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REVERSING THE CURSE,
PART 2
PEDRO
& TEK COME TO TOWN
Pedro masterful over the Indians
July 15, 1998 ... Pedro
Martinez, before a packed house of 33,501 in Fenway Park that sweated
and screamed and sweated some more as they watched Pedro complete a
1-0, four-hit, nine-strikeout masterpiece over the Cleveland Indians.
Pitching in
tropical heat more suited for his native Manoguayabo than for Yawkey Way, and
with the new 1999 All-Star logo adorning the Green Monster as backdrop behind
him, Martinez outdueled fellow Dominican All-Star Bartolo Colon while shutting
down one of baseball's most dangerous lineups on just four singles.
Red Sox
manager Jimy Williams had Tom Gordon warming up in the bullpen, but said there
was no question that Martinez would come out for the ninth, giving him the
chance to be the first pitcher since Clemens to record a 1-0 complete-game win
in Fenway.
The only run
last night was scored on a fifth-inning home run by DH Midre Cummings, who has
barely been heard from since his two electrifying home runs in late April
against the Tigers, five days apart. Cummings, the stand-in for newly disabled
Reggie Jefferson, delivered a 408-foot home run into the right-field grandstand
to open the fifth. Cummings had driven in just two runs in just 33 at-bats since
June 1, but launched a first-pitch fastball from Colon into the seats.
Martinez,
12-3 after his second complete-game shutout, has an ERA of 1.17 in his last six
starts, giving up just six earned runs in 46 innings. He allowed singles by
Manny Ramirez and Alomar (infield hit) in the second, then did not allow another
hit until Brian Giles singled with two out in the seventh. In between the hits
by Alomar and Giles, he set down 15 Indians in a row.
Pedro did
not walk a batter until the eighth, when Alomar drew a one-out pass, and one out
later, he walked his second and last batter, pitching carefully to pinch hitter
Jim Thome. The Indians' strongman was still feeling the effects of being hit in
the forearm by the Yankees' Andy Pettitte the night before and wasn't in the
starting lineup.
But with two
on and two out, Martinez coaxed Kenny Lofton to pop out to third baseman John
Valentin, who opened the next inning by making a terrific barehanded pickup of
Omar Vizquel's bid for a bunt base hit.
David
Justice reached out and hit an end-of-the-bat liner into center for the Indians'
fourth hit. But Martinez blew an outside fastball past Manny Ramirez, the
Indians' cleanup hitter, and with the fans on their feet retired Brian Giles on
a game-ending tapper to second.
There was
thunder on the Fens, the kind that will echo long into memory. |
