Indians Defeat Red Sox

Oct 14, 05:20 AM

Current Headlines: By Bob Dutton, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Oct. 14--BOSTON -- In the end, it was an old Fenway hero who did in the Boston Red Sox and allowed Cleveland to pull even in the American League Championship Series.

Trot Nixon's one-out looping pinch single in the 11th produced the go-ahead run early this morning and fueled a seven-run burst that produced a 13-6 victory that didn't end here until 1:36 a.m. Nixon spent the last 10 seasons with the Red Sox.

Nixon's single came against reliever Javier Lopez and opened the flood gates. Franklin Gutierrez capped the rally with a towering three-run homer.

The victory enabled the Indians to pull even at 1-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Reliever Tom Mastny got the victory after preserving a 6-6 tie when he retired the heart of the Boston order in the 10th inning: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell.

Eric Gagne was the loser. He retired the first hitter in the 11th before yielding a single to Grady Sizemore and a walk to Asdrubal Cabrera. Lopez replaced Gagne for a lefty-lefty matchup against Nixon.

The series failed for the second straight game to produce a projected pitchers' duel. Neither Boston's Curt Schilling nor Cleveland's Fausto Carmona survived five innings in their marquee matchup.

Schilling lasted just 4 2/3 innings for the second shortest outing of his 17-start postseason career. He went three innings in the 2004 ALCS opener against the Yankees.

Schilling gave up five runs, nine hits and a 3-1 lead before exiting with a 5-3 deficit and runners at first and second.

Carmona departed after yielding a leadoff single to Kevin Youkilis in the Boston fifth, done in by a rising pitch count as the Red Sox repeatedly refused to bite on his darting sinkers and sliders.

It was an approach the Royals should study.

The Red Sox then hammered reliever Rafael Perez; a two-run homer by Manny Ramirez that tied the game at 5-5, and a Green Monster mash by Mike Lowell for a 6-5 lead.

The Indians tied the game on Franklin Gutierrez's RBI ground-out in the sixth against reliever Manny Delcarmen.

That's how it stayed until the 11th inning.

The short outings by Schilling and Carmona mirrored the first-game struggles of Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia, who failed to match Boston's Josh Beckett in a matchup of Cy Young Award front-runners.

Beckett and the Red Sox breezed to a 10-3 victory Friday in the series opener.

The ALCS resumes Monday at Jacobs Field in Cleveland after a one-day break for travel. The teams will also play Tuesday and, if necessary, Thursday in Cleveland. The sixth and seventh games, if necessary, will be next weekend at Fenway Park.

The Indians, as they did in the opener, took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. This time, they got a leadoff double from Grady Sizemore, who bounced back from a zero-for-five flop in the opener.

Schilling retired the next two hitters, but Victor Martinez sliced a two-out RBI double off the Green Monster.

Carmona pitched around two one-out walks in the Boston first, but the Red Sox kept making him work and it paid in a three-run third inning.

Coco Crisp led off with a single through the right side and stole second. Dustin Pedroia drew a one-out walk, but Carmona stuck out Youkilis before David Ortiz extended the inning with an infield single off Carmona's glove.

The ball might have slipped through the infield overshift in any event. Either way, it was the 10th straight time that Ortiz reached safely this postseason, which matched an all-time record.

The bases were loaded, and Carmona seemed rattled.

Next came four straight balls to Ramirez, resulting in run-scoring walk. It was his third bases-loaded walk in two games. No other player has ever had more than one bases-loaded walk in a single postseason series.

It got worse for Carmona when Lowell punched a 1-2 offering into right for a two-run single and a 3-1 lead. Carmona finally ended a 39-pitch inning by retiring J.D. Drew on a grounder to second.

It all had Fenway rocking, but the Indians answered immediately. One-out singles in the fourth by Martinez and Ryan Garko preceded a three-run homer by Peralta.

It wasn't immediately certain that Peralta's drive to deep center was a homer. Crisp played the carom, and Garko was pushing Martinez to the plate as the ball came into the infield.

Finally, second-base umpire Paul Emmel signaled home run, and Peralta continued his circuit around the bases. The Indians led again, 4-3.

Sizemore's one-out homer in the fifth -- no doubt about that one; it landed in the Red Sox's bullpen -- extended Cleveland's lead to 5-3. Schilling failed to survive the inning after yielding two-out singles to Travis Hafner and Martinez.

Perez replaced Carmona in the Boston fifth with a Youkilis at first and induced a potential double-play grounder from Ortiz -- but Ortiz beat the relay.

That meant the Red Sox tied the score when Ramirez belted a homer to center field. It was Ramirez's 23rd career postseason homer, which broke a tie with former Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams for the most in history.

Lowell's homer on Perez's next pitch gave Boston a 6-5 lead.

Again, the Indians responded. Peralta opened the sixth with a walk against reliever Manny Delcarmen and raced to third on Kenny Lofton's single. Gutierrez's ground-out to short produced the tying run and knocked out Delcarmen.

To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com

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