|
THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR
John Valentin's grandslam propels the Sox
May 22, 1999
...
Red Sox third baseman John Valentin stroked a grand slam in the third
inning to spark Boston to a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Valentin got the 3-0 green light from manager Jimy Williams and never
gave it a second thought. The pitch by right-hander Chris Carpenter
was in his zone and his bat did the rest.
Valentin's
home run was one of his four hits. That's the same number as rookie Trot Nixon
had, a career best. And let's not forget that knuckleballer Tim Wakefield had
lost four of six starts before pitching 8 1/3 strong innings to claim the
victory.
Wakefield
gave up an unearned run in the first inning and it was anybody's guess as to how
he would react. He bore down, using his fastball and curveball to supplement the
floater.
In the
third, Darren Lewis reached on an error, and singles by Nixon and Jose Offerman
loaded the bases. Valentin teed off on Carpenter to send the crowd of 32,088
into a frenzy. Boston scored an insurance run with two out on a double by Troy
O'Leary and a single by Mike Stanley.
In the
eighth, Nixon picked up his fourth hit and scored the sixth Boston run. Toronto
scored three in the ninth before Tom Gordon earned his sixth save by getting
Mark Dalesandro to fly out.
Still, it
all came back to that 3-0 green light. The great hitters in Fenway history never
have been afraid to use it. |
