The Futility Infielder

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, which is why the Boston Red Sox are now down 2-0 in the best-of-seven ALCS against the Yankees. As well as Pedro Martinez battled for his first 100 pitches to Yankee hitters, and as documented as his tendency is to run out of steam past that point, Boston manager Terry Francona chose to tempt fate by leaving in Martinez, and trouble ensued. Patrilineage was established, much to the catcalling Bronx crowd's delight; the Yankees truly are Pedro Martinez's daddy after all.

Having allowed only one run -- that before he'd gotten a single out in the first inning -- and three hits, Martinez had pitched admirably for five frames. He consistently reached a mid-90s velocity he hadn't shown the Yankees in ages, making his devastating changeup all the more effective. But the Yanks followed their usual strategy against Martinez, waiting him out, elevating his pitch count, forcing him to throw 46 pitches in the first two innings. By the beginning of the sixth, Pedro had thrown 91 pitches, and while he retired Bernie Williams to open the inning, it was on a full count. Tick, tick, tick.

Pitch 100 took Pedro to 3-0 against Jorge Posada, and two pitches later, Posada had drawn a walk, the Yankees' fourth on the night. Still, not a creature was stirring in the Boston bullpen. Martinez worked John Olerud to a 1-2 count, but Olerud ripped pitch 106 into the rightfield stands for a game-breaking two-run homer (he even removed his trademark helmet during a well-deserved curtain call). It was reminiscent of Martinez's outing at Fenway against the Yankees on September 24th, when he took a 4-3 lead into the eight inning having thrown 101 pitches. Pitch 103 was a game-tying homer to Hideki Matsui, pitch 109 a ground-rule double to Bernie Williams, and pitch 117 an RBI single by Ruben Sierra. It was even more reminiscent, of course, of Game Seven of last year's LCS, when Grady Little's similarly slow hook once Martinez's pitch count reached triple digits cost the Sox a 5-2 lead and a trip to the World Series and the manager his job. Red Sox Nation, if not GM Theo Epstein, may well begin building Francona a gallows.

Martinez's effort might well have been enough despite Olerud's homer were it not for the fact that he was outpitched by Jon Lieber. The Yankee starter, who flirted with a no-hitter the last time the two pitchers squared off (oops, wrong -- see comments), breezed through the first five innings on 45 pitches and took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning at 79 pitches, 16 of them in an epic battle with Johnny Damon in the sixth which ended with Damon lining out to Williams in right-centerfield.

No sooner had Lieber yielded a leadoff single to Trot Nixon than he was replaced by Tom Gordon. Flash proved hittable, yielding a double to Jason Varitek and a run-scoring groundout to Orlando Cabrera, but Joe Torre's refusal to be burdened by a fixation on his starter played to the Yankees' advantage. Time and again, the Yanks have beaten their October opponents because Torre is thinking several moves ahead while his opposite number, apparently, is not.

Not that Boston went quietly, mind you. Trailing 3-1 in the ninth and facing Mariano Rivera, who'd gotten the final out of the eighth with Varitek still on base, Boston again brought the tying run to the plate after a one-out double by Manny Ramirez. Fearsome David Ortiz went down swinging on three pitches, Kevin Millar struck out as well, and suddenly the Yanks have a 2-0 lead in a series many, myself included, expected them to lose.

At the outset of the series, on paper it looked as though the Sox 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation might prove decisively advantageous. But Martinez and Curt Schilling -- who may be done for the series -- have combined to allow 9 runs in 9 innings, while Lieber and Game One starter Mike Mussina have yielded 5 runs in 13.2 innings. Looked at from a slightly different angle, the tally is even more impressive than that for the Yanks; in innings 1-6, the two starters have shut out the majors' most potent offense on one hit.

The Sox now face long odds -- the last 13 teams to go down 2-0 in an LCS have lost -- and an uncomfortable off-day before sending Bronson Arroyo to face Kevin Brown. Arroyo pitched well against the Yankees this year in two Bronx outings (6 innings, 2 runs both times), but he was roughed up by the Bombers in Fenway for a total of 10 runs in 12 innings. In fact, Arroyo didn't pitch all that well in Boston, period. He went 3-5 with a 5.35 ERA at Fenway while posting a 7-4, 3.06 ERA record on the road.

Brown was lit up like a Christmas tree the last time he pitched in Fenway, failing to make it out of the first inning in his comeback from stupidity and a broken hand. But he's put two solid outings under his belt since then, and with a chance to put the Yanks up 3-0 he's likely to be his usually ornery self.

While unbridled optimism is uncalled for -- it ain't over, not against these Sox, not even if Schilling is as cooked as a Thanksgiving turkey -- the Yankees and their fans have to like their position. As Derek Jeter pointed out in a postgame interview, this is the best-case scenario the Yanks could conjure as they depart for Boston. If they can pinpoint a concern beyond the fragility of aged starters Brown and Orlando Hernandez, who's on track to start Game Four and pitch for the first time in over two weeks, it's the performance of Tom Gordon.

In five postseason appearances totalling five innings, the team's top setup man has given up six hits -- including two doubles and a triple -- and four runs. While the cork that hit him in the eye during the Divisional Series victory celebration is no longer a factor, Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll notes that Gordon is "short-arming his famous curveball, leaving it more of a slider/slurve than the feared hammer." Translation: his mechanics are a bit off, and they're affecting the movement of his out pitch. Flash's ineffectiveness in this series has twice required Rivera to get the final out of the eighth inning with the tying run either at bat or on base. That's Mo's job, particularly in October, but a little help for the biggest cog in the team's postseason machine would come in handy.