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REVERSING THE CURSE, PART 4 ... May 23, 2002 ... Pedro Martinez proved to be nearly as infallible as he was a year ago when he last dominated the Yankees, 3-0, and uttered the fateful threat against Babe Ruth that haunted him ever since. To Gotham's dismay, the indomitable one, showing all the spunk he displayed before he cursed the Bambino in the Bronx, tamed the surging Yankees for seven innings to lead the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory before 33,884 in Game 1 of their four-game test at Fenway Park. For the third time in as many tries, Martinez abruptly stopped a two-game losing streak. No longer fretful over the rotator cuff he injured last year, Pedro struck out 10 and surrendered a mere four hits and two walks, a far cry from his last encounter with the Yankees at Fenway April 13, when he got thumped for four runs in the first inning alone on the way to a 7-6 victory. Not only were the Yankees stymied by Pedro, but they got nowhere against Tim Wakefield, who pitched a perfect eighth, and Ugueth Urbina, who finished them off in the ninth for his American League-leading 15th save and his fourth of the season against the Bombers. Nomar Garciaparra, Trot Nixon, and another old master, Rickey Henderson, drove in the Boston runs against Yankees starter Ted Lilly. And the Yankees, who were pounding home runs like a modern- day Murderers' Row (74 in 47 games) before they crossed the city limits were all but punchless against Pedro and Co. Pedro's mastery improved Boston's record in starts by the Big Three - Pedro, Derek Lowe, and Burkett - to 23-2. And though the Sox ace went to great lengths to treat the win like any other, when he was pressed about the lingering fallout from his playful threat last May to drill Ruth, he explained why he started it all. He felt besieged by queries about the Curse of the Bambino. The Sox, who were in danger of dropping a third straight game for the first time this season, believe in Pedro. He improved to 7-0 for the first time with the Sox (he started 8-0 for the Expos in 1997). After Nomar doubled home Damon in the first, Pedro, who often challenges himself to win with only one or two runs of support, responded by blowing down the Yanks, including Jason Giambi, on strikes in the second inning. In whiffing Jorge Posada after Giambi, he notched his 1,076th strikeout for the Sox, passing Luis Tiant for third place on the team's all-time list. Clemens (2,590) ranks first and Cy Young (1,341) second. The Yankees waged their first serious threat against Pedro in the fifth, when Posada doubled to left-center leading off. Yet Posada's teammates failed to advance him, as Pedro retired Robin Ventura, John Vander Wal, and Nick Johnson without letting the ball out of the infield. By contrast, after Jose Offerman doubled leading off the bottom of the inning, Tony Clark moved him to third with a fly to right and Trot Nixon knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to left, making it 2- 0. Rey Sanchez kept the rally alive by doubling off Lilly, which cleared the way for Henderson to snap out of an 0-for-14 funk by lacing an opposite-field single, scoring Sanchez to give Pedro a 3-0 cushion. For the Yankees, things broke their way only in the sixth. After Johnson singled leading off, Jeter singled him to third and Bernie Williams drove him in when he narrowly avoided grounding into an inning-ending double play by beating Nomar's throw to Pedro covering first. Pedro was so tentative early in the season that he was able to avoid losing largely because the Sox repeatedly provided him massive run support. Now, the Sox are struggling at the plate (averaging two runs a game over the last three) and Pedro is delivering. The victory was strong medicine for the Sox, who outlasted a Yankee club that had won 13 of 15 to hang within striking distance despite Boston's fastest start since 1946. The win gave the Sox a two-game lead in the AL. |
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