Sox 99 – Surprising Start

Quieting some of their naysayers, the Sox broke from the gate with 5 straight wins for the first time since 1946. After sweeping the Royals in KC, they took a pair in Tampa Bay before finally dropping one.

Number 4 starter Mark Portugal continued the mound domination, going 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball in a 4-1 win. Brian Daubach doubled in his first Sox at bat, then tripled in a pair in the third. Jose Offerman continued his great start with two more safeties, but the story was Portugal, an injury-plagued 37-year-old that the Sox took a shot on to deepen their rotation. Manager Jimy Williams lifted the righthander with one out in the seventh, and Mark Guthrie and Derek Lowe finished up. The Devil Rays would get on the board with a Fred McGriff homer in the ninth. In their first four games, the starters were 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA.

Pedro Martinez brought the record to 5-0 the following night with a 5-3 triumph. Boston went out 5-0 with a pair in the first, one in the fourth and two more in the fifth with solo homers by Troy O’Leary and John Valentin. The home squad rallied for 3 in the eighth, but Jim Corsi settled things down and Tom Gordon picked up his third save of the year and 46th in succession. Sox relievers had been no slouch either, permitting just one run in 13 1/3 innings. The streak finally ended in game 3 with Tampa, as the Sox rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie in the seventh, but Lowe fell victim to Danny Cliburn, whose eighth inning homer was the difference in a 5-4 defeat.

The home opener was almost perfect, a 6-0 win over the White Sox marked by 6 1/3 shutout frames from Bret Saberhagen, whose ERA was still zero. Boston got three in the first, sparked by a triple from the red-hot Offerman and clinched it in the eighth with a three-run shot from O’Leary. Even heretofore negative Peter Gammons was impressed, writing that Williams’ hard-working team without many big stars could surprise a few people.

With Pedro going on Thursday after a rainout, things looked positive. But it was the lowly White Sox who stole the show, with unheralded Jim Snyder and two relievers throwing a 4-0 shoutout. The Sox were beginning to miss the injured Nomar Garciaparra, as a misplay by replacement Donny Sadler led to an important run. Despite the loss, Martinez fanned 10 in seven innings. Gordon Edes pointed out that the Townies, for the first time all year, also missed Nomar’s bat.

Though the Sox were 6-2 after 8 contests, the Yankees were even better at 7-2 despite a rather shaky start from Roger Clemens. Boston was lucky to be facing subpar opponents in the early going, but that would eventually change. The biggest surprise was Offerman, who hit .469 with 9 extra-base hits in his first 32 at bats. Could he make the fans forget Mo Vaughn? Possibly, but there was a long way to go.