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REVERSING THE CURSE,
PART 2
PEDRO
& TEK COME TO TOWN
Nomar's
walk-off grandslam is his 30th
September 2, 1998 ... Red
Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra hit a ninth-inning, game-winning
grand slam tonight in Fenway Park against the Mariners. And in the
aftermath of a 7-3 win that was the Sox' 16th victory in their last
at-bat, many voices joined as one in an ode to joy that resonated on
Yawkey Way with a singular chord: "M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P."
Nomar's home
run, whose launch came off reliever Bobby Ayala and whose touchdown came in the
left-field screen, was his first big league grand slam and also resonated with
history. It was his 30th home run of 1998, making him just the fifth player to
hit 30 or more in each of his first two seasons.
For much of
the night, which began with a 25-minute rain delay, the Red Sox accomplished
little against Seattle pitcher Mac Suzuki, a Japanese rookie who has battled
elbow problems but allowed them just two hits through six innings in his first
big league start. But in the seventh, newcomer Mandy Romero, who came to the Sox
in the Jim Leyritz deal and was just recalled from Pawtucket, delivered an RBI
pinch double, then scored ahead of Mike Benjamin's game-tying home run, his
fourth homer of the season and first since Aug. 1.
Benjamin, in
another of those genius-while-falling-out-of-bed-moves made by Williams this
season, had started at third in place of John Valentin, who was given the night
off after a miserable time of it Tuesday. When Benjamin came to the plate in
that situation, he wasn't even sure he'd be allowed to hit. Benjamin started the
winning rally in the ninth when his chopper over the bag fell out of third
baseman Russ Davis's glove. Originally, it was scored an error but was changed
to a hit by official scorer Charles Scoggins. Considering Davis already had 34
errors, maybe Scoggins didn't want to be accused of piling on.
Ayala then
walked Darren Lewis on four pitches, Darren Bragg sacrificed the runners over,
and Mo Vaughn was given an intentional pass, setting the stage for Nomar. Two
pitches later, it was over.
The last
swing of the night, which marked the second time this season Garciaparra has
ended a game with a home run, obscured some high drama by Red Sox pitchers Tom
Gordon, Greg Swindell, and Steve Avery.
Gordon was
credited with his seventh win when he relieved Swindell in the ninth after Edgar
Martinez doubled and took third on a ground ball. Gordon left him there by
striking out Davis and Giomar Guevara on full-count fastballs. Swindell had
preserved the tie by striking out Ken Griffey with two on and two out in the
eighth. Avery gave up three hits in the first inning, six hits through three
innings, and a dozen hits through six innings but somehow escaped with a yield
of just two runs.
Doubles by
Alex Rodriguez and Martinez, who went 4 for 4 with a walk, accounted for the
first Seattle run in the fifth, and Jay Buhner, who on Tuesday night hit one
above the Coke bottles, parked a home run onto the roof of the garage across
Lansdowne Street in the sixth. Otherwise, Avery was an escape artist of the
first order, aided by two double plays, one that he began, and a remarkable play
he made on a two-out bunt by Shane Monahan with a runner on third in the fourth.
Avery sprang off the mound as Monahan dropped a bunt down the first base line.
The pitcher bent low to grab the ball with his bare hand, then flipped a
backhand strike to Vaughn before tumbling across the foul line with a barrel
roll. |
