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MANNY RAMIREZ &
PEDRO MARTINEZ |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
2004 ALDS, GAME #2
Manny & Pedro key the Sox
in their second series win
October 6, 2004 ... The Red Sox stunned the Angels, 8-3, before 45,118 on Gene Autry Way to seize a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five
Division Series. Manny Ramirez struck the decisive blow when he launched a sacrifice fly with one out in the seventh inning amid a 3-3 stalemate to drive in Damon with the go-ahead run. The Sox waged the pivotal rally against Anaheim's bullpen dynamo, Francisco Rodriguez, who chipped in by wild-pitching Damon to third
after Damon bounced into a fielder's choice and stole second. Then the Sox broke the game open with four runs in the ninth, with Trot Nixon's RBI single and Cabrera's three-run double the big hits.
As for Martinez, he made plenty of his own magic by working seven strong innings to lead the Sox to the threshold of their second straight berth in the American League Championship Series. Firing 116 pitches, one shy of his season high, and regularly hitting 94 to 96 miles per hour on the
radar gun, Martinez rationed the Halos three runs on six hits, two walks, and a hit batsman for his first postseason win since he helped clinch the Division Series in Game 5 last year against the A's.
Ramirez also drove in the first Sox run by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the second inning off Anaheim starter Bartolo Colon, and Jason Varitek delivered a crucial, two-run homer off Colon in the sixth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit.
While Martinez improved to 10-1 in 14 career starts against the Angels, the Sox seized a 2-0 lead in a postseason series for only the fourth time in franchise history. They also did so en route to winning the 1916 World Series and 1975 ALCS, and on the way to losing the 1986 World Series. |
