Surprising their critics, the Red Sox spurted in May 99, taking 4 of 5 from the Jays and Yankees and moving into first place in the AL East. They did it with strong hitting and fair-to-good pitching, including the sudden emergence of a rookie star.
21-year-old Juan Pena was the talk of Red Sox nation in mid-May, shutting out Toronto for 7 innings at the Skydome while walking 2 and fanning 7 in a 5-0 victory. His first two perfomances had produced a pair of wins and an 0.69 ERA with 3 walks and 15 K’s “The two starts have been special,” said manager Jimy Williams. “Special because of the kid. That’s a youngster out there who’s really pitching.” Boston scored a pair in the fifth and seventh and banged out 11 hits off ALCS MVP David Wells and Rohan Davey. The good times continued the next night in a 6-5 victory. Boston overcame a 3-1 deficit with 3 in the seventh and 2 more in the eighth. Mike Stanley’s pinch home run put the Sox ahead for good as John Wasdin, on perhaps the best streak of his career, picked up the win in relief while Tom Gordon got the save. The Townies had now taken 8 of 9 and moved into a first-place tie with the fading Yankees at 20-15.
The mediocre Jays did salvage the third game 9-6 as the Sox failed to hold leads of 4-1 and 6-4. Starter Pat Rapp went 5 fair innings, but Rheal Cormier, Derek Lowe, Mark Guthrie and Kip Gross failed in relief. Toronto got the walkoff win as the struggling Gross surrendered a 3-run homer to Carlos Delgado with two out in the ninth. But Boston came back to take game 4 by an 8-7 margin. Trailing 4-3 entering the ninth, the Sox reached relievers Graeme Lloyd and Davey for 5 tallies, paced by a three-run homer from rookie Brian Daubach. The Jays rallied with 3 off Gordon in the bottom half, but the Bosox held on.
As the Townies came home for a first-place battle with the Bombers, a cloud appeared in the sky. It was announced that Pena would miss his next start with shoulder soreness. The setback was called temporary, but it wasn’t. Incredibly, Pena had pitched his last major league game.
Pedro Martinez was not his usual self against the New Yorkers, though running his mark to 8-1 in a 6-3 victory. The Yanks clipped Pedro for 10 hits in 7 innings, but only 2 runs, as he walked 4 and fanned 11. Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit with 2 in the fifth and another in the sixth and won it with 3 in the eighth, aided by a couple of Yank miscues. The Sox now led the Yankees by half a game, their latest position atop the AL East in 4 years.
The team was batting .285, with Nomar Garciaparra, Jose Offerman, Reggie Jefferson, Troy O’Leary, Daubach and Stanley all over the .280 mark. Nomar’s .341 was eighth in the AL. But after Pedro, there were still question marks on the mound.
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