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 Win some, lose some Red Sox top Indians but lose Saberhagen to injury
Posted: Saturday April 24, 1999 06:36 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox snapped their three-game skid Saturday, but the talk after the game centered on the health of starter Bret Saberhagen. Nomar Garciaparra's RBI single broke a tie in the sixth inning and Boston beat the Cleveland Indians 9-4 despite losing Saberhagen to a shoulder injury. Saberhagen, who missed 15 months with a bad right shoulder in 1996-97, left the game with stiffness in his shoulder after throwing two warm up pitches before the fifth inning. "We got him out of there at the right time," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said. After his last start, Saberhagen said it was the first time he had felt no pain in the shoulder since the surgery. Saberhagen gave up one run on six hits and struck out three in four innings. "I overthrew in the third inning trying to get outs," Saberhagen said. "It's the same spot as spring training. I don't expect to miss any starts. "I don't like to pitch with sleeves, but I guess I'll have to. If I was younger, I would have thrown through it." Despite the early departure of Saberhagen, the Red Sox showed signs of breaking out of a hitting slump that has plagued them early this season. "There wasn't panic around the clubhouse," said Mike Stanley, who broke out of an 0-for-22 slump by going 2-for-3 with his first homer and two RBIs. "We were hitting a lot of balls at people. If we stay confident, stay within ourselves, and swing at good pitches, there are a lot of good hitters on this team." With one out in the sixth, Jose Offerman doubled off Indians reliever Rich DeLucia (0-1), moved to third on a flyout and scored on Garciaparra's single. Boston added three runs in the seventh, on a solo homer by Stanley, an RBI double by Darren Lewis and an RBI single by Offerman. Troy O'Leary added a solo homer in the eighth, his sixth. "It's nice to get great wood on the ball and see it go out, but I guarantee you I won't be among the home run hitters all year," O'Leary said. Tim Harikkala (1-0) earned his first major league win in relief of Saberhagen despite allowing three runs in the fifth. Manny Ramirez hit a two-run double to make it 4-3 and Jim Thome added an RBI single to tie the game. The Red Sox scored three runs in the first off Indians starter Dave Burba on RBI singles by Stanley, O'Leary and Buford. "I can't say I lost my focus, it just seemed I lost my command," Burba said. The Indians cut the Red Sox lead to 3-1 in the fourth when David Justice grounded into a double play with runners on first and third with no outs. The Red Sox took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth on Valentin's RBI single. Burba allowed four runs and six hits in five innings with eight strikeouts. "Dave threw a lot of pitches today, but we had to have it," Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said. "We wanted him to pitch deeper than that, but he gave us all he had." Notes: Saberhagen was 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in 1998 vs. Cleveland. In his career, Saberhagen is 13-8 vs. the Indians with a 3.00 ERA. ... The five runs the Red Sox scored in the fifth inning Friday night were the most the Red Sox have scored in an inning. ... O'Leary has six of the Red Sox AL low 11 homers, including five the last seven. ... The Indians have won 12 of 15, outscoring their opponents in that stretch 107-67. ... Cleveland outfielder Manny Ramirez has 25 RBIs over the first 16 games to lead the majors. ... The Indians have collected 10 or more hits in 12 of the first 16 games. ... Indians catcher Sandy Alomar has missed the past two games with back spasms.
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