“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR September 18, 1999 ... After another authoritative victory, a 9-1 rout of the pitiful Detroit Tigers, the Sox find themselves a mere three games behind the New York Yankees, 5-4 losers in Cleveland. Some derisive, anti-Yankee cheers were audible as early as the sixth inning from the 34th Fenway Park sellout of the season, so the fans clearly are thinking along those lines. In two games, Detroit has been outscored, 23-4, and outhit, 29-15, with 12 of the 15 hits being singles. They've been outscored, 9-0, in the eighth inning of two already lopsided games and have not had a starting pitcher last four innings. Today they scored one in the ninth to avoid their 13th shutout of the season. This bludgeoning was as ridiculously easy and efficient as the Sox' 14-3 Friday night massacre. Nomar Garciaparra (4 for 4, .359) cracked a two-run homer, Jason Varitek cracked a three-run homer, Troy O'Leary cracked the 100-RBI mark, and Saberhagen cracked the Tiger bats. Saberhagen joined Pedro Martinez in the double-digit win category (10-5), allowing only two singles. It was his second outing since serving a stint on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder. He was given a standing ovation as he headed to the dugout after his six innings, in which he had faced one batter over the 18 minimum. He'd thrown 82 pitches, 54 for strikes. The win was Boston's seventh in eight games, ninth in 11, and 19th in 23, and it pushed the Sox to a season-high 24 games over .500. They are closer to overtaking New York in the American League East than Oakland is to overtaking them in the wild-card race. If the Yankees weren't finishing their schedule with the White Sox and Tampa Bay, it might be time to really get excited. It may still be. They again got to work early against the Detroit starter/scapegoat du jour, knocking Jeff Weaver around for six runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Weaver did retire the first two Boston batters. But Varitek beat out a nubber in front of the plate, and he went to second on a Garciaparra flare to right. O'Leary then sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring both runners. That gave him 101 runs batted in, making him the first Boston player to hit the century mark this season. (Garciaparra has 97.) After a scoreless second, Weaver walked Varitek, then grooved one to Garciaparra, who deposited it into the net for his 24th homer. The Sox added two more in the fourth, mercifully chasing Weaver on an RBI single by Varitek and a double off the wall by Garciaparra. In the last five games, Garciaparra is 12 for 21 with a homer, four doubles, and five RBIs. The final three runs came in the eighth when Varitez homered, his 18th, following walks to Trot Nixon and Jose Offerman. Rich Garces, Derek Lowe, and John Wasdin combined to pitch the final three innings without incident, although Wasdin couldn't preserve what would have been the 10th shutout by the Red Sox this season. No one seemed concerned about that slight shortcoming. |
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