Game 4 - October 10, 1999
Boston 23, Cleveland 7
It rained all day Sunday in Boston, but the mood outside Fenway before Game 4 was upbeat. Fans carried signs that read "No Pedro, No Nomar, No Problem," "Babe Ruth R.I.P," and "Fenway Park: Home of the 1999 World Series." Before the gates opened, we learned from a fan with a Walkman that Nomar, who had been scratched from the lineup earlier in the day, would be able to play. As the crowd began to fill the stands, Derek Lowe and Rheal Cormier came out to make a couple of tosses. They received a standing ovation, as did the grounds crew when they removed the tarp from the infield (with assistance from Lowe!) As the game started, the intensity of the crowd rose to a fever pitch. We cheered every ball and strike for the whole game. We rose to our feet any time a pitcher had two strikes on a batter, whether it was Kent Mercker, Rich Garces, Rheal Cormier, or any of the other pitchers, six in all, that entered for the Sox. Mercker struggled in the first, allowing Cleveland to take the
early lead. Luckily, the Tribe started ace pitcher Bartolo Colon on three days' rest, and he was also ineffective. He walked Jose Offerman to open the inning, and John Valentin followed with a homer into the screen atop the Green Monster to take a 2-1 lead. After the Indians tied the score at 2 in the second, Rich Garces came on in relief. In the bottom of the second, the Sox pounded out five straight hits to start the inning. Offerman's two-run homer drove in the fifth run of the inning and drove Colon from the game. Garces shut down the Indians' offense and the Sox' explosion continued, and at the end of four innings, the score was 15-2. The fifth inning was a bit of a struggle, as Garces, Tim Wakefield, and John Wasdin combined to give up four runs while only recording one out. Rheal Cormier entered the game, and struck out two batters to get out of the inning. He pitched well through the eighth, and Tom Gordon came on for the ninth. The Red Sox continued scoring. Valentin continued to atone for his two
costly errors earlier in the series, blasting another homer high over the Wall, and hitting a bases-loaded double, to drive in a record 7 runs. Mike Stanley went 5-6, as he ran from first to third on a single, beat out an infield hit, and then hit a triple. Jason Varitek's 3-run homer broke the game open and contributed to his record-setting five runs scored. When the game was over, we had finished with 23 runs and 24 hits. Both are new records for a postseason game. All the major league records that were tied or broken that night are listed below:
Postseason Team Records
Most runs - 23, Boston
Most hits - 24, Boston
Most at-bats - 48, Boston
Most total bases - 44, Boston
Most lopsided victory - 16 runs; Boston 23, Cleveland 7
Most combined runs - 30; Boston 23, Cleveland 7
Most extra-base hits - 12, Boston
Most combined hits (tie) - 32; Boston 24, Cleveland 8
Postseason Individual Records
Most runs scored - 5; Jason Varitek, Boston
Most earned runs allowed - 8; Steve Reed, Cleveland
Most RBI (tie) - 7; John Valentin, Boston
Most hits (tie) - 5; Mike Stanley, Boston
Division Series Records
Most total bases - 11; John Valentin, Boston
Consecutive innings scoring - 7, Boston
Most team home runs (tie) - 4, Boston
Most team doubles (tie) - 6, Boston
But the most important thing about Game 4 was that our victory forced a Game 5. The series moved back to Cleveland for the fifth and deciding game!
Game 5 - October 11, 1999
Boston 12, Cleveland 8
Game 5 got off to a good start. Nomar homered in the first inning with Brian Daubach aboard, to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Bret Saberhagen made his second start of the series and was again uncharacteristically wild. He gave up a three-run homer to Jim Thome in the first, and a two-run homer to Travis Fryman before recording any outs in the second. Just like that, the Sox were down, 5-2. Derek Lowe came on in relief to get out of the inning. In the third, Boston got a run back on a walk, a hit, and a fielder's choice. Daubach doubled, and there were runners at second and third with only one out and Nomar stepping to the plate. But he was intentionally walked, loading the bases for Troy O'Leary. He had not had much offensive success against the Indians, but he hit the first pitch into the stands for a grand slam! The Sox took the lead, 7-5. However, in the Cleveland half of the third, Jim Thome hit his second home run of the night, and before we knew it the Tribe was back on top, 8-7.
Luckily, Boston tied it back up, 8-8, in the top of the fourth, chasing Cleveland starter Charles Nagy in the process. It looked to be a long night, as each team slugged it out against the other's bullpen. But then in the bottom of the fourth, Pedro Martinez, aching back and all, came in to pitch. He had thrown only a few warm-up tosses before declaring himself fit to come in, and the club only expected an inning or two from him. But he gave a wonderful performance, shutting down the Indians' offense completely. The teams matched goose-eggs through the sixth. But in the seventh, the Red Sox threatened, getting John Valentin on second with one out. Indians manager Mike Hargrove tried a strategy he had used before. He intentionally walked Nomar, and once again Troy O'Leary followed with a home run! He gave Boston an 11-8 lead and tied the Division Series RBI record of 7, which had been tied the night before by Valentin. The Sox tacked on another run in the ninth, and Pedro finished the game, holding the
Indians hitless and striking out eight in his six innings of emergency relief work! He was carried off the field by his teammates as the Red Sox were able to celebrate winning a postseason series for the first time since 1986!