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MIKE MUSSINA |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
2004 ALCS, GAME #1
Down eight runs, the Sox mount
a seven run comeback that falls short
October 12, 2004 ... Curt Schilling was not at his best last night when he carried the hopes of Red Sox fans to the mound at Yankee
Stadium. Schilling and the Sox hoped against hope his ankle would be fine. They conducted a test run Monday at Fenway Park and all parties involved, Schilling, manager Terry Francona, general manager Theo Epstein, and medical director Bill Morgan, saw no reason to push back his start. As it turned out, Schilling
needed more time to heal before he faced the Yankees in the crucial opener of their best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
In an injury-shortened outing that raised questions about how effective he may be the rest of the way, Schilling survived only three stressful innings as the Yankees thumped him for six runs en route to a 10-7 victory before 56,135 on 161st Street. The Yankees torched him for two runs
in the first inning and four more in the third as he struggled to hit 90 on the radar gun. Rarely exceeding 86 to 87, he surrendered six hits, including a three-run double to Hideki Matsui, and a pair of walks before the Sox mercifully lifted him.
The only consolation was a rousing comeback attempt in which the Sox weathered 6 1/3 perfect innings from Yankee starter Mike Mussina to close within 8-7 and bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth. Even after they fell behind, 10-7, in the eighth, the Sox put the tying run at the
plate in the ninth before Bill Mueller grounded into a game-ending double play against Mariano Rivera.
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JASON VARITEK |
With Schilling long gone, the Sox finally got to Mussina when Mark Bellhorn broke up his bid for a perfect game by driving an 0-and-2 pitch to the warning track in left-center for a one-out double. A batter later, David Ortiz singled Bellhorn to third, setting the stage for three consecutive
run-scoring hits: a two-run double by Kevin Millar, an RBI single by Trot Nixon, and a two-run homer by Jason Varitek. Varitek's homer, off Tanyon Sturtze, was his eighth in postseason play. The Sox made it even more interesting in the eighth inning when Ortiz tagged Tom Gordon for a two-run
triple - he narrowly missed a home run - to lift the Sox within a run, 8-7, before the Yankees summoned Mariano Rivera.
The comeback effort was particularly remarkable because the Sox had not overcome more than a five-run deficit all season. |
