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SAVING FENWAY, MORE PEDRO
AND A FRUSTRATING SEASON
Pedro with a
one-hit masterpiece
June 8, 2000 ... In
this one-game "homestand" - the makeup of a game originally scheduled
for April 23 – Pedro Martinez threw no-hit ball for 4 2/3 innings and
the 31,438 fans at Fenway were buzzing. As in his last outing, when
he faced Roger Clemens and shut out the Yankees, Pedro again took on
the opposition's ace - this time Bartolo Colon - and again the game
went into the late innings scoreless. And again, it was the opposing
pitcher who made the mistake.
The numbers
tell the story. Pedro now is 9-2 and his earned run average is back below that
magical 1.00 line (0.95). Once again, Pedro struck out at least 10 batters - the
60th time he has done that in his career, and the 33d time with the Red Sox. The
10 strikeouts stood out all the more starkly compared with the one walk.
Few of the
Indians even remember the last time they scored a run off Pedro, especially
after his 15 shutout innings against them this season and the 10 scoreless
innings in the 1999 playoffs. Pedro is now 8-0 with a 1.67 ERA in his career (86
innings, 16 earned runs) against the Indians, one of the most potent-hitting
teams in the game.
Jimy
Williams had been concerned Pedro might try to do too much on too much rest,
that it might be a repeat of the 1999 All-Star Game, when Pedro injured himself
devastating National League batters, or the first game of the 1999 playoffs in
Cleveland, when a very-rested Pedro was forced to leave the game after four
innings.
Pedro did
not allow a hit until rookie Russell Branyan hit a ground-rule double down the
right-field line with two outs in the fifth. Then, after Carl Everett gave the
Red Sox a 1-0 lead with a homer leading off the seventh, Pedro found an extra
gear, toying with the Indians in the eighth.
Like Pedro,
Everett had delivered when the Red Sox most needed it. His first two times up
against Colon, Everett had struck out. But leading off the seventh, Everett got
another chance at a Colon fastball. But this fastball was a bit lower and a bit
more over the plate, and he drove it onto the roof of the Indians' bullpen.
After
Everett's 21st homer, the Red Sox added two more runs in the eighth. Jeff Frye
led off the inning with a single to right and, after Trot Nixon popped out, Frye
scooted over to third on a wild pickoff attempt. Everett (wisely) was walked
intentionally, but Brian Daubach, who has struggled the last two weeks with
runners in scoring position, singled to left, driving in Frye. Mike Stanley then
drove in Everett with a single to left.
With the
fans booing lustily when the mound remained empty as the Red Sox took the field
in the ninth, the fans wanting to see Pedro finish off another masterpiece, the
boos had turned to chants by the time reliever Derek Lowe had reached the mound.
"Pedro,
Pedro, Pedro!" the fans shouted for long moments. The fans knew so well that
once again they had been treated to another glimpse of greatness. From that
small, thin body of Pedro, the small body with the hugest of hearts. |
