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NOMAR GARCIAPARRA |
REVERSING THE CURSE,
PART 1
THE NOMAR ERA BEGINS
Nomar comes
through
again for the Sox
August 10,
1997 ... Rookie
shortstop Nomar Garciaparra continued in dramatic fashion.
Garciaparra, who had hit a two-run homer (his 21st) off Kansas City
starter Kevin Appier in the third inning to extend his hitting streak
to 13 games, blasted a double in the eighth off reliever Hector
Carrasco, driving in Mike Benjamin with the go-ahead run in Boston's
6-4 victory before 27,743 fans.
Jim Corsi,
the pride of Newton North High, helped, too, winning a tough battle with Royals
catcher Mike Macfarlane to preserve a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth, then
closing out the ninth 1-2-3, including strikeouts of Bip Roberts and Jose
Offerman to end the game.
The Red Sox,
who have won six of their last seven games, thus bounced back from Saturday's
9-2 blowout that ended their five-game win streak -- with a big contribution
from hard-luck starter Tom Gordon, who departed after six innings with a 4-2
lead.
The Royals
got to Butch Henry in the eighth for three singles to pull within 4-3. Enter
Corsi, who has battled back from two injuries this season and has been sharing
the closer role with Henry since the departure of Heathcliff Slocumb. After Dean
Palmer's ground out plated the tying run, Corsi, who is 3-0 with two saves and a
0.68 earned run average in his last 22 games, didn't surrender a hit the rest of
the way. He got out of the eighth by getting Macfarlane to line to Benjamin with
runners at first and second.
All of which
left Mo Vaughn, who drove in Garciaparra for the sixth run with a sharp single
to right. Garciaparra, who has hit at a .379 clip (25 for 66) during his streak,
leads the team with 71 runs batted in, and is now tied for eighth with Fred Lynn
(1975) for most home runs by a Red Sox rookie. The record is 34 by Walt Dropo in
1950.
It is a team
that has gone 20-12 since the All-Star break, thanks in large part to
Garciaparra, who is hitting .307 and has scored 90 runs. |
