Sox 99 – Gordon Goes Down

Sometimes an injury to an important member of a team can start a tailspin. That seemed to happen with the 99 Sox. Entering an April series at Fenway against the undermanned but troublesome Tampa Bay, the Sox were 6-2 and apparently on their way. But in the second game of the series, storm clouds appeared over the park.

In the opening contest on the 17th, 18,809 (this was long before the sellout streak), braved 45-degree temperatures as the Devil Rays, as they were then called, triumphed 6-2. Starter Tim Wakefield left after three-plus innings, having surrendered 6 hits and 3 runs as the Sox trailed 3-0. The bases were loaded with none out when Rheal Cormier came in, and the lefty got out of it unscathed. The same could not be said of Kip Gross and Mark Guthrie, who gave up 3 more runs in the seventh and eighth for a 6-0 deficit. A Troy O’Leary homer was the only Sox scoring as little-known Brian Rekar got the win with 6 innings of shutout ball.

The next night should have been a pleasant one for the Townies, as they rebounded for an 8-5 victory. But the headline read “Gordon hurts elbow as Sox bash Rays”. Pitching in the ninth, Tom Gordon, who had saved 45 games in a row, reinjured the right elbow that had bothered him in spring training. He was immediately relieved by Jim Corsi, who retired the final two. The injury took away form a Boston performance that included 11 safeties and 10 walks. The home squad built a 7-1 lead and stayed ahead despite a subpar effort from starter Mark Portugal.

The win tied the Sox for first with Toronto, but things went downhill quickly. A 5-1 loss to Canton’s Bobby Witt and a 4-1 Patriots Day defeat to ace Rolando Arrojo added bad news to the announcement that Gordon was going on the DL. The suddenly punchless Bosox managed just 5 hits off Witt and 6 off Arrojo. Bret Saberhagen suffered his first defeat.

Though an MRI showed no serious damage, Gordon received his third cortisone shot of the year and his return seemed uncertain. Pedro Martinez came to the rescue in the opener of a series in Detroit, throwing 7 2/3 innings in a 1-0 shutout shared by Cormier and Derek Lowe. Troy O’Leary’s fourth inning homer was the only tally. But the 5-8 Tigers shelled Wakefield the next night in a 9-2 win, driving out the knuckleballer after 3 2/3 with 8 hits and 5 runs. Things continued on the downslide on Thursday the 23rd, as Portugal wasted an 8-inning, 3-hit performance in a 1-0 loss to Jason Thompson and the Bengals.

Now in a deep batting slump, the Townies had fallen to fourth with an 8-7 mark. The team average was down to .240 and John Valentin, Darren Lewis, and rookie Trot Nixon were all under the “Mendoza line”. Pedro was still Pedro at 3-1, but without Gordon the closer’s role went to the unreliable Lowe. The Sox next headed to Cleveland, where the Indians’ 11-3 mark was tops in the majors.