Milwood took the mound in the top of the first and Johnny Damon grounded out to third to start. Jose Offerman walked but Nomar Garciaparra flied out to center. Brian Daubach popped up to short to end the inning. Pedro cruised in the bottom of the first as Rafael Furcal lined out to short to start. Matt Franco and Gary Sheffield both flied out to center to end the inning.
Shea Hillenbrand grounded out to short to start the top of the second and Jason Varitek grounded out to second. Trot Nixon took strike three to end the inning. Pedro got in trouble in the bottom of the second although Chipper Jones grounded out to second to start. Andruw Jones flied out to right but Vinny Castilla and Javy Lopez stroked back to back singles but Keith Lockhart grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third although Lou Merloni grounded out to second to start. Pedro himself struck out swinging but Damon doubled to left center. Offerman got a base hit to right to score Damon to put the Sox on top. Nomar walked but Daubach struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Pedro got Millwood swinging to start the bottom of the third and Furcal grounded out to short. Franco singled to left and Sheffield was rung up for strike three to end the inning much to his chagrin.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Hillenbrand went down hacking to start. Varitek popped up to third and Nixon popped up to short to end the inning. The Braves fought back in the bottom of the fourth as Chipper was robbed at the wall by Nixon to start. Andruw Jones doubled just inside the left field line and moved to third on the Castilla grounder to short. Lopez singled in the hole at short to score Jones to tie the game. Lockhart popped up to third to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Sox failed to add on to the lead in the top of the fifth as Merloni flied out to left to begin. Pedro grounded out to second and Damon grounded out to first to end the inning. Pedro stayed tough in the bottom of the fifth as Millwood grounded out to third to start. Furcal's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Pedro and Franco took strike three to end the inning.
The duel continued in the top of the sixth as Offerman grounded out to second to start. Nomar flied out to deep center but Daubach singled down the left field line. Hillenbrand popped up to second to end the inning. Sheffield started the bottom of the sixth with a base hit to center to start. Pedro blew away Chipper Jones with a high fastball and Andruw banged into a double play to end the inning.
Varitek flied out to right to begin the top of the seventh and Nixon grounded out to second. Merloni popped up to short to end the inning. Castilla grounded out to third to start the bottom of the seventh before Lopez grounded out to second. Lockhart lined out to Pedro to end the inning.
Chris Hammond came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Pedro whiffed to start. Damon went down swinging and Offerman grounded out to third to end the inning. The Braves took command in the bottom of the eighth as old pal Darren Bragg pinch hit for Hammond to begin. Bragg was called out on strikes but Furcal got a base hit to left. Franco singled Furcal to third and Jesse Garcia ran for Matt. Sheffield was robbed of a home run at the left field wall by Daubach but Furcal scored to put the Braves up. Chipper Jones was intentionally walked and Andruw grounded out to third to end the inning but the Braves were up 2-1. Pedro did the best he could by pitching 8 innings of 2 run ball but the Sox couldn't generate any offense.
Braves closer John Smoltz came out for the top of the ninth with Wes Helms now at first base. Nomar grounded out to first and Daubach popped up to third. Hillenbrand flied out to left to end the game. The Braves have beaten Pedro and the Sox 2-1.
Jackass of the Night is Shea Hillenbrand. He was 0 for 4 with a strikeout including making the final out of the game.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Pedro Martinez was the hard luck loser tossing a complete game 8 hitter.
The Bad:
Jason Varitek was 0 for 3.
Trot Nixon was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Lou Merloni was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Johnny Damon was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Nomar Garciaparra was 0 for 3 but walked.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
If the Sox end up missing the playoffs, they can point to their poor interleague record as the reason why. For some reason they can't beat National League teams. Kevin Millwood is no Tom Glavine or Greg Maddux but he still shut down the Boston bats in this game. If Millwood was this good, what is Maddux going to do tomorrow? The Sox need to find a way to get to these elite NL pitchers if they have a prayer of holding on to the AL East lead. Pedro did the best he could so it would be unfair to blame him for the loss. Manny Ramirez being out didn't help either but its only one game. The loss drops the Sox to 44-23, 0.5 games in front of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to bounce back when they send John Burkett (7-1) to the mound up against ace Greg Maddux at 7:05 PM at Turner Field.
