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REVERSING THE CURSE, PART 4 ...
THE
HENRY, WERNER & LUCCHINO
ERA BEGINS
Pedro masters the Mariners again
May 18, 2002 ... Pedro
Martinez improved to a perfect 10-0 against the Mariners as he led
the Red Sox to a 4-1 triumph before a bundled-up 32,385 at Fenway
Park.
The Mariners
know how to win and score runs (they lead the league with 6.04 a game). The
thing is, they just can't beat Pedro, who has rolled up an 0.94 ERA against them
since they first experienced the misfortune of facing him four years ago.
That's one
way to put it. Pedro improved to 6-0 with a 2.80 ERA by scattering six hits,
allowing only a single run (on Ruben Sierra's homer in the fourth), and striking
out nine over eight innings. He got all the runs he needed in the first inning,
when the Sox scored twice. And Ugueth Urbina picked him up in the ninth for his
13th save.
Pedro is too
modest, of course, since he's a big reason the Sox have won the last eight games
he has started. He put them on the path to victory by striking out the side in
the first inning on nine pitches, becoming just the 35th pitcher in history to
accomplish the feat. It electrified the crowd, which, like the players, had
endured the long wait before game time.
So they did.
And they promptly rolled with the momentum, as Jose Offerman laced a one-out
double off Seattle starter James Baldwin. Nomar Garciaparra then scorched a
double to right-center, knocking in Offerman. As insurance, Daubach wasted no
time singling to drive in Nomar and make it 2-0. Sierra dinged Pedro for a home
run, into the Seattle bullpen, leading off the fourth.
After Sierra
cut the lead to 3-1, the Sox added a run in the fifth when Nomar drew a one-out
walk, advanced to second on Shea Hillenbrand's single, and scored on a single by
Carlos Baerga. That made it less painful for the Sox faithful when Ichiro Suzuki
leaped to rob Johnny Damon of a home run at the Boston bullpen in the sixth.
It was still
cold, damp, and windy when the long-delayed game ended. But the Sox had the
victory to warm them. |
