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 Red Sox handle Percival, Anaheim 7-6
Posted: Saturday August 28, 1999 09:40 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- For the second straight game, Troy Percival couldn't close out the Boston Red Sox. Jose Offerman hit an RBI double off Anaheim's closer with two outs in the eighth inning Saturday, giving the Red Sox a 7-6 win over the Angels. On Friday night, Troy O'Leary's two-run double off Percival in the eighth gave Boston a 4-3 win. Like O'Leary, Offerman went to the plate looking for one of Percival's fastballs, which are regularly clocked near 100 mph. “No question,” Offerman said. “There's no other pitch you can expect from him.” “He's tough,” Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said of Percival. “Offerman got a big hit.” Boston, which began the day tied with Oakland for the AL wild-card lead, is 8-1 against the Angels this season. Anaheim has lost six of its last seven. With the score tied at 6, Lou Pote (0-1) walked Darren Lewis and Trot Nixon singled. Percival entered and Offerman lined a 1-0 pitch for a ground-rule double down the right-field line. “Any time you walk a guy with two outs, usually nothing good happens,” Pote said. Angels manager Terry Collins didn't blame Percival for the loss. The Anaheim closer has converted 26 of 31 save chances this season. “He's our go-to guy,” Collins said. “You go to him because you don't know if there's going to be a ninth inning.” The last-place Angels are 26 games below .500 (51-77) for the first time since the last day of the 1980 season. Trailing 6-4, Anaheim tied it with two runs in the eighth against relievers Rich Garces and Derek Lowe (5-2). Troy Glaus' run-scoring grounder made it 6-5 and Gary DiSarcina hit an RBI single. The Angels scored four runs to take a 4-1 lead in the third before the Red Sox came back with four in the bottom half. O'Leary had an RBI single and Jason Varitek hit a three-run double just beyond center fielder Jim Edmonds' dive for a 5-4 lead. Nixon added an RBI single in the sixth. Edmonds, Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson each had RBI singles for Anaheim in the third. Salmon scored the fourth run on Nixon's error in right field. The Red Sox moved ahead 1-0 in the first on Nomar Garciaparra's run-scoring groundout. In a matchup of knuckleball starters, Boston's Tim Wakefield gave up four runs in 6 1/3 innings and Steve Sparks allowed up six runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. “I kept us in the game as long as I could,” Wakefield said. “We were fortunate to score that run in the bottom of the eighth.” Notes: Anaheim's Mo Vaughn, back in the lineup after missing Friday's game to attend a funeral, was greeted with mixture of cheers and boos in each of his four plate appearances. He went 0-for-4 with a walk and is now 1-for-15 against his former club. ... Boston's Brian Daubach is in a 3-for-25 slump. ... Williams said pitcher Bret Saberhagen, currently on the 15-day disabled list with a weak shoulder, will throw on the side Sunday.
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