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THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR
Pedro strikes out 16 Braves with a 3-hitter
June 4, 1999
...
American League, National League, interleague, it doesn't make any
difference to Pedro Martinez, who elevated the bar on his own
magnificence by striking out a career-best 16 in a three- hit, 5-1
win over the Atlanta Braves in a Fenway Park teetering on
pandemonium.
Pedro, who
lowered his earned run average to 1.91, best in the majors, gave up a leadoff
single to Javy Lopez in the second, a leadoff double to Andruw Jones in the
fifth, and lost his shutout when Ryan Klesko curled his seventh home run around
the Pesky Pole with one out in the seventh. He struck out at least one batter in
every inning, and ended seven of his nine innings with a K, which guaranteed him
a frenzied reaction from the sellout crowd of 33,411 each time he slowly made
his way back to the dugout.
The crowd
was never happier than in the ninth, when Pedro, who had thrown 104 pitches
through eight, headed back to the mound to put the finishing touches on his
second complete game. He struck out Chipper Jones for his 15th whiff, matching
the career best he'd achieved twice this season. Brian Jordan was caught looking
for No. 16. Javy Lopez then had two strikes on him before grounding out to third
baseman John Valentin to end the game.
Pedro, who
retired the last eight Braves, struck out every batter in the Atlanta lineup at
least once. He struck out cleanup hitter Jordan four times. He struck out Gerald
Williams, the No. 9 hitter, three times. When he had a runner on third and no
outs in the fifth after Jones's double and a wild pitch, he struck out Randall
Simon and Williams and put away Walt Weiss on a pop to short.
The Sox, who
were swept in three games when the Braves first returned to the city of their
roots two years ago, gave Pedro all the cushion he would need in the first, the
inning in which Glavine historically is most vulnerable.
John
Valentin walked on four pitches and Nomar Garciaparra followed with a Wall
double. When Glavine fell behind Mike Stanley, 2-and-0, he elected to walk the
Sox cleanup hitter intentionally, but Troy O'Leary crossed up that strategy by
reaching out and slapping an 0-and-2 pitch through the left side, scoring
Valentin. Damon Buford followed with another single, the first of three hits for
the center fielder. He later doubled and scored on Frye's two-out single in the
third, and homered off reliever Justin Speier in the eighth.
As good as
it was, remarkably, it wasn't the most whiffs by a Braves team against a member
of the Martinez family. It was, however, their most strikeouts since Ramon
Martinez of the Dodgers struck out 18 Braves June 4, 1990, exactly nine years
ago yesterday, in a 6-0 win. Billerica's Tom Glavine, who took the loss last
night in his second start in his backyard, was the loser against Ramon, too.
The Sox, now
33-20, went 13 games over .500 for the first time this season by winning for the
21st time in the last 27 games. Pedro, of course, is 10 over the break-even
point all by himself. |
