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ON THIS DATE (June 4, 1999)
...
American League,
National League, interleague, it doesn't make any difference to Pedro
Martinez, who elevated the bar on his own magnificence by striking
out a career-best 16 in a three- hit, 5-1 win over the Atlanta Braves
in a Fenway Park teetering on pandemonium.
Pedro, who lowered his earned run
average to 1.91, best in the majors, gave up a leadoff single to Javy Lopez in
the second, a leadoff double to Andruw Jones in the fifth, and lost his shutout
when Ryan Klesko curled his seventh home run around the Pesky Pole with one out
in the seventh. He struck out at least one batter in every inning, and ended
seven of his nine innings with a K, which guaranteed him a frenzied reaction
from the sellout crowd of 33,411 each time he slowly made his way back to the
dugout.
The crowd was never happier than in
the ninth, when Pedro, who had thrown 104 pitches through eight, headed back to
the mound to put the finishing touches on his second complete game. He struck
out Chipper Jones for his 15th whiff, matching the career best he'd achieved
twice this season. Brian Jordan was caught looking for No. 16. Javy Lopez then
had two strikes on him before grounding out to third baseman John Valentin to
end the game.
Pedro, who retired the last eight
Braves, struck out every batter in the Atlanta lineup at least once. He struck
out cleanup hitter Jordan four times. He struck out Gerald Williams, the No. 9
hitter, three times. When he had a runner on third and no outs in the fifth
after Jones's double and a wild pitch, he struck out Randall Simon and Williams
and put away Walt Weiss on a pop to short. |
