Sox 99 – Toward Postseason

The Red Sox made a big leap toward the postseason by taking three from the Yankees in the Stadium behind solid pitching and strong hitting. It was Boston’s first sweep in the Big Apple in 15 years, and started with perhaps Pedro Martinez’ best of many great performances. On September 10 he tossed a one-hitter in a 3-1 win, walking none and fanning a career-high 17. Pedey fanned 12 of the last 15 Yanks, including the last five in order. Martinez surrendered a homer to Chili Davis in the second but allowed only one other baserunner. Boston went ahead in the sixth on Mike Stanley’s two-run blast and plated an insurance run in the ninth when Jose Offerman singled in Wilton Veras. The victory ran Pedro’s record to a major-league best 21-4. Andy Petitte went 6, but could not match Martinez.

The hitters took over the next afternoon, as the Sox survived 11-10 in a contest that featured 16 walks, 22 hits and 7 homers off 12 hurlers. Boston went up 5-0 with round-trippers by Trot Nixon and Nomar Garciaparra, but Paul O’Neill’s three-run job  in the fourth cut it to 5-4. The visitors would later go up 9-4 on another Nomar homer, but the Bombers cut it to 9-8 in the seventh, aided by two Offerman miscues. Butch Huskey’s two-run pinch blast  in the eighth gave the Sox some breathing room, but Tino Martinez matched it with one of his own in the bottom half. Rod Beck, the Sox’ fifth hurler, managed to retire the Yanks in the ninth for his second save.

The Bosox completed the sweep the following day, defeating nemesis Roger Clemens by a 4-1 margin. They broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth with 3 tallies on 4 hits off Clemens and relievers Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton. The Rocket saw his mark fall to 12-9 and his ERA to 4.65. Bret Saberhagen went a creditable 5 innings, permitting 3 hits and a run while fanning 5. Rheal Cormier, Derek Lowe and Beck pitched scoreless ball, with Cormier picking up the win and Beck the save. New York, once running away with the division, saw their lead over the Townies fall to 3 1/2 games. The A’s remained 3 back in the wild card.

Earlier in Oakland, Boston had split a pair, winning 5-3 behind Tim Wakefield and four relievers before falling 6-2. The first contest saw the Sox burst ahead with 5 in the first (4 unearned) and hang on as the A’s tallied 2 in the fourth and 1 in the seventh. Lowe picked up his 13th save and Veras had three hits to raise his average to .317. It was the Sox’ turn to bumble the next day. The Athletics broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth on two hits and a Darren Lewis error. They picked up 2 more in the sixth, helped by an Olmedo Saenz homer. Veras and Donnie Sadler were also charged with miscues. Kevin Appier and two relievers held the Sox to 5 hits.

Approaching mid-September, the Bosox stood at 82-61, their best percentage of the year.