|
THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR
Mo Vaughn and
the Angels
get mowed down by Pedro
May 7, 1999
...
Mo Vaughn, the erstwhile Red Sox slugger who signed with the Anaheim
Angels this offseason and returned to his former haunts, Fenway Park,
only to discover it is now the Casa de Martinez. With thunderous
ovations from the sellout crowd of 32,220 dwarfing the mixed
reception Vaughn received, Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez struck out a
career-high 15 in eight innings and combined with temporary closer
Tim Wakefield to shut out Vaughn's Angels, 6-0.
Pedro, who
became the majors' first six-game winner (6-1) with his fourth straight victory,
did not walk a batter and allowed just six hits in upstaging Vaughn, who went
hitless in four trips and went down swinging twice against the man who said he
dreaded facing Mo as much as he did pitching against his brother Ramon.
The Sox ace,
who leads the majors with 76 strikeouts, five more than Arizona's Randy Johnson,
has struck out 10 or more in his last five outings, a feat never accomplished by
the Sox ace he succeeded, Roger Clemens. This was the 13th time in 40 starts
with the Sox he has fanned 10 or more, the 40th time in his career.
Vaughn, who
had hugs for Stanley and Valentin as well as most of his former teammates before
the game, was booed during pregame introductions, then heard more grumbling as
he approached the plate for his first at-bat. But those sour notes were drowned
out by a standing ovation, as Vaughn stepped out of the batter's box and waved
to the crowd. Vaughn, who struck out three times Thursday night in Detroit and
is hitless in his last 10 at-bats, settled into the batter's box for his first
at-bat, but not before delivering an unusual greeting to Sox catcher Jason
Varitek. He whacked Tek with his bat. Pedro whacked back, however, inducing Mo
to chase a 1-and-2 changeup that faded from sight, triggering the first of what
became a night-long series of ovations for the Sox pitcher.
Pedro struck
out at least one in every inning he worked. He struck out the side in the sixth,
beginning with Vaughn, and twice fanned four batters in succession.
Mike
Stanley, who used to spend hours talking hitting with Vaughn, singled home two
runs in the sixth after a Troy Glaus error, an O'Leary single, and a wild pitch
had placed runners on second and third with no outs. That hit, off Angels
starter Omar Olivares, gave the Sox a 4-0 lead, which became 6-0 an inning later
when successive doubles by Jose Offerman and Valentin scored one run and Stanley
doubled home Valentin.
The Sox had
taken a 2-0 lead in the third, which began with a single by Buford. He was in
motion when Trot Nixon's tapper went off Olivares' glove and everyone was safe.
Offerman walked to load the bases, and Valentin's sacrifice fly made it 1-0.
Olivares then picked off Offerman from first, but in the subsequent rundown,
Nixon scored from third.
Despite
chants of "Pedro, Pedro," manager Jimy Williams lifted Martinez at the start of
the ninth. By that time, Martinez had thrown 126 pitches, and with a six-run
lead generated in good measure by two of Vaughn's closest friends he left
behind, John Valentin and Mike Stanley, Williams elected to save the slender
Dominican for another day. |
