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REVERSING THE CURSE, PART 4 ...
THE
HENRY, WERNER & LUCCHINO
ERA BEGINS
Shea Hillenbrand leads the Sox
from behind
April 13, 2002 ... They
looked like slap-happy Little Leaguers, as Brian Daubach jumped on
Jason Varitek's back, Carlos Baerga belly-womped Ugueth Urbina, and
nearly everyone else in a Red Sox uniform frolicked on the emerald
lawn in the Fens as if they had just won the biggest game of their
lives.
Pennant
fever gripped the Hub after Shea Hillenbrand pulled off the nearly unfathomable
by slamming a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer off Mariano Rivera in the
bottom of the eighth to lift the Sox to an electrifying 7-6 victory over the
Yankees before 33,756 at Fenway Park.
The Sox may
have looked liked toast after Pedro Martinez spotted the Yankees a 4-0 lead in
the first inning and combined with Rolando Arrojo to leave the club in a 6-3
hole after six innings. After all, Rivera began to stir in the Yankee bullpen
after the Sox made it 6- 4 against Ramiro Mendoza in the eighth.
Rivera was 4
for 4 in save opportunities this season. The current Sox roster was batting .191
(17 for 89) against him when he entered the game. He had allowed only one home
run (to Manny Ramirez) in 39 innings over 34 appearances against the Sox. What's
more, the Yankees were in danger of losing a fourth straight game for the first
time since July 21.
Rivera
handcuffed the first batter he faced, Tony Clark, who grounded out to knock in
Nomar Garciaparra and cut the Yankees lead to 6-5. That left Ramirez, who had
singled to drive in Johnny Damon, at second.
But it was a
year to the day after Ramirez ripped a two-out, two- run single in the bottom of
the 10th off Rivera at Fenway to propel the Sox to a 3-2 victory over the Yanks.
And Hillenbrand, after looking over his shoulder to see if Little planned to
pinch hit for him, felt as if he came under some sort of spell as he followed
Clark to the plate.
That was
fortuitous, since Hillenbrand remembered having "no chance" against Rivera the
four times he faced him last year. Rivera threw him four straight fastballs, one
of which Hillenbrand mightily swung at and missed. Still, Rivera was trying to
exercise caution.
So, when
Rivera delivered a 95-mile-an-hour fastball into Hillenbrand's wheelhouse, the
Sox' youngest position player drove it high into the screen above the Green
Monster for the 7-6 lead. With the blast, Hillenbrand has more career homers
(16) than walks (15). It was his fourth homer of the season, and his feat sent a
dose of adrenaline through the Sox dugout.
Jason
Varitek gave the club another boost soon after. With two out in the ninth,
Alfonso Soriano was pinch running at first for Jorge Posada, who had singled off
Urbina. And Soriano, who was a last- minute scratch from the lineup because of a
slight leg cramp, broke for second as Urbina unleashed a changeup to Robin
Ventura. Soriano ran on his own against Varitek, who had not thrown out a runner
in 12 tries this season. Soriano stole 43 bases last year. But Varitek gunned
down Soriano to end the game.
With Rivera
blowing a lead for the first time since Game 7 of last year's World Series, the
Sox claimed sole possession of the top spot in the American League East for the
first time since July 2. |
