 10/11/2003 7:21 PM ET
ALCS Score Tracker: Game 3
BOT 1st: BOS 2, NYY 0: As they had in the first two games of the American League
Championship Series, the Red Sox jumped in front of the Yankees early in Game 3. In his
first at-bat since suffering a concussion in a collision with teammate Damian Jackson
during Game 5 of the ALDS, Johnny Damon started the first-inning rally with an infield
single off the glove of Yankees third baseman Enrique Wilson. After sandwiching a foul
ball between five pickoff throws to first, New York starter Roger Clemens surrendered a
Todd Walker double off the Green Monster in left to give Boston runners at second and
third with no outs. The Rocket caught Nomar Garciaparra looking for the first out of the
inning, but Manny Ramirez put Boston on the board with a clutch two-run single to center.
TOP 2nd: BOS 2, NYY 1: The Yankees had an immediate answer for the Red Sox rally.
Jorge Posada tagged Pedro Martinez for a leadoff double to right-center field. The Boston
ace had a chance to escape trouble when he induced a comebacker and an infield fly from
Nick Johnson and Hideki Matsui,respectively, but Yankees right-fielder Karim Garcia picked
an opportune time to notch his first playoff hit, lining an RBI single to right to cut the
deficit in half.
TOP 3rd: BOS 2, NYY 2: The good news for Martinez was that he fanned three in the
inning, the bad news was that two of them came after the updated version of New York's Mr. October, Derek Jeter, tagged a towering solo home run to left on the first offering he saw from Martinez.
TOP 4th: NYY 4, BOS 2: An already intense series became more heated in the fourth.
Martinez kicked off the inning by walking Posada on six pitches before Johnson moved the
runner to third with a single to left. Hideki Matsui put New York in front when he drilled
the next pitch for a ground-rule double to right, scoring Posada and moving Johnson to
third. That's when things began to get out of hand. Martinez plunked Garcia high on the
back with a pitch to load the bases, spark controversy, and serve as a prelude to an ugly bench-clearing
incident in the bottom half of the frame. The inning's final run came home when Johnson
scored on Alfonso Soriano's double-play grounder.
BOT 7th: NYY 4, BOS 3: Once things calmed down, Clemens left and the Red Sox
scratched across a big run against the Yankees' bullpen. David Ortiz started the inning by
drawing a walk against reliever Felix Heredia, who was immediately replaced by Jose
Contreras. Boston's Kevin Millar greeted the right-hander with a single to second,
putting runners at the corners. After a lengthy meeting between his infield and pitching
coach Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees traded a run for an out when the reliever induced Red
Sox right-fielder Trot Nixon into a run-scoring double play. Contreras then put the tying
run on base with a walk to Bill Mueller before getting out of the inning on Jason
Varitek's infield fly.
Todd Lorenz is an editorial producer
for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its
clubs.
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