Traschel Outpitches Pedro, Rays Win (5/6/00)

The line reads as 9 innings, 1 run, 6 hits and 17 strikeouts....9 times out of 10 this would be more than good enough to win, but this happened to be the 10th time. Pedro Martinez (5-1, 1.22 ERA) was game but Tampa Bay Devil Rays starter Steve Traschel (2-2, 4.85 ERA) was just a little bit better. The Sox were held to just 3 hits by Traschel. Pedro went the distance and struck out 17 Rays....but Greg Vaughn singled home Dave Martinez in the top of the eighth for the only run of the game. It was a wonderful pitcher's duel but the Sox came out on the wrong end in the 1-0 win for Tampa at Fenway Park.          

                                                                 "Damn Traschel!"

Gerald Williams opened the top of the first by lining the first pitch to left off of Pedro. Dave Martinez and Greg Vaughn struck out swinging and Jose Canseco looked at strike three to end the inning. Traschel also struck out the side in the bottom of the first. Jose Offerman, Trot Nixon and Brian Daubach all whiffed in short order.

Pedro struck out both Fred McGriff and Vinny Castilla to start the top of the second. Old pal John Flaherty singled off the Monster but Kevin Stocker whiffed to end the inning. The Sox mounted one of their only threats in the bottom of the second. Carl Everett grounded out to first but Troy O'Leary singled into the right field corner. Mike Stanley watched strike three go by but Jason Varitek walked. With two men on, Manny Alexander hit a broken bat grounder to short to end the inning.

Miguel Cairo whiffed to lead off the top of the third for Pedro's seventh consecutive strikeout but Williams popped up to second to end the streak. Martinez flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the third but Andy Sheets struck out looking to start. Offerman grounded out to second but Nixon walked. Daubach singled Trot over to third and with the go-ahead run at third, Everett grounded out to second to end the inning. Big help Carl. The Sox had 2 hits and 2 walks to this point....they would have just 1 of each the rest of the way.

Vaughn whiffed to open the top of the fourth. Canseco flied out to shallow left but McGriff singled to right. Castilla was frozen for strike three to give Pedro 9 strikeouts through four to end the inning.

                                                   What a duel so far

Traschel then found a groove in the bottom of the fourth. O'Leary grounded out to first but Stanley walked. Varitek struck out swinging but Alexander popped up to Cairo in foul territory to end the inning.

Flaherty and Stocker both struck out swinging to begin the top of the fifth but Cairo singled in the hole at short. Cairo stole second but Williams whiffed as Pedro had punched out 12 through 5 innings. Unfortunately the Sox offense could not pick up Pedro in the bottom of the fifth. Sheets grounded out to short and Offerman grounded back to the mound. Nixon hit a 400 foot fly out to the centerfield warning track to end the inning in short order.

                                                   Deadlocked through 5

Pedro showed no signs of tiring in the top of the sixth. Martinez popped up to short and Vaughn whiffed on a nasty changeup. Canseco popped up to center to end the inning. Pedro was 7 strikeouts away from 20 and had 9 outs to do it. Meanwhile the Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth. Daubach singled over the head of Stocker but Everett struck out looking. O'Leary singled under the glove of McGriff to put runners at the corners. All the Sox needed was a fly ball but Stanley struck out swinging and Varitek grounded out to short to end the inning.

                                                  Dammit Everett!

McGriff grounded out to first to open the top of the seventh and Castilla struck out swinging. Flaherty walked but Stocker struck out swinging to end the inning. 15 strikeouts for Pedro and no runs, yet no lead. Traschel remained red hot in the bottom of the seventh. Alexander hit one up the elevator shaft, Sheets grounded out to short and Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Rays ended up striking first in the top of the eighth. Cairo whiffed to become Pedro's 16th strikeout victim. Williams grounded out to short but Martinez singled and stole second. Vaughn then singled home Martinez to give the Rays the lead. What would have been one of the best starts of Pedro's career now looked like a loss. Canseco popped up to left to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0. 

                                                     Rays take the lead

Could the Sox rally against Traschel? NO! Nixon popped up to shallow center and Daubach took strike three. Everett struck out swinging to end the inning.

Pedro returned for the top of the ninth and got McGriff to fly out to right to start. Castilla struck out swinging and Flaherty grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Pedro had tossed 9 innings, struck out 17 and allowed 1 run. That was good enough to beat the world champion New York Yankees last September but he was in danger of losing tonight. 

                                                   Standing ovation for Pedro

The Sox had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth against Traschel but couldn't cash in. O'Leary flied out to center, Stanley whiffed again and Varitek flied out to center to end the game. The Rays had taken the game 1-0.

                                                          How do you lose to THIS guy?

Jackass of the night is a tough one as the entire offense scored zero runs. I'll go with Carl Everett. He was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts when a home run would have given the Sox the lead or tie it.

                                                      Jackass Everett



The Good:

Brian Daubach was 2 for 4. 

Rarely does the losing pitcher end up on the good list but Pedro Martinez deserved better. He tossed a complete game, 9 inning gem, allowing just 1 run while striking out 17.

The Bad:

Jose Offerman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.  

Manny Alexander was 0 for 3. 

Andy Sheets was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Trot Nixon was 0 for 3 with a walk. 

Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4. 

Mike Stanley was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked. 

Jason Varitek was 0 for 3 with a walk.

Final Thoughts:

What a shame. Pedro pitched an absolute gem and the Sox had their chances, but just couldn't get the one clutch hit. Traschel is a career .500 pitcher so he'll never pitch like that again most likely. This is the same guy that lost 18 games last year. The lack of offense is concerning without Nomar Garciaparra but hopefully this was a one time thing. Traschel pitched the game of his life and sometimes you just have to tip your cap and admit he was the better man. It was a good game and a wonderful pitcher's duel, too bad the Sox came out on the wrong end of it. The loss dropped the Sox to 15-11, 4 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow against the Rays as Jeff Fassero goes up against Bryan Rekar. The game begins at 1:00 PM at Fenway Park.

Sox Walkoff, Defeat A's (4/16/00)

For six innings the Boston Red Sox looked to be heading to another defeat. The Oakland A's had a comfortable 4-2 lead over Ramon Martinez and the Sox. The Sox rallied for 2 runs in the seventh to tie the game and Carl Everett hit his first walkoff home run of the season. The Sox went from the brink of defeat to defeating the Oakland A's 5-4 at Fenway Park.

                                                          Happy fans

Ramon got the ball in the bottom of the first and Rich Becker popped up to third to start. Frank Menechino grounded out to short and Ben Grieve lined out to center to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting on the board in the bottom of the first against Omar Olivares. Jose Offerman led off the bottom of the first with a double down the left field line. Trot Nixon moved him over to third with a ground out and Brian Daubach walked to put runners at the corners. Mike Stanley got the run in with a groundout to third to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Troy O'Leary pulled ball four into a groundout to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.

                                                        Stanley drives a run in

Olmedo Saenz reached on an error by Wilton Veras to begin the top of the second inning. Matt Stairs singled in the hole at second but Jeremy Giambi banged into a double play. Miguel Tejada grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the second as Carl Everett grounded out to first to start. Jason Varitek grounded to first and Veras grounded out to second to end the bottom of the second quickly.

Eric Chavez singled to right to open the top of the third but Sal Fasano banged into a double play. Becker walked but Menechino struck out on a pitch low and away to end the inning. Andy Sheets made his Sox debut by popping up to right. Offerman hit a bullet but right to Saenz and Nixon grounded out to short to end the inning.

                                                     Hey look its Andy Sheets!

The A's broke through against Ramon in the top of the fourth. Grieve flied out to center but Saenz was hit with a pitch. Saenz had to be restrained by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro from attacking Ramon. This stemmed from yesterday when Ramon's brother Pedro hit Miguel Tejada and the A's pitcher didn't respond. Stairs struck out but Giambi singled to center. Tejada walked to load the bases and Chavez hit a bases clearing double high off the centerfield wall. For some reason 1st base umpire Brian Gorman ruled it a home run and 2nd base umpire Mike Everitt said no way. The play was finally ruled a double and A's manager Art Howe sprinted out of the dugout and threw sunflower seeds while protesting the call. Sal Fasano struck out looking to end the inning but the A's had control of the game 3-1. 

                                               "Why I augghta....." - Saenz

The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third as Daubach lined out to center to start. Stanley grounded out to first but O'Leary singled to right. Grieve misplayed a flyball by Everett for a double that scored O'Leary to inch the Sox closer. Varitek grounded out to second to end the inning but it was now 3-2.

                                                     "I don't got it...." - Grieve

The A's got another run off Ramon in the top of the fifth. Becker doubled down the left field line over the head of Stanley but Ramon punched out both Menechino and Grieve swinging. The wind carried a routine fly ball hit by Saenz past the diving Nixon for a double that scored Becker. Stairs struck out swinging to end the inning with the A's ahead 4-2.

                                                       Nixon can't make the play
 

The Sox could not answer in the bottom of the fifth as Veras whiffed to start. Sheets struck out looking and Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning.

Ramon had one inning left in the top of the sixth and it was a good one. Giambi flied out to the right field warning track and Everett had to run after a wind aided pop up from Tejada. Chavez singled to left and Everett had to dive after a wind aided pop up from Fasano flied out to end the inning. The final run was a fluke but he left after allowing 4 runs in 6 innings of work.

                                                     Ramon goes six innings

The Sox failed to score in the bottom of the sixth as Nixon flied out to center to start. Daubach singled to center but Stanley flied out to right. O'Leary flied out to center to end the inning.

The A's nearly tagged Tim Wakefield in the top of the seventh as Becker walked to start. Menechino dumped a base hit in front of Nixon but Wakefield bore down to get Grieve to pop up to short. Saenz popped up to center and Stairs swung at air at a knuckleball to end the inning. The Sox roared back in the bottom of the seventh with Becker moving to left field and Ryan Christenson replacing Grieve in center. Everett grounded out to second but Varitek ate up Saenz with a grounder to first for a "single". Veras singled over the head of Menechino but Sheets flied out to right. A wild pitch advanced the runners and Offerman made Olivares pay but singling home the two runners but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Still, the game was tied 4-4.

                                                    "Yerrrrrr out!"

Wakefield returned for the top of the eighth and was greeted with a Giambi single into right field. Tejada sacrifice bunted Giambi to second and he moved to third on the ground-out by Chavez. Not wanting to risk a passed ball to score the go-ahead run, Sox manager Jimy Williams pulled Wakefield for lefty Rheal Cormier. A's manager Art Howe countered by pinch hitting Jason Giambi for Fasano. Giambi gave one a ride but it was snared for the third and final out by Nixon to end the inning. Mike Magante was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth as Ramon Hernandez came into catch. Darren Lewis pinch hit for Nixon and was called out on strike three at a pitch at his ankles. Daubach singled to right to chase Magante and Jeff Frye pinch ran for him. Howe countered by bringing in TJ Matthews to pitch to Stanley. Mike hit a bullet but the wind knocked it into the glove of Giambi in right. O'Leary flied out to left to end the inning.

Cormier returned to the mound in the top of the ninth with Lewis now in right. Becker took strike three and Menechino flied out to right. That was it for Rheal as Sox closer Derek Lowe was brought in. Christenson singled to left but Saenz whiffed to end the inning. Matthews returned to the mound but the bottom of the ninth wouldn't last long. Carl Everett blasted a walk-off home run on a 3-1 count to give the Sox the 5-4 victory.

                                                                     SOX WIN!

Hero of the Night is an easy one. Carl Everett hit the walkoff home run to win the game. He was 2 for 4 with 2 total rbi's including his walkoff blast.

                                                       Hero of the Night; Carl Everett


The Good:

Jose Offerman was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's and a run scored. 

Brian Daubach was 2 for 3 with a walk. 

Jason Varitek was 1 for 3 with a run scored. 

Wilton Veras was 1 for 3 with a run scored. 

Tim Wakefield pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. 

Rheal Cormier tossed a full inning of scoreless relief. 

Derek Lowe got the win by getting the final out of the ninth.

The Bad:

Trot Nixon was 0 for 3. 

Darren Lewis was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter. 

Andy Sheets was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Mike Stanley was 0 for 4 but drove in a run. 

Troy O'Leary was 1 for 4 with a run scored. 

Ramon Martinez gutted through 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and struck out 6.

Honorable Mention:

Jeff Frye pinch ran for Daubach.

Final Thoughts:

That's why they traded for Carl Everett, folks. They needed offense and he pulled his load today. The Sox look headed to defeat but rallied in the later innings. Kudos to Jose Offerman for tying the game and the trio of Wakefield, Cormier and Lowe for keeping the game tied with a chance for the Sox to come back. Ramon's velocity was up to start the game but started to run out of gas in the 6th inning. It wasn't his best stuff but wasn't the worst either. It'll be interesting to see how long Daubach can keep his hot streak. All in all its always a good thing to send the fans home happy so enjoy the walkoff win tonight. Tomorrow morning the Sox play their annual Patriots Day game before the Boston Marathon. Gil Heredia takes the mound for Oakland against Jeff Fassero (1-0) of the Red Sox. The game begins at 11 AM at Fenway Park.