| | BOSTON -- A routine throw ticked off first baseman Mike
Stanley's mitt. A potential double-play grounder rolled to the
wrong spot, second baseman Jose Offerman's glove.
And the Boston Red Sox season trickled away in a record-breaking
display of fielding futility.
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BUMBLING SOX
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The Red Sox set an LCS record with 10 errors. Let's review:
Game 1: Nomar Garciaparra made two throwing errors and Jason Varitek dropped a foul pop but none of the errors factored in New York's 4-3 win. However, the Yankees tied the game in the seventh inning when Derek Jeter singled in Scott Brosius. Trot Nixon's strong throw from right was in plenty of time, but Varitek couldn't handle the throw. No error was charged on the play.
Game 2: The Red Sox made no errors in New York's 3-2 win.
Game 3: Garciaparra's error didn't lead to any runs as Boston won 13-1.
Game 4: The Red Sox made four errors in their 9-2 loss, leading to three unearned runs. The biggest came in the fourth when the Yankees took a 3-2 lead with two unearned. Bret Saberhagen dropped a throw while covering first base. In the ninth, second baseman Jose Offerman's throwing error helped lead to a six-run outburst.
Game 5: Two errors in the seventh led to two unearned runs, stretching New York's lead to 4-2. First baseman Mike Stanley dropped a throw from Garciaparra and Offerman booted a grounder.
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"It's a situation where they weren't mental mistakes," Boston
center fielder Darren Lewis said. "They're just physical mistakes.
Nobody tries to do that. They just happened at the wrong time."
The Red Sox might have been eliminated anyway Monday night. New
York pitcher Orlando Hernandez was that strong. But the Yankees got
help from Boston's weak fielding for the second straight night.
The Red Sox committed four errors in Sunday night's 9-2 loss and
two in Monday night's 6-1 setback that gave the Yankees a 4-1
victory in the best-of-7 AL Championship Series.
"When you start giving a team three or four extra outs a game,
it can come back to bite you and it did," Red Sox reliever Derek
Lowe said.
Boston's 10 errors set a record for an LCS of any length. Nomar
Garciaparra, who committed two errors on Sunday, ended the series
one short of the ALCS record for shortstops of five errors set by
Boston's Spike Owen in 1986.
On Monday, Boston had a decent shot at a comeback in the finale
as it trailed 2-0 through six innings. But the Red Sox had the AL's
third-worst fielding percentage this season and it was easy to see why in
the seventh inning when two errors led to two runs.
It seemed the parka-clad fans made better use of their gloves on
a chilly October night at windy Fenway Park.
With one out in the seventh, Garciaparra cleanly fielded Derek
Jeter's grounder. The throw was on target, but Stanley muffed it.
Instead of two outs and no runners, Jeter was on second with one
out.
Paul O'Neill's single sent Jeter to third and a walk to Bernie
Williams loaded the bases. Chili Davis then hit the grounder to
Offerman.
Had there been two outs, he could have thrown to Stanley to end
the inning. With only one out, he still could have ended the threat
by throwing to Garciaparra to start a double play. But Offerman
never caught the ball.
Jeter scored on that play and O'Neill scored on Tino Martinez's
single that made it 4-0.
It was just one inning of ineptitude, but it was costly. Just
like Boston's fielding problems in the ninth inning of Game 4
allowed New York to pull away.
The Yankees led 3-2 going into that inning. But errors by
Offerman and Lewis, one of baseball's best fielding outfielders,
contributed to a sixth-run ninth in which pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee
capitalized with a grand slam.
"You can't take credit away from them for coming up with the
big hits," Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said.
The Yankees scored two other runs in the fourth when
Garciaparra, who had a career-low 17 errors this season, and
starting pitcher Bret Saberhagen made errors.
In the last two games, New York scored 13 runs but only three in
innings in which the Red Sox made no errors. The Yankees committed
five errors but they weren't nearly as costly.
"It seemed when they made a few errors they got out of the
situation," Saberhagen said. "When we made a few errors, we
didn't."
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ALSO SEE
Yankees vs. Red Sox series page
El Duque closes out Red Sox in 6-1 victory
Red Sox don't lose, they tease
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