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SAVING FENWAY, MORE PEDRO August 21, 2000 ... In yet another remarkable finish, Boston's designated hero, Brian Daubach, crushed a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into overtime, then struck again with two outs in the 11th, flaring a two-run single that lifted the Sox to an exhilarating 7-6 victory before 32,795 frenzied fans at Fenway. The shocker marked the third time in their last eight games that the Sox have seized a victory after they were down to their last out. The home run was Daubach's first in 17 days, and his single was his seventh game-winning hit in Boston's last at-bat in the last two seasons. The Sox got the last laugh on Vaughn's Angels after Nomar Garicaparra walked to start the 11th-inning rally and took third on Troy O'Leary's single to right. Scott Hatteberg drew a walk off Shigetoshi Hasegawa to load the bases for Jason Varitek. Varitek grounded into a double play to the second baseman, with Garciaparra getting nailed at the plate before Varitek was gunned down at first. That left O'Leary at third and Manny Alexander, running for Hatteberg, at second with two out. The Angels had gone ahead in the top of 11th when Troy Glaus, who doubled off Derek Lowe to open the inning, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Benjie Molina and scored on a deft squeeze by Adam Kennedy. It was the first run Lowe had yielded in his last 15 1/3 innings. Still, Lowe got the win. For the second night in a row, the Sox struggled against a little- known lefthander, this time a gent named Scott Schoeneweis who limited them to three runs on five hits until Daubach's shocker. And a Sox starter, for the second night in a row, pitched no-hit ball for three innings, only to come undone in the fourth. This time it was Rolando Arrojo, who managed to hold on through six innings. But after Adam Kennedy bombed a three-run homer off Arrojo in the sixth, giving Anaheim a 5-2 lead, the righthander did not throw a pitch in the seventh. For Boston batters, it was another night of missed chances until the ninth. Then the Fenway public address system blared Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" as a prelude to the inning - and Daubach's magic. Trailing, 5-3, the Sox didn't start their rally until there were two out. Then Varitek walked, opening the door for Daubach. But Daubach caught a 2-and-1 pitch from Schoeneweis and lofted it into the Angels bullpen to put the Sox on the brink of another miracle. Anaheim reliever Mark Petkovsek fanned the next batter, Trot Nixon, to send the game into extra innings. Carl Everettt had kept the Sox in position to win in the bottom of the eighth by snagging a fly ball by Molina and making a Clemente-esque throw to the plate to double up Tim Salmon. And it was the second big assist from the outfield. With the Sox leading, 2-0, in the fourth, Arrojo lost his no-hit bid on Kevin Stocker's leadoff single. Vaughn moved Stocker to third on a single high off the Green Monster, and Salmon brought him home with the third consecutive single. One out later, Arrojo walked Troy Glaus to load the bases. Molina then lofted a fly ball to shallow center. Everett charged in and tried to make a sliding catch but came up empty-handed, allowing Vaughn to score and make it 2-2. But Jose Offerman, racing out from second base, fired to third. Though Lou Merloni appeared to pull his foot off the base before the ball arrived, second base umpire Derryl Cousins called Salmon out on the force play. That brought Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia hurtling out of the dugout to complain. Failing to resolve the disagreement to their satisfaction, the Angels announced they would play the game under protest because Cousins refused to ask for help on the play. While Scioscia was still fuming afterward, the Sox were having the fun that Vaughn predicted. Fans were waiting outside the park to cheer the Boston players as they pulled away in their cars, long after the game had ended. The stunning victory catapulted the Sox into a tie for the wild- card lead with Oakland, which lost to Detroit last night, 3-1. Anaheim dropped three games back. The Sox also stayed three games back in the AL East race, after the division-leading Yankees thumped Texas, 12-3. |
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