|
 |
|
MIKE LANSING |
SAVING FENWAY, MORE PEDRO
AND A FRUSTRATING SEASON
The Sox rally, scoring seven
runs to win 8-7
August 17, 2000 ... Defying
every law of winning baseball except the most important - it ain't
over 'til it's over - the Red Sox ended a minidrama at Fenway with a
cathartic, 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers. The crucial,
come-from-far-behind triumph was capped by Mike Lansing's two-out
double off the Wall with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Never mind
that Texas made the improbable occur. With two out and Texas leading, 7-5, and
Darren Lewis on first running for Hatteberg, Jose Offerman whacked a single to
right.
A newcomer,
Rico Brogna, who hit a two-out grand slam in the ninth Monday night to lift the
Sox to a dramatic victory over Tampa Bay, ran for Offerman. Bernard Gilkey
reached first, loading the bases, when shortstop Royce Clayton bobbled his
routine grounder. Wetteland then hit Carl Everett, scoring Lewis and cutting the
Sox deficit to 7-6. Up came Lansing, picked up last month from Colorado with
pitcher Rolando Arrojo. Lansing took a strike from Wetteland, then pounded his
next pitch off the Wall to score Brogna and Gilkey and win the game. His
teammates promptly mobbed him.
The Sox were
trailing, 6-2, after seven innings. Picking up the win, Rich Garces became the
first reliever in Sox history to start a season 8-0. Garces, who has now won his
last 13 decisions, had seen that the Yankees won.
Funny thing
was, it was the Sox whose situation seemed so desperate earlier in the night
that the Fenway organist played a rhapsodic version of "Say A Little Prayer."
Even that didn't help, at least until the last three innings.
The Sox
wasted promising scoring opportunities in each of the first six innings. In the
second, for example. Back-to-back singles by Troy O'Leary and Lou Merloni, and a
walk to Jason Varitek loaded the bases with no outs. But Hatteberg flied to
left, too shallow for O'Leary to challenge Rusty Greer's arm. Then Manny
Alexander, playing shortstop as Nomar Garciaparra rested, went down on strikes
and Offerman flied out to left to scuttle the threat. Similar scenarios played
out every inning until the seventh.
With Texas
leading, 6-1, in the seventh, O'Leary cut the deficit to 6-2 by driving a home
run around the Pesky Pole. It was O'Leary's first home run in 86 at-bats, dating
to July 21. The Sox rallied again in the eighth after Offerman walked and Gilkey,
pinch hitting for Trot Nixon, singled with no outs. After Everett struck out,
Lansing, pinch hitting for Brian Daubach, doubled to make it 6-4. O'Leary
singled to first and Lansing scored when first baseman Rafael Palmeiro threw the
ball past the pitcher Mike Venafro, who was running to cover first. Suddenly it
was a 6-5 game.
Texas added
what seemed to be and insurance run in the ninth, but it proved not to be
enough. Garciaparra, who pinch hit for Alexander in the seventh and finished,
watched most of it from the bench. But he liked what he saw.
33,510
paying customers departed in glee and tens of thousands of others in Red Sox
country went to bed happy, the Sox sensed something magical unfolded. |
