Red Sox catcher Scott Hatteberg had himself quite a night. With two men on
base and no outs in the fourth inning, he ended a potential rally by hitting
into a triple play. However, he then hit a grand slam, providing the runs
that ultimately made the difference in winning the game, in his next at-bat.
Hideo Nomo was on the mound for the Sox. Both teams scored two runs in the
first inning. After the Rangers scored a pair, the Sox wasted no time in the
bottom of the first. A leadoff single to right field by Jose Offerman was
followed by back-to-back doubles, to left-center by Trot Nixon and to right
by Nomar Garciaparra.
The only scoring in the third came on a two-run homer by Manny Ramírez,
scoring Nomar, who had singled. Manny’s drive went over everything in left
field and it was 4-2, Red Sox.
The Sox threatened to expand the lead in their half of the fourth. After
Brian Daubach walked to start the inning, Chris Stynes’ single to left put
runners on first and second for Hatteberg.
The count was 3 & 2 when Scott hit a liner to A-Rod at short. Both runners
had been off with the pitch and A-Rod made a routine catch and flipped
underhanded to Randy Velarde at second base. He doubled off Daubach, then
applied the tag to the incoming Stynes for a triple play.
It wasn’t Hatteberg's fault. He had hit to the opposite field, but A-Rod was
well positioned, and the triple play was simply some bad luck, with the two
baserunners running with the pitch.
Soon after the triple play got them out of the jam, the Rangers went ahead
in the fifth with three runs off Nomo. Rich Garces then came in and gave up
two more runs and the score went up to 7-4, Rangers. Casey Fossum relieved
Garces and stopped the bleeding.
The Red Sox got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Nomar
hit a solo home run into the Sox bullpen and it was 7-5, Rangers. And so it
stood until the bottom of the sixth.
Carl Everett led off and reached on an infield single. Troy O’Leary, singled
up the middle and Everett stopped at second. Rangers' reliever Juan Moreno’s
first pitch to Daubach was a wild pitch and both baserunners moved up. He
threw three more balls and the bases were loaded. Stynes singled, bringing
the Sox to within a run, 7-6.
Now Hatteberg came to bat with the bases still loaded and nobody out, an
inning after coming into the same situation and hitting into the triple
play. This time, he turned the game around, hitting the fourth pitch he
faced for a grand slam into the Sox bullpen in right-center. The Red Sox
took a 10-7 lead.
Manny had to push Hatteberg, who had started strapping on his catcher’s
gear, up the dugout steps to take a curtain call for the appreciative crowd.
And that; 's the way it ended, 10 to 7 in favor of the Red Sox. Every Sox
batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit and scored at least one
run. Meanwhile, Casey Fossum earned his first major league win.
The story of the game, though, was, of course, Scott Hatteberg. He became
the only player in MLB history to hit into a triple play and hit a grand
slam in his next at-bat. The bat he used for that game was sent to
Cooperstown.
