MARK BELLHORN

THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
Millar, Bellhorn and Mueller bomb the Yankees

April 23, 2004 ... It is only April, but Millar and his boys of spring played like it was a pennant race as they brushed off the ravages of their early-season attrition and inflicted a horrible hurting on the Yankees in New York.  Millar, Bellhorn, and Mueller led the way as they homered in the fourth inning to knock in five runs and break open a 1-0 lead in an 11-2 whupping in the opener of a three-game showdown before 55,001 at Yankee Stadium.

Millar and Bellhorn struck back-to-back solo shots to help chase beleaguered Yankees starter Jose Contreras before Mueller unleashed a three-run blast off reliever Donovan Osborne to gift-wrap a 6-0 lead for Derek Lowe. Before it was over, the Sox piled on with a run-scoring double by David Ortiz, a two-run double by Pokey Reese, an RBI single by Damon, and a solo homer by Manny Ramirez.

It is only April, but the Sox improved to 4-1 against the Yankees and eased the pain of their fall-from-ahead loss to the Blue Jays behind Curt Schilling in Toronto the night before. And they were competing without Garciaparra and Nixon.

Lowe did his part, shutting out the Yankees through six innings before he surrendered a two-run shot to Hideki Matsui in the seventh. Bouncing back from a woeful outing on 10 days of rest against the Yankees, Lowe scattered six hits and two walks to improve to 2-1. The victory seemed so secure in the ninth inning that Francona gave Rule V lefthander Lenny DiNardo his major league debut. DiNardo, who had never pitched more than seven games above Single A (all at Double A for the Mets), retired Gary Sheffield, Matsui, and Bernie Williams in order to complete the blowout. DiNardo followed Mike Timlin, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Lowe to help extend the bullpen's scoreless streak to 15 1/3 innings.

Mark Bellhorn, who was playing through some residual stiffness in his elbow, got the Sox started by singling home Ellis Burks with the game's first run in the second inning. Burks, who himself is battling elbow and knee woes, singled and stole second to set the table for Bellhorn. Before it was over, the Sox collected 12 hits and seven walks against four Yankee pitchers as every Boston starter but Varitek logged at least one hit.

As for Lowe, he allowed base runners in every inning but two, yet rose to each challenge until the seventh. After Alex Rodriguez drilled an opposite-field double to right with two outs in the first and went no farther, the Yankees did not reach second base safely again until Matsui's homer. Lowe was aided by a nifty sliding catch by Damon on a line drive by Sheffield to end the first and by Yankees catcher John Flaherty grounding into double plays in the second and fifth innings.

In firsts for both players during their rehab programs, Nomar Garciaparra did some light running and Trot Nixon took batting practice against minor league pitchers. Garciaparra, who ran at an undisclosed location in the Boston area, will rest today and run again tomorrow if he bounces back well. Nixon, who faced both lefthanded and righthanded pitchers, could be close to going on a minor league rehab stint, while Garciaparra appears as if he will need more time.