Garciaparra makes up for error with four hits
Garciaparra makes up for error with four hits
By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
October 15, 2003
AP - Oct 15, 9:05 pm EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Nomar Garciaparra came back to the dugout after a
costly fourth-inning error, he didn't need to be told how to make up for
it.
``You could see it in his eyes that he wasn't going to let that be the
difference in the game,'' infielder Lou Merloni said. ``We had a lot of
guys in there really just struggling. Great, great hitters -- they were
pressing. ... But great players respond.''
Garciaparra picked the perfect moment to snap out of his slump, atoning
for his fielding error with four hits Wednesday as Boston beat the New
York Yankees 9-6 to avoid elimination and force the AL championship series
to a decisive seventh game.
``A superstar in a slump is still a superstar,'' Red Sox general manager
Theo Epstein said in the clubhouse after the game. ``We knew he would break
out of it in a big way, and he did -- just in time.''
Garciaparra was in the chase for a third AL batting title with a .326
average on Aug. 30 before he went into a six-week slump. The Red Sox managed
to survive his .170 September average, and they even held on while he went
without an RBI in the first nine games of the playoffs.
The theories about his struggles were nothing short of wacky: Maybe he was
worried about his upcoming wedding to soccer star Mia Hamm; maybe it was
because he hadn't joined in the team-bonding spirit and shaved his head.
As the slump continued through the playoffs, manager Grady Little remained
confident that Garciaparra would come around. He refused to drop him from
the No. 3 spot in the batting order, saying it was just a matter of time
before he snapped out of it.
``This guy is capable of doing this any day he steps on the field,'' said
Little, who was a Boston bench coach when Garciaparra had four hits in the
1999 ALCS against the Yankees. ``You know it's going to happen sooner or
later, and tonight it happened.''
When Garciaparra flubbed Karim Garcia's grounder in the fourth inning,
though, it seemed that Boston had run out of time. Alfonso Soriano followed
with a two-run double that gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead, chased John Burkett
and forced the Red Sox to turn the game over to their shaky bullpen.
But Garciaparra singled in the fifth and added a ``little-league homer'' in
the seventh, tripling and scoring when left fielder Hideki Matsui's throw
sailed into the stands. The Red Sox scored twice more in the inning to take
a 7-6 lead they never relinquished.
Garciaparra, who was hitless in his 11 at-bats coming into the game, also
singled to lead off the eighth as Boston, which had one of the most potent
offenses in baseball history during the season, broke out with playoff-highs
of 16 hits and nine runs.
``I get a lot of confidence and support from my teammates. Just like, 'Hey,
go out there and keep doing what you're doing,''' he said. ``When you see
the runs and everything we've done, that's a total team effort.''
Garciaparra, Kevin Millar and regular-season batting champ Bill Mueller had
just seven hits in the series coming into the game, and nine more on Tuesday.
David Ortiz also had two hits for Boston.
``We've been waiting ever since the playoffs started to get the line moving,
get some baserunners, get some base hits in an inning,'' Little said. ``They
started coming right there.''
Garciaparra had just two hits in the first five games of the ALCS, and he was
batting just .205 in the playoffs overall. He didn't record his first RBI of
the 2003 postseason until Tuesday, and it came on a groundout.
``He's one of the biggest reasons we're here,'' Boston pitcher Derek Lowe
said. ``It would be foolish if we got down on him.''
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