"It was a big swing," manager Terry Francona said as he prepared for the possibility of imminent elimination. "We've tried very hard to acknowledge the importance of winning the East. We don't downplay that one bit, but we also have to use our very best judgment [in looking ahead]."
Good thing the Sox already have a playoff berth in hand. The Sox need to sweep their final four games in Baltimore and hope the Yankees go 0-4, which would give the Sox their first division title since 1995 via the tiebreaker since they won the season series, 11-8. Otherwise, one Sox loss or Yankee victory guarantees the Sox start the Division Series on the road as the wild card.
"Crazy things can happen in this game, but our main concern is not what's going on in the standings," said Trot Nixon, who homered in the losing cause before the Sox departed for Baltimore and the final four games of the regular season. "We need to play good baseball. I think everybody can agree we want to do that this weekend."
The Rays may not be Martinez's daddy, but they had their way with him nonetheless, knocking him around for six runs (five earned) on 10 hits, a walk, and a hit batsman just five days after his infamous collapse against the Yankees in the Fens. Martinez hit a season-high 96 miles per hour on the radar gun, but he lasted only five innings as he fired a whopping 109 pitches and allowed the leadoff batter to reach base every inning he pitched.
Francona wanted to stop the bleeding after the fourth inning, but Martinez insisted on staying in the game after throwing only 89 pitches. He forcefully reminded Francona and pitching coach Dave Wallace that they had told him the night before he would not pitch again until Wednesday in Game 2 of the Division Series, a six-day layoff.
