Wednesday, May 08, 2002
Red Sox 9, Oakland 7
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Hours after he was suspended and fined for throwing his bat in a game last week, Trot Nixon answered with his best performance of the season. Nixon was 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a solo homer and two-run single, as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 9-7 on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Earlier in the day, he and teammate Frank Castillo were both suspended and fined for incidents in a contentious game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last Sunday. Both have appealed.
“It's happened before to players. There's nothing I can do about it,” he said. “My job is just to play baseball and not worry about those other things.”
With the score tied at 5 in the eighth, Jim Mecir (1-1) loaded the bases with no outs. After he walked Jose Offerman, Nomar Garciaparra doubled and Manny Ramirez was intentionally walked.
Brian Daubach hit a grounder that shortstop Miguel Tejada fielded and perfectly hurled to catcher Ramon Hernandez, who bobbled it for an error as Offerman scored the go-ahead run.
One out later, Jason Varitek's grounder scored Ramirez before Nixon's two-run single up the middle.
Hernandez said he just missed Tejada's throw.
“There's really no excuse,” he said.
Rolando Arrojo (2-0) went 2 2-3 relief innings and allowed one hit for the win. Ugueth Urbina allowed Eric Chavez's RBI single and Terrence Long's sacrifice fly in the ninth before finishing for his 12th save.
Boston starter Pedro Martinez had not allowed a run on the road this season until Hernandez's RBI single in the second. The three-time Cy Young winner had won all three of his previous road starts.
“This is the best I've felt,” Martinez said. “I thought I had a good game even though the results weren't there.
Chavez's home run off Martinez in the fifth capped a four-run rally that put the A's up 5-3.
But Nixon hit a solo homer and Garciaparra added an RBI single in the sixth to tie it at 5.
The Red Sox went up 1-0 in the first. Former Athletic Johnny Damon singled to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games, then scored on Ramirez's infield grounder.
The A's tied it in the second when Hernandez's bloop single to right scored Tejada.
Nixon's single down the left-field line scored Daubach in the fourth, and Garciaparra doubled, then scored on Ramirez's single in the fifth as the Red Sox took a 3-1 lead.
The A's went ahead 5-3 in the bottom half of the fifth. After Jeremy Giambi singled, Randy Velarde's grounder to third was mishandled by Shea Hillenbrand for an error.
Giambi scored on David Justice's grounder, which went off Hillenbrand's glove for another error. Velarde scored on Jermaine Dye's sacrifice to left before Chavez hit his 10th homer. The homer snapped an 0-for-23 streak, the longest hitless drought of Chavez's career.
“One game's not an indication of anything at this point,” he said when asked if he's back on track. “I just wish we would have won.”
Martinez allowed five runs — one earned — on seven hits over 4 1-3 innings. He struck out five.
A's starter Cory Lidle allowed five runs on nine hits over five innings.
Justice, bothered in recent weeks by a right groin injury, left after the fifth. Chavez moved from third to left field for his first appearance in the outfield as a pro. Frank Menechino came in to play third.
Notes: The A's lead the majors with 47 homers. ... Castillo was suspended for five games for hitting a batter and Nixon was suspended for four games for throwing his bat at a pitcher last Sunday against Tampa Bay. ... LHP Barry Zito agreed to a four-year contract extension Tuesday, keeping him in Oakland through 2005 with a club option for 2006. Zito, 23, is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in his third major league season. ... The A's activated IF Mario Valdez from the disabled list and designated him for assignment. The A's have 10 days to outright, trade or release Valdez, who had a right calf strain. Valdez batted .278 with one homer and eight RBIs in 32 games with Oakland last season.
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Red Sox 9, Oakland 7 
