| | NEW YORK -- Ramon is Boston's second-best Martinez, not bad considering how good the best one is -- but not good enough to beat
the defending champion New York Yankees.
Even when he pitched an outstanding game Thursday night with a
surgically repaired right shoulder.
"Classic Ramon," raved Red Sox pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.
But not good enough to beat the Yankees.
"This is one of the greatest teams," Martinez said. "That is
the reason why they are here. I know that I am going to have a
tough game. I did the best that I could."
And it still wasn't good enough to beat the Yankees.
"He pitched a tremendous game," Boston manager Jimy Williams
said. "kept us in that game."
A game the Yankees still won 3-2 to go ahead 2-0 in the
best-of-7 AL championship series. And now the other Martinez -- the
one who just happens to be the best pitcher in baseball -- must try
to save the Sox again.
Pedro Martinez did it with six innings of hitless relief in Monday night's deciding fifth game of the first round against
Cleveland after he sprained a back muscle five days earlier. Boston
won it 12-8 after it had lost the first two games of that series.
On Saturday, Ramon's younger brother -- a Cy Young award
certainty with a 23-4 record, 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts -- faces
former Red Sox star Roger Clemens at Fenway Park in Game 3.
"It's going to be a great atmosphere," Boston reliever Derek Lowe said.
It could have been better if the Red Sox had capitalized on
Ramon's strong performance to win Thursday's game. In 6 2/3
innings, he allowed three runs, six hits and three walks and struck
out five.
And he was still strong after throwing 120 pitches, 22 more than
his busiest game of the six he pitched this year. On Sept. 2, he
made his first start since undergoing rotator cuff surgery on his
right shoulder nearly 15 months earlier.
"I can go farther than that," Ramon said. "I feel fine when I
come out of the game. I was just normal. I don't feel any kind of
pain, tired or anything."
His final pitch was a changeup that Chuck Knoblauch drove into
left field for a run-scoring double that tied the game 2-2 in the
seventh.
Ramon, taller and quieter than his more emotional brother but no less competitive, strode slowly from the mound as he left the game.
Tom Gordon came in and Derek Jeter walked.
Exit Gordon, enter lefty Rheal Cormier to pitch to lefty Paul O'Neill. The strategy backfired as O'Neill singled in the winning run.
Cormier "pitched great," Kerrigan said. "You've got to give
O'Neill credit for fighting that pitch off."
Ramon helped keep Boston from being swept by Cleveland, pitching
5 2/3 innings in a 9-3 Game 3 win. Williams called on him again
Thursday night to get Boston back in the series after it lost
Wednesday night 4-3 in 10 innings.
Ramon allowed runners in each of his seven innings but pitched
out of most of his jams. He fell behind 1-0 on Tino Martinez's homer in the fourth. And he went ahead 2-1 on Nomar Garciaparra's two-run homer in the fifth.
In the sixth, he allowed only a walk. But in the seventh, Ricky
Ledee led off with another walk.
"I thought the only time he strayed off course a little bit was
the walk to Ledee," Kerrigan said. "But he got it right back in
the stretch."
Scott Brosius' sacrifice bunt moved Ledee to second, and Ramon nearly escaped by getting Joe Girardi to pop out to the infield.
But he was to pitch to only one more batter.
That's when Knoblauch doubled, tying the game and ending Ramon's
work.
"He's doing whatever it takes to win," Gordon said. "To us,
he's a winning pitcher, regardless of what happened tonight."
| |
ALSO SEE
Yankees vs. Red Sox series page
Yankees again edge Red Sox, lead ALCS 2-0
 |
