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SAVING FENWAY, MORE PEDRO
AND A FRUSTRATING SEASON
Brian Daubach delivers in the
11th inning
May 24, 2000 ... The
Red Sox already had wasted a three-run lead, 43 of their last 47
scoring opportunities, and a grueling night's labor. Now sole
possession of first place in the American League East was in dire
jeopardy, not to mention the self-esteem of a club that had lost its
last three games by a total of four runs.
With
midnight beckoning and a crowd that had been reduced by about 90 percent in the
4 1/2 hours since 31,250 witnessed the first pitch, Brian Daubach delivered
salvation.
His
three-run, two-out, off-field homer into the left-field screen provided a 6-3
victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings. The win enabled Boston to
preserve its one-game lead over the victorious New York Yankees and triggered a
wave of goodwill in a clubhouse that had been chilled by frustration since the
occupants dropped two of three games to the dreadful Detroit Tigers over the
weekend.
Daubach gave
the Red Sox something exhilarating to show for this when he teed off on a 1-0
offering from the fourth Blue Jays pitcher, John Frascatore, for his ninth
homer. But there would have been no grand finale were it not for more subtle
contributions that set the stage.
With one
out, designated hitter Jose Offerman worked Frascatore for a walk on a full
count. After John Valentin popped to second, Trot Nixon, who had been a feeble 3
for 18 on the homestand until a ninth-inning single, engaged Frascatore in a
marvelous duel, just missing homers to left and right before rapping a single to
right. That sent Manny Alexander, who came in when Offerman started limping
after running hard on Nixon's near miss to right, to second base. Then cleanup
batter Daubach, who had been 0 for 4 on the evening and 4 for 20 on the
homestand, lifted the Red Sox from their funk with runners in scoring position.
Before that,
a splendid effort by starter Jeff Fassero had been in danger of going into the
trash can. Fassero, the pearl general manager Dan Duquette discovered in the
scrap heap during the off-season, was cruising toward his sixth victory in seven
decisions, carrying a 3-0 lead and a three-hitter into the seventh. Then the
Blue Jays got even against Fassero and Rich Garces, rendering moot a 79-pitch,
50-strike effort by the lefthander who was considered obsolete after a horrid
1999 in which he went 5-14 with a 7.20 earned run average for Seattle and Texas.
Singles by Craig Grebek and Raul Mondesi and a run-scoring opposite- field
double to left by Carlos Delgado chased Fassero, and Garces allowed both runners
he inherited to score on a sacrifice fly to deep right by Tony Batista and a
two-out single by Jose Cruz.
What the
Blue Jays took away was the cushion the Red Sox had provided Fassero. But even
that achievement had been tempered by futility. Exploiting the wildness of
Toronto righthander Kelvim Escobar (five hits, seven walks, six innings), the
Red Sox chipped out a run in the first on Carl Everett's fielder's choice with
the bases loaded, a paltry yield after Escobar issued three straight walks with
one out. They added a pair of runs in the third on two more walks, a run-scoring
single by second baseman Jeff Frye, and an RBI infield hit by Jason Varitek, who
benefited from Frye's hustle in beating the throw that would have forced him at
second.
Courtesy of
those latter two hits, the Red Sox avoided total failure with runners in scoring
position. But they were a mere 2 for 9 when a downpour interrupted the
proceedings after eight innings. After the tarp was stored, Cormier was out
there, assigned to succeed Derek Lowe in the mound as play continued. And
continued. And continued . . . And the lefthander bailed out Boston with three
innings of two- hit grit, holding the fort after the Red Sox stranded yet more
runners in both the ninth and 10th.
The Red Sox
couldn't really afford to go through any more. Finally, Daubach, who had just
missed winning the game in the ninth following Nixon's single when his drive
sent right fielder Mondesi backpedaling to the warning track before making the
catch, spared them that fate. |
