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MANNY ARRIVES AS THE
April 13, 2001 ... With the Red Sox trailing, 2-1, and with two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the 10th inning, a seemingly overmatched Manny Ramirez strode to the plate at Fenway Park against Yankee supercloser Mariano Rivera. It was bad enough the Sox had never beaten Rivera, who was a career 3-0 against them with 11 saves and a 1.84 ERA. Worse, as Sox manager Jimy Williams learned after Manny entered the batter's box, the $160 million designated hitter was hitless, with six strikeouts, in 12 at-bats against Rivera. And Manny had fanned in six of his previous nine at-bats. Manny drilled a 2-0 fastball from Rivera up the middle to drive in Trot Nixon and Carl Everett and shock the Yankees with a rousing 3-2 victory in the opener of a four-game megaseries between the archrivals. Nixon launched the rally by ripping a one-out single to center. After Rivera struck out Jose Offerman, Everett singled over shortstop despite the pain he felt in his right wrist from being hit with a pitch by Orlando Hernandez in the fifth inning. Everett's hit moved Nixon to second. Both runners advanced when Rivera's first pitch to Manny eluded catcher Jorge Posada for a passed ball. With first base open, Yankees manager Joe Torre considered intentionally walking Manny to bring up Troy O'Leary, who was 1 for 8 against Rivera. But Torre left the decision to Rivera because of his previous success against Manny. Derek Lowe, who was on the verge of being tagged with his third painful loss of the season, was relieved. He inherited a 1-1 game in the top of the 10th, ran into trouble right away when he let Alfonso Soriano drop an opposite-field double just inside the right-field line. The apparent death blow was struck by Scott Brosius, who then laced a single to left, scoring Soriano for a 2-1 lead as Rivera warmed up in the bullpen. But with one swing of Manny's bat, Lowe dodged the loss and was credited with the win. The Yankees nearly seized the lead with two out in the top of the ninth when Clay Bellinger drilled a pitch from Rod Beck high off the Green Monster. But the ball was hit so hard Bellinger was held to a single. And Bellinger ruined any hope of keeping the inning alive when he left first too early trying to steal and Beck easily threw him out at second. The Sox were in position to win the game because Paxton Crawford, a rookie who sneaked into the starting rotation after former Yankee David Cone lost his spot to an injury in spring training, matched the El Duque. The 23-year-old Crawford, in his first career start against the Yankees, allowed only one run on five hits and three walks, largely because he kept his composure and repeatedly worked out of jams. The Yankees scored their only run off Crawford in the third inning when Soriano singled, advanced on a Brosius walk, and scored on Derek Jeter's one-out single. Rich Garces pitched one inning of hitless relief and Beck pitched two scoreless innings before Lowe took over. The New York bullpen was superb into the 10th as well, as Ramiro Mendoza pitched three scoreless innings before giving way to Mike Stanton, who retired the Sox in order in the ninth. Before Nixon's hit in the 10th, the Yankees' bullpen retired 14 straight Sox batters. The Sox scored their only other run off Hernandez, also with Manny's help. With two out in the fifth and a 2-2 count on Everett, Hernandez hit him with a pitch. That brought up Manny, who had struck out in his first two at-bats against Hernandez. No problem. Manny jolted a 2-1 pitch off the center-field wall, allowing Everett to race home and tie the score at 1. And in the end, he finally solved the magnificent Rivera. |
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