By MARC TOPKIN, Times wires
Published October 6, 2003
The Red Sox obviously are plenty confident to have ace Pedro Martinez on the mound for the fifth and final game tonight.
The A's feel pretty good about having Barry Zito on their side in what has the potential to be a classic matchup of Cy Young Award winners.
"We have the best left-hander in baseball going against probably the best right-hander," Oakland's Tim Hudson said. "I'd take Barry Zito over Pedro Martinez any day."
Zito basically dominated the Red Sox on Thursday in Game 2, allowing five hits and one run over seven innings while relying on a dominating curveball to strike out nine. But he will be pitching on three days' rest rather than four.
"He'd be our choice and I'm sure Pedro would be their choice and it would be our choice to play in Oakland, and that's where we're going," A's GM Billy Beane said.
Martinez allowed three runs in seven innings of Game 1 and will be pitching on normal rest.
"It's a great feeling," Boston's Todd Walker said. "We've got our best on the mound and that's what we wanted, but they don't have a slouch on the mound either."
CLUTCH HIT: David Ortiz came up with more big hits than any Red Sox during a season when they won a major-league-high 23 games in their last at-bat. Just because he was hitless in his first 16 at-bats of this series, he said he never lost confidence.
"I don't think I was struggling, I'm just not hitting the ball where I want," Ortiz said. "As everybody knows, we faced the best pitching in the American League and they make good pitches. ... If I was struggling, I don't think I would have had the hit to win the game. Don't give up on me people, come on."
HUDSON HURT: The A's were counting on a good game from Tim Hudson. They got one good inning before he left with a left oblique strain. Hudson felt discomfort on his last pitch of the first inning, and it took only two light warmups tosses and one hard one before the second for him to realize he couldn't continue. Hudson's availability for the league championship series, should the A's advance, is uncertain. He will have an MRI exam today.
SUN FIELD: Oakland rightfielder Jermaine Dye didn't exactly make an excuse for not catching Ortiz's double in the eighth, but he came close. "Nobody would have caught that ball," Dye said. "When it was hit you know the wind is going to take it, and it goes in and out of sun, you basically just turn around and hope it bounces off the wall."
REST FOR YANKEES: New York gets two days off to rest before Game 1 of the ALCS, while the Red Sox and Athletics play a decisive Game 5 tonight after making a cross-country trip to Oakland.
With Martinez and Zito pitching, neither ace would be ready to face the Yankees on Wednesday.
"When you get to the postseason the adrenaline gets you over that stuff," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
TWINS' BATS SILENT: Minnesota batted .198 for the series against the Yankees, just .091 (2-for-22) with runners in scoring position.
"We got ourselves out more than they got us out," Corey Koskie said. "I'm disappointed in my postseason. I'm sure a lot of other guys are, too."
Leadoff man Shannon Stewart (.400) and Torii Hunter (.429), who was moved to the cleanup spot, were the only ones who hit the ball much in the series.
Stewart, who is eligible for free agency, made two tremendous catches. In the sixth he stole a two-run homer from Derek Jeter at the leftfield wall. In the eighth he reached out to take an extra-base hit from Nick Johnson, throwing to second to double up Juan Rivera.
MISCELLANY: Key Oakland hitters Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada are a combined 2-for-37 in the series with one RBI. ... Sox relievers pitched 72/3 scoreless innings in the two Boston games. ... Walker has three homers in the series. ... All six Boston homers have been hit by left-handers. ... Minnesota's 88-year-old owner, Carl Pohlad, threw out the first pitch with help from his sons. Pohlad arrived on a golf cart and tossed the ball about 40 feet from the plate.
