Bullpen is where they all pitch in

By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist, 10/7/2003

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Among the apparent 117,000 reasons why the Red Sox will be still playing some fairly meaningful baseball tomorrow night in Yankee Stadium, may we start with this?

IP H R BB SO
9 2/3 2 0 3 10

That's what the bullpen did, starting with Game 3 Saturday night.

"I said before the season we weren't going to do it with just our starters," said Jason Varitek.

The century-old term is "the bullpen," but in this particular case it meant "anyone who isn't starting tonight's game." For included among the relief corps were Tim Wakefield, who started Game 2, and Derek Lowe, who, well, why doesn't he remind you what he did?

"Tell me how many people have ever lost a game, won a game, and saved a game in the same five-game series," Lowe pointed out. "You might want to look that one up."

Technically speaking, Lowe didn't win Game 3. That honor went to Scott Williamson, who pitched a lights-out 11th inning. But Lowe pitched a magnificent seven innings in the gotta-have-it Game 3, allowing one cheapo unearned run. But the point was no less valid. And in terms of melodrama, how about Lowe going from shellshocked relief loser in Game 1 to man-of-the-hour saver in Game 5, all this with the aforementioned sensational start in between?

Derek Lowe will not be forgetting the ninth inning of last night's series-clinching 4-3 chiller any time soon. Entering the game in relief of Williamson with men on first and second and nobody out, he nailed down the game by getting pinch hitters Adam Melhuse and Terrence Long on called third strikes, Long with the bases loaded after Chris Singleton walked on a 3-and-2 pitch.

There was no subterfuge involved. If they were going to get Lowe last night, they were going to have to do it on his patented sinker. He wasn't messing around with any "B" material.

And D-Lowe would also like to thank the Oakland A's for making his task easier.

"They kind of gave their hand away, what they were doing at the plate by continually looking away, away, away," he explained.

"If you take a sinker away, take it the way they were taking it, you can't look for a pitch on both sides of the plate, so it opens up the inner half. It comes down to execution -- can you make the pitch or not? -- and I was able to make them."

That pretty much sums up what's been going on since the eighth inning of that unforgettable Game 3, when Mike Timlin came on in relief of Lowe. Timlin has had a better year than most people realize (some damaging home runs aside), but he was able to move into a higher gear, working three flawless innings before giving way to Williamson. He hadn't gone that long in three years, but this was the playoffs, so he did it.

Timlin and Alan Embree left their imprint on last night's game, collaborating for a sensational eight-pitch, 1-2-3 eighth inning in relief of Pedro Martinez. Embree entered the game with a run in and a man on first, but he quickly retired Erubiel Durazo on a pop to third and Eric Chavez on a fly to short left. Retiring Durazo was key, since the dangerous lefthanded hitter had singled sharply off Embree with two outs in the ninth to tie Game 1.

Embree threw 95-m.p.h. strikes, which is kind of what he's here to do. It was real textbook stuff.

He gave way to Timlin, who retired Miguel Tejada on a 6-4 fielder's choice that left the Red Sox three outs away from their dream matchup with the Yankees.

Williamson was asked to close, but he couldn't find the plate, walking Scott Hatteberg and Jose Guillen to send people all over New England in search of the nearest ledge.

"He hadn't worked three straight days since he's been here," pointed out Varitek.

Williamson knew what he had and didn't have, and his main concern was to make sure no one took him deep.

"I wasn't going to put one right down the middle," he said. "When you have guys like Derek behind you, it's what makes it a team. He came in and did an unbelievable job."

Lowe was told by Grady Little after his start Saturday not to be surprised if he got a bullpen call before the series was over. He's closed before, as everyone knows. In truth, he's done everything before, as Varitek knows better than anyone, the two having come up in the Seattle organization together and then coming here as a package in exchange for Heathcliff Slocumb in Dan Duquette's signature deal.

"I've seen him when they didn't want to give him the ball, and I've seen him when they wanted to hand him the ball in any situation," Varitek declared.

"Pitching," said Lowe, "is pitching. I don't care if you start the game, relieve, close. The situation came about where they asked me to close the game out."

Forget about the "bullpen." Just think of the "staff," especially at this time of the year. A manager will do what he's got to do. Don't be surprised if Pedro strides out of the pen one of these days. The Red Sox aren't into what's pretty or orthodox. It's about results. That's all; results. And the final result here was winning the series.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.