OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The Oakland Athletics needed Barry Zito's
best against Pedro Martinez and Boston's loaded lineup.
They didn't get it.
Working on three days' rest for the first time in his career and
with Oakland's season on the line, the lanky left-hander gave up
two big homers in a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on Monday night.
Boston won the best-of-five AL division series 3-2, rallying
from a 2-0 deficit. It was another demoralizing early exit from the
playoffs for the A's.
``This was a great game,'' Zito said. ``These five games were
the best games I've ever played in.''
The A's have failed to get out of the first round the past four
years, going 0-for-9 when they had a chance to clinch a series
the longest such slump in major league history.
Zito was the last of Oakland's ``Big Three'' starters left
Mark Mulder missed the series with a leg injury and Tim Hudson was
knocked out of Game 4 before the second inning because of a
strained muscle in his left side.
``We have an issue that we can't get out of the postseason,''
Zito said. ``Without Mulder, we were in a hole to begin with.''
Zito retired his first nine batters, then ran into trouble in
Boston's four-run sixth.
On a full count to Jason Varitek leading off the inning, Zito
had to throw a strike, and Varitek clobbered it over the wall in
left field for a tying homer.
``I went back at him 3-2,'' Zito said. ``I thought I could
probably get him and suddenly I had no control. I couldn't find
anything. I threw him a 3-2 curve. I just wanted to throw my best
pitch at him.''
Then, after Johnny Damon walked and Todd Walker was hit by a
pitch, Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer to left to break a
3-for-18 slump.
``We expect that from Manny,'' Boston's Gabe Kapler said as he
puffed on a cigar. ``We know that's coming from Manny. It's just a
matter of time.''
Zito looked forward to the challenge of pitching on short rest.
He has said that's a sacrifice that has to be made in the
postseason.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner kept his pitch count down
early and worked ahead in the count against a remarkable Red Sox
lineup that led the majors in almost every offensive category this
season. His nasty curveball was on, just as in his Game 2 victory
when he struck out nine in seven impressive innings.
Mulder and Hudson sat side by side on the dugout steps anxiously
watching Zito.
He was done after six innings, having allowed four runs on four
hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Meanwhile, Martinez, undefeated in six postseason starts, was
still on the mound. He pitched into the eighth and left after Billy
McMillon's pinch-hit single scored Chris Singleton to make it 4-3.
The A's loaded the bases in the ninth, but Derek Lowe closed it
out for Boston.
It was the first time in postseason history that two Cy Young
Award winners faced each other in a decisive Game 5 or Game 7,
according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Zito's next chore might be shaving his beard. He and Ted Lilly
both grew their facial hair and had a pact not to shave until the
A's were done, which they hoped would be late October.
``We're growing it out until the end of the playoffs to be all
scraggly and nasty,'' Zito said before the playoffs began. ``Go out
there and intimidate hitters. Look mean. You feel meaner.''
On this night, Martinez was by far the meanest one.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)