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  Wednesday, May 3 7:05pm ET
Bad-hop double leads to Sox victory
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

BOSTON (AP) -- If Jose Offerman was looking for a sign that things might start going his way, he got one.

Mired in an 0-for-15 slump that landed him on the bench for two games, Offerman bounced a bad-hop double off first base on Wednesday night and scored to break an eighth-inning tie as the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2.

"Sometimes something like that happens and from that moment on everything changes," Offerman said. "Hopefully, this is one of those situations."

With one out in the eighth and the score tied at 2, Offerman grounded one down the line. Although first baseman Tony Clark was in position to field it, the ball hit the bag and bounced to his right and into the right field corner for a double.

"It was unfortunate," said Bob Melvin, who's acting as the Detroit manager while Phil Garner serves an eight-game suspension for his part in an April 22 brawl. "We were playing on the line. It looked like a routine ground ball."

Things got even messier when right-fielder Wendell Magee went to the wall to field the ball and a fan threw a beverage at him.

"I was hoping somebody just spilled something," said Magee, who won Tuesday night's game with a 12th-inning homer. "I didn't think anybody would be so stupid as to throw a beer on somebody during the game."

There was more interference on the next play, when a fan reached over the wall to catch Trot Nixon's fly ball down the right-field line, resulting in a ground-rule double and scoring Offerman. Nixon took third on Brian Daubach's groundout and scored to make it 4-2 when Nomar Garciaparra beat out an infield single.

"Wendell got a little bath tonight," Nixon said. "That's what happens when you play in Boston. They do it in a lot of other places, too."

Derek Lowe (2-0) earned the victory with two perfect innings of relief, and Jeff Weaver (0-4) took the loss despite taking a four-hitter into the eighth. Weaver allowed four runs and six hits, striking out three and walking four in 7 1/3 innings. Boston starter Pete Schourek allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead when Shane Halter doubled to lead off the game and scored on Juan Encarnacion's base hit. The single extended Encarnacion's hitting streak to 15 games; he is 5-for-9 against Schourek in his career.

Boston made it 2-1 when Garciaparra walked and Mike Stanley homered -- his fourth in his last five games. The Tigers tied it on Clark's solo homer in the fifth.

Game notes
Pedro Martinez was suspended for five games and fined for plunking Roberto Alomar on Sunday. Martinez will appeal the suspension, and he will be able to pitch until the appeal is heard. ... The Tigers were without manager Phil Garner and 3B Dean Palmer, who are serving eight-game suspensions for an April 22 brawl in Chicago. ... After not facing a left-handed starter in their first 12 games, Detroit has faced six in its last 13 games.

 


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