Pedro pushes '99 Sahx by '77 Rangers

Game 1: 77 Texas 3-1

WP: Bert Blyleven (1-0)

LP: Pedro Martinez (0-1)

HR: Bert Campaneris (1)

Texas got to Pedro Martinez (7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 10 K), early with a run in the 1st and 2 in the 3rd, then rode the strong arm of Bert Blyleven to a 3-1 game 1 victory. Blyleven (9 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 7 K) was in command all day allowing only back to back hits to John Valentin and Nomar Garciaparra in the 6th inning. Bert Camapneris hit a 2 run homer off Pedro to lead the Texas offense.

Game 2: 99 Boston 2-1

WP: Rod Beck (1-0)

LP: Gaylord Perry (0-1)

SV: Derek Lowe (1)

HR: none

Gaylord Perry (8 IP, 4 H, 2 R), was darn good for the Rangers but Bret Saberhagen and 2 delivers were just a little better as Boston evened up the series. Sabes held the Rangers to 2 hits over his 7 innings but left with his team trailing 1-0. The Red Sox bats finally woke up with 3 hits to start the bottom of the 8th lead by a double by Troy O'Leary and an RBI single by Darren Lewis. The eventual winning run scored on a Perry wild pitch allowing Trot Nixon to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Rod Beck and Derek Lowe were perfect over the final 2 innings to pick up the win and save for the Sox.

Game 3: 77 Texas 7-3

WP: Doc Ellis (1-0)

LP: Ramon Martinez (0-1)

HR: Brian Daubach (1)

In what seemed like arcade game offense for this series, Texas used 3 runs in the 2nd and 4 in the 7th to power their way to a 2-1 advantage in the series. Ramon Martinez was pulled in the 2nd after suffering an injury and Doc Ellis (8.1 IP, 3 R) kept the Sox bats from rallying despite Boston putting runners on in several innings. Offensively, Texas was paced by Toby Harrah (3-3, 2 R, 1 Rbi) and Willie Horton (2 Rbi).

Game 4: 99 Boston 2-1

WP: Kent Mercker (1-0)

LP: Doyle Alexander (0-1)

SV: Derek Lowe (2)

HR: Brian Daubach (2), Jim Sundberg (1)

With their back against the wall, and knowing they had Pedro Martinez waiting to start a

game 5, the Red Sox turned to Kent Mercker in game 4. and Mercker responded with 7 strong shut out innings holding the Rangers to 2 hits and a walk over that time. Doyle Alexander almost matched Mercker but was touched for a run in the 2nd via a Brian Daubach bomb before departing in the 7th trailing 1-0. Boston added an insurance run in the 8th when Jason Varitek walked with 2 outs and eventually scored on a Troy O'Leary single. That run would prove valuable as Texas got to reliever Tom Gordon with a lead off Jim Sundberg home run to cut the lead to 1. But Gordon settled down and Derek Lowe got the last 5 outs to save the win for Mercker and force a game 5.

Game 5: 99 Boston 3-0

WP: Pedro Martinez (1-1)

LP: Bert Blyleven (1-1)

SV: Derek Lowe (3)

HR: Troy O'Leary (1)

Pedro Martinez did not disappoint his home crowd in this big game. Pedro was absolutely dominant over his 8 innings. After allowing a lead off walk, Martinez (8ip, 1 H, 11k), allowed a lone Claudell Washington double to the Ranger lineup that seemed overmatched throughout. Troy O'Leary belted a 3 run homer in the 2nd of tough luck loser Blyleven (8 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 6 K) to provide Boston with all the offense it would need. Derek Lowe closed out his 3rd game of the series with a 1-2-3 9th needing only 9 pitches to close out the series.

--submitted by Peter Daly--