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THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR
Pedro does it with another 15 Ks
May 12, 1999
...
Facing a Seattle Mariners lineup that includes several of the premier
hitters in the game, Pedro Martinez put on another dominating
performance in a 9-2 Red Sox victor. With much encouragement from a
crowd of 28,177, Pedro ran his record to 7-1, the best mark in
baseball, and matched his career high with 15 strikeouts, which he
reached in his previous outing Friday against Anaheim.
Pedro lost
his no-hit bid on a leadoff double by David Segui in the fifth, allowing him to
concentrate on strikeouts. He had nine through four innings, and 13 through
seven. He picked up two more to start the eighth, tying his career best.
The crowd
knew he didn't have a shot at the major league mark of 20 shared by Roger
Clemens and Kerry Wood. But it was pulling for Pedro to outdo himself. Manager
Jimy Williams could have removed him after a two-out single by Raul Ibanez, but
let Pedro, who had thrown 125 pitches, face Seattle's David Bell, who had
homered earlier. Pedro got Bell to fly out and left to a standing ovation. He
has 10 or more strikeouts in six straight outings, a feat matched only by Randy
Johnson since 1987.
In the
fourth inning, Pedro struck out the side for the 119th time in his career. He
lost his no-hitter on a double by Segui in the fifth. Bell hit a solo home run
in the sixth, the first off Pedro in 221 batters. Other than that, Seattle was
overmatched as Pedro allowed four hits and one walk over eight innings. Derek
Lowe pitched the ninth.
Pedro had
plenty of offensive support, racking up 11 hits. Nomar Garciaparra led the way
with two doubles and two singles and three RBIs. The four-hit game was the
eighth of his career and gave him 14 runs batted in for the series. Jose
Offerman went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. But the hitters weren't the story tonight. |
