He didn't blame fatigue for that mistake in his fourth game in eight days. Maybe he should blame his judgment in throwing his only cutter of the night. Nick Johnson drilled
it into the right-field seats in the second inning for a two-run homer that put the New York Yankees ahead for good in their 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. With the AL championship series tied 1-1, the teams are off Friday before Pedro Martinez faces Roger Clemens at Fenway Park on Saturday.
"He didn't pitch that badly," Boston reliever Alan Embree said. "He's pitched a lot lately. I think he just got tired."
Lowe denied that his extra work hurt him but admitted it had taken a toll.
"I'm not a guy to make excuses," he said. "I'm probably sorer now than I've been in a long time. But no, not at any point did the workload affect any pitches."
In the AL division series opener at Oakland on Oct. 1, he came on in relief for the first time this year and walked three batters in the 12th inning before Ramon Hernandez's bunt single gave the Athletics a 5-4 win. Three days later, Lowe started and allowed one run in seven innings of Boston's 3-1 win in 11 innings in Game 3. And two days after that, he relieved again in the ninth with runners on first and second and no outs. He issued a walk but struck out two to preserve a dramatic 4-3 win that sent Boston to the ALCS.
But the Red Sox couldn't overcome the mistake Lowe made with his cutter that led to Johnson's homer, which put New York ahead 2-1.
Lowe allowed RBI singles by Bernie Williams in the third and Hideki Matsui in the fifth and two runs in the seventh when Jason Giambi singled with two outs, Williams walked and both scored on Jorge Posada's double off Scott Sauerbeck.
Andy Pettitte was in trouble early but left the bases loaded in the first and scored only one run in the second despite having runners at first and second and no outs.
Roger Clemens will face off against Pedro Martinez at 3:00 pm CT in Boston. Pedro has done much better against the Yankees then Roger has done against the Red Sox.
Roger Clemens
Clemens will take the mound as the series moves to Boston. Clemens allowed one run on five hits and a walk, striking out six in seven innings of Game 3 at the Metrodome. He was 2-3 with an 8.67 ERA against the Red Sox this season, but he won both of his starts at Fenway Park. Clemens, who is planning to retire at the end of the season, is 7-6 in the postseason in his career
Pedro Martinez
Martinez wasn't exactly spectacular
in his two starts in the Division Series. Martinez threw a total of 230 pitches in his two starts, working 14 innings and giving up six earned runs. He seemed to get every vital out. There's no better big-game pitcher in the game. Martinez's career record against the Yankees (9-8) is surprisingly ordinary. However, that is more a reflection of the job New York starters have done against Boston hitters in those games. Martinez's 2.88 ERA against the Yankees is a better indicator of how he has pitched against them. Martinez pitched four times against the Yankees in 2003, going 1-1 with a 3.88 ERA. In his last start against them, he was spectacular, firing six shutout innings and striking out nine on Sept. 5.