A TEAM "FIT TO BE TIED"
The Red Sox beat up the Yankees

May 28, 2005 ... The Sox bats, indomitable by reputation only in recent weeks, cranked out 27 hits (one shy of the club record), 23 singles (three shy of the club record), and 17 runs, blistering the Yankees, 17-1, in the most lopsided Sox win in the 1,928 meetings between the American League baseball teams of Boston and New York. The Sox, who sent 57 men to the plate and batted around twice (in the fifth and eighth innings), never had beaten the Yankees by more than 14 before a benumbed 55,315 at the Stadium.

The Yankees, in going 15-2 before this series, had held opponents to a .243 batting average. The last two games, a Sox loss and win, respectively, Boston is batting .427 (38 for 89). Carl Pavano (3 2/ 3 innings, 11 hits, 5 runs) was roundly booed as he exited, and yet those who followed Mike Stanton, Paul Quantrill, and Buddy Groom combined to give up 12 runs. Quantrill alone surrendered three homers.

The moment of exhalation came after the Sox' half of the fifth inning, when Edgar Renteria (3 for 3, HR, 5 RBIs) propelled a grand slam to the opposite field and Trot Nixon (3 for 6, HR, 5 RBIs) launched a three-run blast to center for a seven-run inning and 12- 0 lead. By the middle of the fifth, the game's midpoint, the Sox were outhitting the Yankees, 17-2, and the paying customers were, well, displeased.

Renteria, the Sox' cerebral shortstop, improved to 6 for 7 in the series and 12 for 19 through four games of this six-game road trip. He's turned a .239 average into .281 in four days. However improbable this might be, with a 5-for-5 performance tonight, Renteria would come home to Fenway Park with a .301 average.

Jay Payton, the Sox' backup outfielder, in relief of Manny Ramirez as the game got out of hand, homered to deep center off the facing of the black seats. Payton, who was hitting .200 four days ago, has played in three straight games and collected four hits in nine at-bats, improving his average to .229 with 17 RBIs in 79 at- bats.

Matt Clement pitched his way out of jams in the second inning (two on, two out), third inning (two on, two out), fourth inning (two on, no outs), and fifth inning (bases loaded, two outs). He induced John Flaherty to fly out to end the second and fanned Hideki Matsui swinging at a fastball to end the third. He struck out Flaherty and popped up Robinson Cano to end the fourth and got Tino Martinez to ground out to end the fifth.

Clement, at 6-0 with a 3.06 ERA, is now baseball's only undefeated pitcher with more than five wins. He has allowed three runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts, and one run or fewer in five starts.

John Olerud, who hadn't played a real game since Game 7 of last year's American League Championship Series, played a solid if unspectacular first base and went 3 for 6 with three singles. He could have had another, except his foot, hamstring, and general lack of speed combined to get the best of him when he lined a ball off Pavano and was thrown out by Derek Jeter. On this day, his bat simply blended in.

Kelly Shoppach made his major league debut, replacing Jason Varitek after six innings. The 25-year-old came to bat for the first time in the major leagues in the eighth inning and was introduced as "Mike Shoppach" by legendary Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard.

Edgar Renteria's fifth-inning grand slam off Paul Quantrill gave the Sox a major league-leading six this season. San Francisco, going into yesterday, was second with five grand slams. Six Red Sox have accounted for those slams: Manny Ramirez (April 16 vs. Tampa Bay), David Ortiz (April 15 vs. Tampa Bay), Jay Payton (April 24 at Tampa Bay), Mirabelli (May 3 at Detroit), Trot Nixon (May 14 at Seattle), and Renteria.