How much better can Roger Clemens-Pedro Martinez at historic Fenway Park tomorrow be than the first two games of the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS?
If Clemens, one of the best pitchers of his generation, and Martinez, the top chucker in the game today, improve the baseball theatre, we are in for a real treat.
In front of a packed Stadium crowd, the Yankees took a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series last night when they eked past the plucky Red Sox, 3-2, thanks to Joe Torre’s brilliant handling of his bullpen, a clutch bloop single by Paul O’Neill and outstanding relief pitching from Ramiro Mendoza and Mariano Rivera.
The second consecutive one-run victory – Bernie Williams gave The Bombers a 4-3 win in 10 innings in Game 1 Wednesday night with a solo homer – put the World Champions up 2-0 going to Boston last night. Game 3 is tomorrow and Game 4 set for Sunday night. If a fifth game is needed, it will be played Monday night at Fenway. Beyond that, Game 6 and 7 are slated for the Stadium next Wednesday and Thursday.
Last night’s victory was the Yankees’ 12th straight in the postseason and tied their all-time record. It was helped along by Tino Martinez’ solo homer off Ramon Martinez in the fourth inning that provided the game’s first tally.
“Those were two great games,” said O’Neill, who fought off lefty Rheal Cormier’s 1-2 pitch for the game-winning bloop single in the seventh. “We are exhausted. One-run games are gut-wrenching.”
Last night’s action started with the Stadium crowd of 57,180 wondering what an 11-day layoff would do to David Cone. After seven innings of two-run pitching in which Cone made one mistake, a 1-2 pitch to Nomar Garciaparra that the Red Sox cleanup hitter clubbed for a homer, the gathering understood just how special Cone can be when he is called upon to be just that. It ended with Rivera fanning an overmatched Damon Buford with runners on first and third.
“The extra rest always works to my advantage,” Cone said. “I felt strong and sharp.”
Cone left trailing, 2-1, but watched the Yankees score twice in the seventh when Chuck Knoblauch doubled home Ricky Ledee and O’Neill plated Knoblauch for a 3-2 advantage.
However, when Mike Stanton gave up a leadoff double to the left-handed hitting Troy O’Leary to start the eighth, Torre went to work. First, it was Jeff Nelson to face Mike Stanley, and Nelson foiled the plan by hitting Stanley with a 2-2 pitch.
Red Sox manager Jimy Williams had Jason Varitek move the runners up a base each with a bunt. Williams then sent Scott Hatteberg to hit for Darren Lewis. When Nelson fell behind, 1-0, Torre called for lefty Allen Watson. Williams went for the right-handed hitting Lou Merloni and Torre had Watson walk him intentionally to load the bases for pinch-hitter Butch Huskey.
In a perfect world, Torre would have gotten a ground-ball double play from Mendoza, a sinkerball specialist. But he had to settle for Mendoza fanning Huskey on a 1-2 fastball. That brought up Jose Offerman, who had five hits in nine at-bats, and Mendoza left the bases juiced by getting him on a harmless fly to center.
“I love Ramiro Mendoza, no question,” Torre said. “He does so many good things. This year wasn’t as good because he was inconsistent but he isn’t going to pitch in a tougher situation. Tonight, after not pitching for a long time, he was as sharp as he could be.”
Matching Torre in the other dugout was Williams.
“I was just trying to put us in a position where a base hit would have put us in front,” said Williams, who also used Donnie Sadler and Damon Buford as pinch-runners in the inning.
While Torre was battling Williams, he took the time to remember why he became a manager.
“That’s the stuff where when you are sitting at home and saying, ‘Do this, do that,'” Torre said. “That’s what makes managing terrific. You make the decision to empty the bullpen and go for it. That’s the chess game and that’s the great part of managing.”
The only thing left was for Rivera to do what he has done all year. After getting John Valentin and Brian Daubach to start the ninth, Rivera gave up a ground single to left to Garciaparra on an 0-2 pitch. A broken-bat single by Troy O’Leary to left-center put runners at the corner. Instead of having Stanley hitting, Williams had his fingers crossed Buford could come through against Rivera. Those fingers still have bones wrapped around each other because Rivera blew a 2-2 pitch by Buford to send the Yankees to Boston in command.
“It’s never easy being 0-2,” Williams said of the same hole the Red Sox climbed out of in the best-of-five ALDS against the Indians. “But all we can do is play one game at a time. That one game will be [tomorrow]. Can we do it again? I hope you all come to Boston because it’s a really nice city and we will be there to play.”
So, too, will Clemens and Pedro Martinez to pitch. If it’s any better than the first two games, the baseball gods really did us a favor by delivering Yankees-Red Sox in the middle of October.