If the Yankees do indeed go onto win this series, Wednesday night will prove to be the turning point. Granted, the supposed difference in the series, Red Sox ace Curt Schilling, was bounced prematurely from Game 1, and ultimately tagged with the loss ... but Boston could have rebounded nicely with a win Wednesday night.
And they had the pitcher to do it. Sure, Pedro Martinez has struggled against the Bronx Bombers, but in a big game, would you rather have Pedro or Jon Lieber pitching for you? Well, I guess I already know the answer to that now, too.
The first inning began most auspiciously. After a 1-2-3 top to the inning, Pedro walked Derek Jeter on four pitches. Jeter should have been erased on a stolen base, but Mark Bellhorn dropped the ball, both literally and figuratively, rewarding the Yankee captain with second base.
This kind of stuff always seems to happen for the Yankees and against the Red Sox, and the 26-time World Champs capitalize virtually every time. And once Gary Sheffield's single dropped in front of Johnny Damon to score Mr. November, the 56,000 plus got a chance to use the "Who's Your Daddy?" chant they had been practicing right up until the National Anthem.
It was pretty amazing, the crowd that is. It was almost rhythmic the way they chanted, "Who's Your Daddy?" They also had some "Pedro" chants, along with "Boston sucks," "Manny sucks," and a few stragglers who chanted "Potvin sucks." (How can you not love blue seat Rangers fans?)
Even though it was only a single run margin, the stadium was rocking confidently. And why shouldn't it be? In the 10 innings that had been played thus far, the Yankees never once trailed, which would continue through the evening.
Lieber would not relinquish the lead, pitching brilliantly and erasing the doubters (present company included), rekindling the spirit of Andy Pettitte, who had delivered time and again in Game 2's over the years.
Pedro was equally tough. His movement was good, his command was fair, but his velocity was excellent, evidenced by the 97 mph fastball he registered early in the game.
The last couple times the Yankees faced Pedro, they were aggressive. They weren't worried about driving up Pedro's pitch count. What did concern them was the fear of letting a good pitch pass by, and not getting another. So the Yanks' recent philosophy against Pedro was to swing early and often.
Last night's approach was the exact opposite, but very effective. Displaying some of the characteristics of the 1996-2001 teams, the Yankees worked Pedro in every single at-bat. By the sixth inning, Pedro's pitch count was at 100, yet there was no movement in the bullpen, even after a walk to Jorge Posada.
And everyone in Boston knows when Pedro's pitch count exceeds the century mark, trouble looms. Sure enough, his 106th pitch was yanked over the short porch in right by John Olerud for a two-run homer, making it 3-0, Yankees, after six.
That was a crushing blow to the Red Sox Nation. It was time to accept that Mike Mussina and Lieber had out-dueled Schilling and Pedro. It was time to realize the biggest advantage the Sox held in this series had evaporated in two games. And it was time to mute the television sets, because the "Who's Your Daddy?" chants sounded a million times worse than any chalk on the blackboard.
As was the case the previous night, the Sox were able to touch up Tom Gordon in the eighth inning, but just like Game 1, Mariano Rivera was there to slam the door shut on any possible game-tying rally.
Make no mistake about it, Rivera, and not the bullpen, is the Yankees' biggest advantage. Boston's bullpen is outperforming New York's with one exception, the Sandman. Mariano could be the greatest postseason pitcher ever (although Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax might beg to differ), but he is at the very least far and away the best pitcher in this series.
On two consecutive nights, Rivera has entered with a runner on third and two outs, and he has stranded them each time. Throw in two scoreless ninth innings as well, and it's easy to see why a reliever can be the difference-maker in seven-game series.
Things didn't sound much better after the game, either. Pedro didn't call the Yankees his daddy, but he did mention something about sitting under a mango tree 15 years ago in the Dominican Republic without a penny to his name, and now he is the center of attention in this series.
I guess he was attempting to show how far he had come in his life, although I'm not sure what that has to do with winning a game. It's a great story, but Red Sox fans aren't paying his exorbitant salary to wax poetically about a childhood innocence lost.
This was a must-have game for the Sox, and Pedro couldn't get past the sixth. Mariano buries two of his relatives ... in Central America, then arrives at the game in the second inning, and performs spectacularly the very same night.
I don't know why it works out the way it does. Management is different, the players are different, heck, the game is different, but the Red Sox remain unchanged. Maybe there really is a curse, as dumb, naïve, and simple-minded as that sounds. Or maybe Vegas and the prognosticators were wrong, and the Yankees really are the better team.
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