Daubach, Sox Walkoff A's (8/16/99)

For eight innings it looked like the Oakland A's were going to pull in to a tie for the American League Wild Card slot. Brian Rose got rocked for 4 runs in just 2 1/3 innings although the Sox got some runs back courtesy of Reggie Jefferson and John Valentin. The A's got a run off Rich Garces to take a 5-3 into the bottom of the ninth. Things looked bleak when John Valentin struck out for the second out but A's manager Art Howe made a boo-boo. He brought in Tim Worrell to face the AL Player of The Week Brian Daubach. Daubach continued his hot streak with a bases clearing double to win the game. The Sox had stunned the A's 6-5 at Fenway Park.

                                                   Shireen Crutchfield approves of the win

Rose got the ball in the top of the first inning and Ryan Christenson grounded out to third to start. Randy Velarde grounded out to first and Jason Giambi struck out swinging to end the inning. Omar Olivares got the ball to start the bottom of the first and Jose Offerman grounded a single up the middle. John Valentin grounded into a double play and Brian Daubach flied out to the left field wall  to end the inning.

John Jaha grounded out to short to start the top of the second before old friend Matt Stairs grounded out to second. Ben Grieve grounded out to second to end the inning. Nomar Garciaparra popped up to first in foul territory to start the bottom of the second. Reggie Jefferson singled to center but Jason Varitek forced Jefferson at second to end the inning.

The A's struck first in the top of the third as Miguel Tejada walked to start. Eric Chavez singled to right and AJ Hinch hit a home run all the way to Yellowstone to put the A's on top. Christenson walked and Velarde singled to center, but Giambi took strike three. Jaha ripped a base hit to center to score Christenson to chase the incompetent Rose. He allowed 4 runs in 2 2/3 innings on 4 hits and 2 walks. Mark Guthrie came in to pitch and Stairs moved the runners over with a grounder to first. Grieve flied out to left to end the inning with the A's up 4-0.

                                                              Rose gets hammered

Donnie Sadler grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Trot Nixon flied out to center. Offerman grounded out to short to end the inning.

Tejada walked to start the top of the fourth but Chavez struck out swinging. Hinch forced Tejada at second and promptly stole second. Christenson grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Valentin grounded out to short to start. Daubach walked and Nomar was hit with a pitch, but O'Leary lined out to third. Jefferson lined a ball off the Monster for a single to score Daubach. Varitek grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox down 4-1.

                                                            Daubach scores a run

Guthrie returned for the top of the fifth and the Sox broadcast team was chosen by their first round pick in the 1999 draft Rick Asadoorian. Hope he makes it some day. Velarde struck out swinging, Giambi flied out to left and Jaha struck out swinging to end the inning.

                                                            Asadoorian in the house

The Sox struck back with Olmedo Saenz in for Giambi to start the bottom of the fifth. Sadler grounded out to short but Nixon stroked a seeing eye single in to right. Offerman moved Nixon to second with a grounder to first and Valentin ripped a base hit to right. Nixon scored to cut the lead in half but Daubach struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.

                                                             Sox inch closer

Stairs struck out swinging to open the top of the sixth but Grieve lined out short. That was it for Guthrie as Rich Garces came in to pitch to Tejeda. Miguel lined out to third to end the inning. Garciaparra reached on an error to start the bottom of the sixth but O'Leary could only move Nomar to second with a fly ball to right. Jefferson grounded out to second to move Nomar to third but Varitek grounded out to second to end the inning.

The A's struck in the top of the seventh as Chavez lined out to center to start. Hinch struck out swinging but Christenson singled to right. Christenson stole second and Velarde singled to to center, the ball getting booted by Sadler for an error to score Christenson. Saenz lined out to center to end the inning with the A's ahead 5-2.

The Sox fought back in the bottom of the seventh as Sadler beat out a grounder to Tejeda to start. A passed ball moved Sadler to second and Nixon moved Donnie to third with a grounder to second. Offerman singled in the hole at short to score Sadler to cut the lead and chase Olivares. Greg McMichael came in to pitch and Valentin struck out swinging and Daubach flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 5-3.

                                                            Sadler scores a run

Jaha took strike three to start the top of the eighth before Stairs grounded out to second. Grieve got a base hit to right and Jason McDonald ran for him. Tejada struck out swinging to end the inning. Garciaparra grounded out to third to start the bottom of the eighth and Buddy Groom came in to pitch to O'Leary. Troy grounded back to the mound and that was it for Groom. Doug Jones came in to pitch and Mike Stanley pinch hit for Jefferson. Stanley grounded out to short to end the inning.

Derek Lowe came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Chavez struck out swinging to start. Hinch grounded out to short and Christenson took strike three to end the inning. The Sox refused to go quietly in the bottom of the ninth as Varitek dumped a base hit to right to start. Butch Huskey pinch hit for Sadler and hit a line drive base hit to center to put the tying run on. Darren Lewis pinch ran for Huskey but Nixon flied out to left. Offerman drilled a base hit to right to load the bases but Valentin struck out swinging. A's manager Art Howe brought in Tim Worrell to face Daubach and one strike away from defeat, Daubach launched a ball off the Monster. Varitek and Lewis scored easily and the throw came home to get Huskey....OFFLINE....RED SOX WIN!!!

                                                                   Sox win

Hero of The Night is Brian Daubach. He got the bases clearing doubled to win the game.

                                                     Nomar hugs our hero

The Good:

Jose Offerman was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.

Reggie Jefferson was 2 for 3 with an rbi.

Darren Lewis scored a run as a pinch runner.

Donnie Sadler was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Butch Huskey singled and scored as a pinch hitter.

Mark Guthrie tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

Derek Lowe got the win with a scoreless ninth inning.

The Bad:

Troy O'Leary was 0 for 4.

Mike Stanley was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Brian Rose allowed 4 runs in just 2 1/3 innings.

The Ugly:

John Valentin was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.

Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 3 but was hit with a pitch.

Jason Varitek was just 1 for 4.

Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Rich Garces allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings.

Final Thoughts:

What a week for Daubach and what a come from behind win for the Red Sox. The Sox have a legitimate chance to repeat as Wild Card champions or overtake the Yankees if they can go on a run. Wins like this can launch a team with the proper momentum. Things are clicking and hopefully the Sox can keep this going. The only drawback is Brian Rose continues to pitch like trash. The Sox are going to need starting pitching if they're going to beat the Yankees and just Pedro Martinez and Bret Saberhagen isn't going to cut it. The win improved the Sox to 66-52, 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against Oakland tomorrow night when Bret Saberhagen (9-4) takes on Gil Heredia of Oakland. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.

Saberhagen, Sox Drop Yankees (8/1/99)

The Boston Red Sox sent a statement that this year is much different to the New York Yankees. After splitting the first two games of this series, the Sox sent the Yankees out of Boston with 2 losses in 3 games. Bret Saberhagen (7-4, 3.21 ERA) tossed a gutty game to hold the Yankees to just 2 runs in 7 strong innings. Trailing 2-1, Brian Daubach hit a home run off Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez to tie the game in the fourth. In the sixth, Nomar Garciaparra drove in the go-ahead run and Troy O'Leary hit a two run bomb off "El Duque". The Yankees rallied for two runs against Tim Wakefield in the top of the eighth, but Tim stranded the tying run at third when he slammed the door in the ninth. The Sox had taken 2 out of 3 from New York with a 5-4 victory at Fenway Park.

                                                   Jennifer Rovero approves of the win

The Yankees wasted no time getting to Saberhagen in the top of the first as Chuck Knoblauch grounded out to first to start. Derek Jeter was frozen for strike three but Paul O'Neill doubled to left. Bernie Williams tripled to the centerfield wall to put the Yankees on top. Tino Martinez popped up to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.

                                                              Triple for Williams

Hernandez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jose Offerman walked to start. John Valentin struck out swinging but Brian Daubach flied out to center. Nomar Garciaparra was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning.

Chili Davis struck out swinging to start the top of the second before Jorge Posada hit a comebacker back to Saberhagen. Shane Spencer flied out to center to end the inning. Troy O'Leary walked to start the bottom of the second but Reggie Jefferson grounded into a double play. Jason Varitek hit a broken bat grounder to Knoblauch to end the inning.

The Yankees struck again in the top of the third as Scott Brosius ripped a base hit to right to start. Knoblauch singled to left but Jeter popped up to short. O'Neill got a base hit to left to load the bases and Williams hit a sac fly to center to score Brosius. Martinez popped up to third to end the inning with the Yankees up 2-0.

                                                             Yankees get another run

The Sox struck back in the top of the third as Damon Buford doubled down the third base line and Trot Nixon ripped a base hit to left to score him to cut the lead. Offerman grounded into a double play and Valentin popped up to center to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.

                                                              Buford scores a run

Davis was frozen for strike three to start the top of the fourth before Posada popped up to third in foul territory. Spencer flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Daubach clobbered his 13th home run of the season to tie the game. Nomar popped up to center and O'Leary flied out to right but Jefferson drew a walk. Williams robbed Varitek with a hell of a catch to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.

                                                       Daubach ties it up

Saberhagen cruised in the top of the fifth as Brosius flied out to right to start. Knoblauch grounded out to second and Jeter flied out to right to start. The Monster robbed Buford of a home run high off the wall so he had to settle for a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth. Nixon popped up to Jeter and Offerman grounded out to second to move Buford to third. Valentin lined out to left to end the inning.

O'Neill grounded out to first to start the top of the sixth and Williams popped up to O'Leary. Martinez popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the sixth as Daubach doubled into the right field corner to start. Nomar singled into centerfield to score Daubach and O'Leary crushed his 20th home run of the season to put Boston on top. Jefferson singled to right and that was it for Hernandez. Allen Watson came in to pitch and Varitek grounded out to second to move Jefferson to second. Buford grounded out to third and Nixon popped up to Posada to end the inning with the Sox up 5-2.

                                                        Home run O'Leary

Saberhagen returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh and Davis grounded out to first to start. Posada grounded out to first as well and Spencer grounded out to short to end the inning. Saberhagen retired 14 in a row in 7 strong innings allowing just 5 hits.

                                                            Saberhagen was outstanding

Offerman walked to start the bottom of the seventh to chase Watson. Ramiro Mendoza came in to pitch and Valentin singled to right to move Offerman to third. Daubach struck out swinging and Garciaparra grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Tim Wakefield came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Brosius struck out swinging to start. Knoblauch walked, stole second and stole third on the Jeter swinging strikeout. O'Neill singled to right to score Knoblauch and Williams tripled off the centerfield door to score Paul. Martinez flied out to left to end the inning with the Yankees down 5-4.

                                                           Yankees inch closer

O'Leary grounded out to second to start the bottom of the eighth and Jefferson lined out to left. Varitek grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

Wakefield returned to finish off the stop of the ninth and Davis doubled to center to put the tying run on to start. Chad Curtis pinch ran for Davis but Posada grounded back to the mound. Spencer flied out to the left field warning track but Brosius walked. Knoblauch singled in the hole at short but Davis remained at third to load the bases. With the game on the line, Jeter forced Knoblauch at second to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4.

                                                             Sox win

Hero of The Night is Bret Saberhagen. He held the Yankees to just two runs in 7 strong innings to earn the win. He gave up 5 hits while striking out 3.

                                                        Hero Saberhagen

The Good:

Jose Offerman walked twice in four plate appearances.

Brian Daubach was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run and 2 runs scored.

Troy O'Leary was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2 run home run.

Reggie Jefferson was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Damon Buford was 2 for 3 with a run scored.

Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

The Bad:

Jason Varitek was 0 for 4.

The Ugly:

John Valentin was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Nomar Garciaparra was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.

Tim Wakefield got the save but allowed 2 runs in 2 innings.

Final Thoughts:

Nothing like starting the stretch by taking 2 out of 3 from the Yankees. Saberhagen is the key to the season because last year proved you need more than just Pedro Martinez to win in the playoffs. Saberhagen dominated the Yankees after the third inning and that's the kind of start the Sox need from Bret moving forward. Daubach just may be one of the greatest scrap heap pickups of all time if he keeps up this pace for the rest of the season. If he hits 10-12 home runs he might put himself in the AL MVP race let alone AL Rookie of The Year. Still, as long as Pedro and Bret stay healthy the Sox have a chance down the stretch. The win improved the Sox to 57-47, 5.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox now have to face the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians coming to town. Pat Rapp goes for the Sox against Dwight Gooden for Cleveland. The game begins tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.