Sox, Peña walk on air

He's a hometown hero with winning HR in 10th

September 05, 2006|Globe Staff

Such sweet relief, this atmosphere of giddiness that enveloped the Fens last night after the steady drumbeat of gloom and despair that has echoed throughout the ancient ballpark in recent days. There were ovations, loud and long, for all the familiar faces back on the field after extended absences due to injury: the captain, Jason Varitek; the dirt dog, Trot Nixon; and the silent slugger, Manny Ramírez, who in a departure from tradition was the last player to jog out to his position instead of the first.

And in the end, there was jubilation, as Carlos Peña, in one of those truth-beats-fiction-every-time moments, did something he imagined doing many times while growing up in Haverhill -- hitting a game-winning home run for the Olde Towne Team. Last night, leading off the bottom of the 10th, Peña connected off Chicago reliever Brandon McCarthy, driving a ball deep into the right-field seats to lift the Red Sox to a 3-2 win over the White Sox before the usual sellout crowd of 36,206 on Yawkey Way.

``They were telling me that my rib cage would hurt because they were punching me so hard, but it doesn't hurt at all," said Peña, who entered the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement because first baseman Kevin Youkilis was hit in the hand by a pitch in the eighth, then found himself at the vortex of a home-plate scrum that had all but disappeared from the local landscape. ``So that just tells you right there. I didn't feel anything. Definitely the most exciting moment in my whole entire career."

It was the fifth walkoff home run of the season for the Red Sox and the first home run of any kind in a Boston uniform for Peña, who until last month was languishing in the minors, playing for the Yankees' Triple A team. The win went to Mike Timlin, who worked a scoreless 10th after Javier Lopez, the lefty just summoned back from Pawtucket, gave the Red Sox four outs.

``No one in this clubhouse has given up yet," said third baseman Mike Lowell, whose ninth-inning double off White Sox closer Bobby Jenks scored Ramírez, who had drawn a leadoff walk and moved to second on an infield out, and sent the game into extra innings with the score tied at 2.

Jenks's blown save was just his third in 42 chances this season.

``The numbers don't look too good for us, but stranger things have happened," Lowell said. ``So we're going to keep grinding it out. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day and hopefully we get David [Ortiz] back in the lineup, and that could be another boost."