Would two outfield brawls rouse the Sox out of their slump? It appeared that way after the Townies, who had dropped 7 of 9, rebounded with two wins against the Central Division-leading Indians. The first melee erupted when Cleveland starter Jaret Wright hit Darren Lewis in the shoulder in the fifth as the Sox attempted to rally from a 5-1 deficit. Wright and Lewis tangled, though they were restrained by coaches Dave Jauss and Wendell Kim. After both men were ejected, Boston bats went to work on reliever Steve Karsay. A sacrifice fly by Jose Offerman made it 5-3, and one batter later, Nomar Garciaparra doubled in a pair to tie it. Another two-bagger by Reggie Jefferson gave the Sox a 6-5 advantage.
When Rheal Cormier plunked slugger Jim Thome to open the sixth, a bigger melee developed, involving, among others, Jason Varitek, manager Jimy Williams and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan along with Indians slugger Dave Justice. The fight resulted in ejections of Cormier and Thome, and Boston suffered when former Sox bad boy Wilfredo Cordero put the visitors ahead with a two-run shot off Jim Corsi. The contest ended 7-6, as three Indian relievers held the Sox scoreless.
The fights did seem to wake up the slumbering Sox. They went out early to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 against starter Dave Burba the next night on the way to a 9-4 victory. Boston starter Bret Saberhagen left after 4 innings with recurring shoulder problems, and rookie reliever Tim Harikkala allowed the visitors to tie at 4 in the fifth. But a Nomar Garciaparra rbi single broke the deadlock in the sixth, and the Sox pulled away with three in the seventh, featuring a Mike Stanley homer and rbi’s from Lewis and Offerman. They closed the scoring on a Troy O’Leary homer in the eighth. Cormier, Mark Guthrie and Derek Lowe showed well in relief.
Superhurler Pedro Martinez then took the rubber contest with a complete-game 3-2 victory. A Kenny Lofton rbi hit tied the game at 1 in the fifth, but Varitek, emerging a clutch player, doubled in a pair in the seventh for a 3-1 advantage. Cordero reached Martinez for a run-scoring hit with two out in the ninth, but Williams, as Grady Little would do four years later, stuck with Pedro though his pitch count was over 130. It worked this time, as the ace fanned Justice to nail down the win.
The 10-8 Sox were still near the bottom of the division, but taking 2 of 3 from Cleveland showed promise of a turnaround. However, they next moved to Minnesota with struggling Tim Wakefield slated to start the first game.
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