NOMAR'S 3 HRs PACE RED HOT BOSOX TO 6TH STRAIGHT 'W'
Boston Now 15-1 On Season
BOSTON, Apr. 18 (AP) - Nomar Garciaparra belted three home runs as part of a
four-hit, six-RBI game and the Boston Red Sox broke open a close game with five
late runs to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-5, at Fenway Park. Garciaparra
is the first American Leaguer to hit three home runs in a single game.
Cincinnati's Jose Guillen is the only other major league player to accomplish
the feat, with three long balls in an 11-4 Reds victory over Houston on April
10.
The Red Sox are white hot, having opened the season with nine consecutive
victories before an 8-2 decision to the Jays on April 10, and then reeling off
another six straight wins. Less than three full weeks into the season,
Boston holds a seven-game lead over the second place New York Yankees in the
American League East. While the Red Sox's pitching has been solid--they
hold a staff ERA of 4.00 compared to the league mark of 4.48--the club's offense
has set the tone for the torrid start to the season. Boston is averaging
7.2 runs per game, compared with the league mark of 4.8. No other AL club
is averaging as many as six runs per contest. The Red Sox lead the league
in batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage, all by
substantial margins over the second place teams in each category.
After spotting Toronto a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Carlos Delgado's
two-out run-scoring double, Garciaparra evened the score in the bottom half of
the frame with his second home run of the year, a solo shot over the Green
Monster in left field.
Boston then took the lead with four runs in the third with four straight hits
off Jays starter Mark Hendrickson. Doug Mirabelli's leadoff double was
followed by consecutive singles off the bats of Damian Jackson, Todd Walker and
Garciaparra, putting the Red Sox on top 3-1. Two outs later, Shea
Hillenbrand doubled to left-center field, plating two more runs and giving
Boston a 5-1 lead.
Just as it appeared as though the Red Sox would cruise to an easy victory, the
Blue Jays erupted for four runs of their own in the top of the fifth off Boston
starter Tim Wakefield. Orlando Hudson led off the inning with a triple to
deep right-center field and trotted home one out later on Shannon Stewart's
first home run of the year. Frank Catalanotto followed with a single and
Vernon Wells then crushed a hanging 1-1 knuckleball from Wakefield into the
Monster seats to tie the game.
The Red Sox broke the deadlock in their half of the fifth when Walker singled to
left and advanced to second on Stewart's fielding miscue. Two outs later,
Kevin Millar singled to center, scoring Walker and giving the Red Sox a lead
they wouldn't relinquish.
Boston blew the game open once and for all with five runs spread across the
seventh and eighth innings. Garciaparra's second home run of the game, a
solo shot, made it 7-5 in favor of Boston after the seventh and the Red Sox then
scored four more runs, all after two were out, in the eighth, on Walker's
RBI-single and Garciaparra's capping three-run blast--his third home run of the
contest.
The six runs batted in ties Garciaparra for the AL single game high thus far
this year with Bret Boone of the Mariners and A.J. Pierzynski of the
Twins. Guillen, in his three-HR game, drove in eight runs, which
represents the major league single game high to date this season.
The Red Sox have now reached double digits in hits 13 times in 16 games, easily
the best mark in the major leagues this season (three other clubs are tied for
second place with 10 instances of double digit hit totals) and have now reached
or exceeded 15 hits four times, which is tied for the major league lead.
4/18/2003, Tor03-Bos03, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Blue Jays 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 9 1 10 0 2003 Red Sox 1 0 4 0 1 0 1 4 x 11 15 1 6 0 Blue Jays AB R H BI AVG Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Stewart,Sh lf 5 1 1 2 .260 Jackson,D cf 5 1 1 0 .333 Catalanotto rf 5 1 2 0 .352 Walker,T 2b 5 3 3 2 .417 Wells,V cf 4 2 2 2 .293 Garciaparra ss 5 4 4 6 .352 Delgado,C 1b 4 0 2 1 .300 Ramirez,M lf 4 0 1 0 .365 Phelps,J dh 3 0 0 0 .343 Millar 1b 5 0 3 1 .352 Hinske 3b 5 0 0 0 .190 Hillenbrand 3b 3 0 1 2 .373 Wilson,T c 3 0 0 0 .258 Mueller ph 1 0 0 0 .370 Myers,G ph 1 0 1 0 .346 Ortiz,D dh 4 0 0 0 .259 Hudson,O 2b 3 1 1 0 .268 Nixon rf 4 1 1 0 .326 Bordick ss 4 0 0 0 .321 Mirabelli c 3 1 1 0 .455 37 5 9 5 Varitek ph 0 1 0 0 .318 39 11 15 11 Blue Jays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hendrickson L 1-2 6.0 9 6 5 0 4 77 55 7.71 Tam 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 19 12 11.05 Creek 0.2 2 3 3 1 1 25 13 9.53 Politte 0.1 1 1 1 0 0 12 8 5.06 8.0 15 11 10 1 6 133 88 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wakefield W 2-0 6.0 7 5 5 1 8 99 68 7.56 Fox,C H 2 1.0 1 0 0 2 1 24 9 1.42 Timlin H 3 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 17 11 3.86 Lyon 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 15 7 1.42 9.0 9 5 5 4 11 155 95 Tor: Myers,G batted for Wilson,T in the 8th Myers,G moved to c in the 8th Bos: Mueller batted for Hillenbrand in the 7th Mueller moved to 3b in the 8th Varitek batted for Mirabelli in the 8th Varitek moved to c in the 9th E-Stewart,Sh, Garciaparra. 2B-Catalanotto(3), Delgado,C 2(7), Myers,G(1), Hillenbrand(9), Mirabelli(3). 3B-Hudson,O(3). HR-Stewart,Sh(3), Wells,V(3), Garciaparra 3(4). RBI-Stewart,Sh 2(10), Wells,V 2(11), Delgado,C(11), Walker,T 2(8), Garciaparra 6(16), Millar(16), Hillenbrand 2(14). K-Stewart,Sh 2, Delgado,C, Phelps,J, Hinske, Wilson,T 2, Bordick 4, Jackson,D 2, Ramirez,M, Ortiz,D, Nixon, Mueller. BB-Wells,V, Delgado,C, Phelps,J, Hudson,O, Varitek. HBP-Phelps,J, Ramirez,M. PB-Mirabelli. HB-Politte, Lyon. GWRBI: Millar Temperature: 52, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 8 MPH. Attendance: 33,819 Game Time: 2:47