but still the offense only getting two first innings runs off Clemens isn't going to cut it.Its not going to get any better with David Wells going tomorrow either. The Sox are gonna have to dig deep to climb out of this hole and the series is guaranteed to finish in New York if the Sox don't win one of the next two games. The Sox look to bounce back in Game 4 tomorrow night with John Burkett taking the mound opposite David Wells. The biggest game of the season starts at 7:30 PM at Fenway Park
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