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THE CURSE OF THE
BAMBINO, PART 11 ...
IT'S TIME TO "COWBOY UP"
Nomar's 9th inning walk-off homer
finishes off a five run Sox comeback
April 20, 2003
...
The crowd of 29,579 saw how it looked after the Nomar Garciaparra hit
one into the bottom of a left-field light tower off Toronto reliever
Cliff Politte in the 9th inning. A gaggle of Red Sox were
swarming Garciaparra at home plate, laughing and leaping and
celebrating their third last at-bat win in the course of a winning
streak that now has reached seven.
Sox 6, Blue
Jays 5, when only 3 1/2 innings earlier the scoreboard Blue Jays 5, Sox 0.
Whether you're speaking the King's English or the version they speak down under,
that's one mighty fine comeback, especially since the Jays had their ace, Roy
Halladay, hanging those zeroes on the Sox.
No pain,
either, for starter Casey Fossum, who was in the clubhouse watching on TV. Even
before his home run, which came on a 1-and-1 cut fastball from Politte,
Garciaparra had taken the lefthander off the hook with a tying two-run double in
the seventh off Halladay, a 19-game winner last season who has yet to win in
five starts this season.
There were
big hits all around, Kevin Millar's RBI double and Trot Nixon's RBI single in
the sixth, Jeremy Giambi's home run, Jason Varitek's single, and Johnny Damon's
chopped double in succession in the seventh. But no one went off more than
Garciaparra, who ended Halladay's day with his drive into the left- field corner
that tied the score at 5, then hit the third walkoff home run of his career,
first since his grand slam off Seattle's Bobby Ayala in Fenway Sept. 2, 1998.
While the
Jays were losing for the 10th time in 11 games the Sox improved their record to
7-1 in the Fens and their overall record to 13-5, one game better than they were
after 18 games last season, when they jumped out to a 40-17 start.
These
late-inning comebacks can be habit-forming. The Sox did it twice earlier in the
streak against the Devil Rays, and with The Committee holding another closed
session yesterday, Ramiro Mendoza turned the boos that greeted him to cheers
with a scoreless seventh, and Mike Timlin punched out four Jays in a six-up,
six-down two- inning stint, the Sox made the most of a chance to do it again
yesterday.
Ramirez had
the day off until Grady Little summoned him to pinch hit in the seventh. He was
intentionally walked, and was on-deck when Garciaparra connected with his
winner. Giambi, batting .143 entering the game, drew the start in left, and his
home run off a gassed Halladay ignited the Sox bench. It also sets a manager to
grinning. Almost makes a guy forget that he has to be back for first pitch this
morning at 11. Garciaparra has a note from Little, though. The manager told him
even before he hit his home run that he's got the day off. You might say he
earned it. |
