Thursday, May 09, 2002
Red Sox 12, Athletics 6
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Casey Fossum could only shake his head. Carlos Pena got a good chuckle out of it. The streaking Boston Red Sox won their season-high eighth straight game while a streaker of another sort briefly delayed their 12-6 victory Wednesday night over the Oakland Athletics.
A naked man ran onto the field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The fan streaked from the third-base seats to right field, where he was apprehended by a half-dozen security officers as players on both teams laughed.
“Oh my goodness, only in California!” said a smiling Fossum, who was on the mound when the streaker made his move. “I've seen it once before in Anaheim.”
Pena, who had a full count, was batting at the time.
“That was a good one,” he said. “I got a real laugh out of it. You don't like seeing that at a game, but it was still pretty funny.”
Red Sox manager Grady Little recalled seeing a similar thing in Oakland in 1999.
“I remember Derek Lowe was on the mound and Mike Stanley was playing first,” said Boston manager Grady Little. “Tonight was another long game of good baseball topped off by a little entertainment there at the end. The security here is a little more fleet of foot than at Fenway. They may not have caught him at Fenway.”
Security officials at the Coliseum said this streaker, whom they did not identify, was taken away in handcuffs and would spend the night locked up.
There have been other cases in recent years of naked fans on major league fields. It happened in Kansas City and at Wrigley Field in 2000.
Jason Varitek homered and drove in five runs and Nomar Garciaparra drove in four runs as the Red Sox improved to 16-2 on the road, the best such start in the majors since the Detroit Tigers began 17-0 in 1984.
The Red Sox finished with a season-high 19 hits.
John Burkett (3-0), off to his best start in 10 years, allowed three runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
“Right now it feels as good as it gets,” said Burkett. “I was a little erratic maybe because of the long innings, but I'll take it. I got a little out of synch, but Jason got me through it. He did it all tonight.”
Jeremy Giambi and Miguel Tejada homered for the A's, who have lost six of eight.
Boston's Johnny Damon tripled in the seventh inning to extend his career-high hitting streak to 18 games, matching Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko for the longest such streak in the majors this season. It's also Boston's longest hitting streak since Garciaparra hit in 20 consecutive during the 2000 season.
Varitek gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead in the second with his third homer of the season. He hit a 3-2 pitch from Eric Hiljus (3-2) into the right-field bleachers.
“I've been trying to get comfortable swinging the bat and I had some good at bats today,” said Varitek. I made a little adjustment and I've been able to get more work in.”
Tejada's sixth homer of the year, a two-run shot over the left field scoreboard, closed the gap to 3-2 in the second.
Boston sent 12 batters to the plate during a seven-run third. Varitek's two-run single and Garciaparra's three-run double highlighted the rally. Rickey Henderson and Tony Clark also drove in runs.
Garciaparra's infield grounder in the seventh added another run.
Henderson's RBI double in the eighth was career hit 3,011, putting him in sole possession of 22nd place on the all-time list ahead of Wade Boggs. It was also his 505th double, tying him with Tony Perez for 33rd on the all-time list.
Hiljus, who won his last three decisions, allowed eight runs on six hits and four walks over 2 1-3 innings.
“That was the most confident I've felt in the bullpen all year,” said Hiljus. “It fell apart for me in the first inning. I couldn't adjust.”
Shea Hillenbrand singled three times and scored twice for the Red Sox.
Eric Byrnes hit a two-run triple and Olmedo Saenz doubled home a run in the eighth for the A's.
Notes: A's OF David Justice went on the DL before the game with a right groin strain. ... Byrnes was recalled from Sacramento of the PCL. ... Henderson needs three RBIs for 1,100 in his career. ... Red Sox 2B Rey Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Boston became the third AL franchise with 8,000 wins. ... A's starters are 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA over their past eight games. ... Damon is hitting .469 (15-for-32) after the sixth inning. ... Burkett started 7-0 with the San Francisco Giants in 1993 en route to a 22-7 season. ... Boston's Trot Nixon walked a career-high four times. ... Varitek had a seven RBI game on May 20, 2001 at Kansas City. ... A's 1B Carlos Pena ended his 0-for-19 slump with a single in the ninth. ... The Red Sox won 10 straight in July 1993. ... Red Sox pitchers retired 13 straight at one point.
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Red Sox 12, Athletics 6
