The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 20, 2004 -11B
Red Sox force
a seventh game
Munro will get
start in Game 6
NEW YORK (AP) - Gritting his
teeth and grimacing throughout, Curt
Schilling willed away the pain in his
bloody right ankle and the Boston Red
Sox got the benefit of two reversed
calls to move within one win of the
most shocking comeback in baseball
postseason history.
For the second straight year, the
New York Yankees and the Red Sox
will go to a Game 7, a winner-take-
all battle for the AL pennant between
baseball's perennial pinstriped power
and a Boston team desperately trying
to win the World Series for the first
time since 1918.
Pitching on a dislocated ankle ten-
don that forced him out of the opener,
Schilling smothered the Yankees by
allowing one run over seven innings
to lead the Red Sox over New York
4-2 last night and pull Boston into a
3-3 tie in an AL championship series
that was three outs from a sweep just
two days earlier.
"This is incredible," Schilling said.
New York was ahead 3-0 in the
series before blowing a ninth-inning
lead in Game 4 at Fenway Park and
losing in the 12th Sunday night. The
Yankees led Game 5 in the eighth
Monday, then lost that one, too, anoth-
er 5-hour marathon that stretched on
for 14 innings.
Of the 25 previous major league
teams that fell behind 3-0 in a best-of-
seven series, none had forced a Game
7. But back in the Bronx, where they
wasted a four-run lead in Game 7 last
year, the Red Sox broke through with
a four-run fourth against Jon Lieber.
The team trying to reverse The
Curse benefited from two big
reversed calls.
In the fourth, Mark Bellhorn hit a
ball over the left-field wall that was
at first ruled a ground-rule double
before it was correctly changed to a
three-run homer that made it 4-0.
Then in the eighth, after Miguel
Cairo's double and Derek Jeter's
RBI single off Bronson Arroyo
pulled the Yankees to 4-2, Alex
Rodriguez hit a ball between the
mound and first. Arroyo picked it
up and ran toward first, where just
before the base the striding A-Rod
slapped the ball away.
Jeter came all the way around
to score as the ball bounced down
the right-field line. After Boston
manager Terry Francona came out
to argue, the umpires huddled, dis-
cussed the play, then called Rodri-
guez out for interference and sent
Jeter back to first.
"You could see Alex take a swipe
at the ball," Francona said.
Rodriguez raised both hands and
put them on his helmet, screaming
about the reversal, and the game
was held up for 10 minutes while
fans tossed debris on the field and
Yankees manager Joe Torre argued.
Gary Sheffield then fouled out, end-
ing the inning.
"There were a lot of things that
went on that didn't fall our way, but
that's the way it goes," Torre said.
After Boston's Orlando Cabrera
was ruled safe at first base in the
ninth, preventing the Yankees from
completing a double play, public
address announcer Bob Sheppard
made his second announcement for
fans to maintain order. The umpires
talked with Kevin Hallinan, senior
vice president of security in the com-
missioner's office, as Yankees reliev-
er Tanyon Sturtze warmed up.
Helmeted police then came on
the field and kneeled in foul terri-
tory along the stands on both the
left- and right-field sides in the top
of the ninth.
Schilling, who accepted a trade to
the Red Sox last fall for the express
purpose of beating the Yankees,
took a three-hit shutout into the sev-
enth before allowing Bernie Wil-
liams' solo homer on the 91st of his
99 pitches.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Roger Clemens
can relax. For now, Pete Munro is the
Houston Astros' pick to pitch them into
the World Series.
Ahead 3-2 in the NL championship
series, manager Phil Garner studied it:
the Rocket on three days' rest vs. a jour-
neyman hit hard last week. On the team
flight to St. Louis, Munro was told he
would start Game 6 tonight against the
Cardinals.
"I guess I was kind of overwhelmed,"
Munro said before yesterday's workout
at Busch Stadium. "I'm sure that they'd
rather face me than Roger. I mean, I'd
rather face me than Roger."
Instead, Clemens will be held back for
a possible Game 7. Or maybe a start in the
World Series opener.
"There are going to be a lot of people
saying do the opposite, start Roger," Gar-
ner said. "But what I feel in my gut is
what I have to do."
Garner could have lined up Clemens
and Roy Oswalt to face the Cardinals,
bringing both back early in hopes of put-
ting Houston into its first World Series.
But the stats aren't good: Since five-
man rotations became popular, pitchers
on three days' rest lose about three times
more than they win in the postseason.
During the first round against Atlanta,
Clemens pitched on three days' rest for the
first time since April 11, 2002. He hung in
for five innings, allowing two runs.
"I think it's false to assume that just
because you're going to bring Roger back
that you're sure to win," Garner said.
"Because I'm starting Pete doesn't mean
we're giving this game away."
After losing three straight games,
the Cardinals assumed they'd be facing
Clemens.
"I saw some controversy in the paper,
but I kind of think he'll pitch," third#
baseman Scott Rolen said earlier yes-
terday. "I think we all think he'll pitch
and then we'll have Oswalt in Game 7,
hopefully."
Added Game 6 starter Matt Morris:
"Obviously, our position players might
rather face Pete Munro rather than a
Roger Clemens. We know his capa-
bilities. Although, taking nothing away
from Pete."
A day before, the 42-year-old Clemens
said he was set. He won Game 3, going
seven innings.
"I'll be ready to go whenever he wants
to hand me the ball," he said.
Coming off one of the best and most
unlikely pitching duels in playoff history,
it was hard to know what to expect. The
teams totaled just four hits - a postsea-
son record - on Monday night, with
Brandon Backe and the Astros beating
Woody Williams and the Cardinals 3-0.
Jeff Kent's three-run homer off Jason
Isringhausen in the ninth inning won that
matchup at Minute Maid Park. The clubs
have combined for 20 home runs so far,
three off the NLCS record set last year by
Florida and the Cubs.
"We're as likely to have a 10-8 game as
a 2-1 game," Garner said.
It was right in the middle - 6-4,
St. Louis - when Morris and Munro
matched up in Game 2. Each gave up
three runs and six hits, with Munro last-
ing 4 2-3 innings and Morris going five.
Munro started the season at Triple-
A for Minnesota, was signed by Hous-
ton in June and demoted to the minors.
He went 4-7 with a 5.15 ERA for the
Astros, and has a 13-19 career mark in
the majors.
Alex Rodriguez Is tagged out by pitcher Bronson Arroyo in the eighth inning.
Rodriguez slapped the ball away, but was called out anyway. The Yankees lost 4-2.
Keith Foulke, who threw 72 pitch-
es during the previous two games,
relieved to start the ninth. He walked
Hideki Matsui leading off and Ruben
Sierra with two outs before striking
out Tony Clark on a 3-2 pitch to end
it, sending the Red Sox running out
of the dugout for their third straight
night of celebration.
After chasing the Yankees all sum-
mer and falling short in the AL East
race for the seventh straight season,
the wild-card Red Sox caught up to
their old rival, an unexpected turn of
events given how close Boston was
to packing up for the winter just 48
hours earlier.
Boston said before the game that
knuckleballer Tim Wakefield would
start Game 7, but Francona wouldn't
commit after the game, an indica-
tion the Red Sox might switch to
Derek Lowe.
Torre said he hadn't decided on
his starter - Kevin Brown or Javier
Vazquez are the most likely candi-
dates.
"I guess it was supposed to hap-
pen," Torre said. "We just have to
call on the reserve that allowed us to
bounce back from a lot of challenges
all year."
HOOPS
Continued from page 1B
for the Preseason NIT finals and a trip to last season's
NCAA runner-up, Georgia Tech, for the ACC/Big Ten
shootout. Michigan would need to win its first two games
at Crisler before advancing to New York, where the Wol-
verines could potentially play Arizona and Wake For-
est. Amaker feels that the early chances to play quality
nonconference teams on the road will go a long way to
improving his team's road mentality.
"The only way that we're going to become better is
that we utilize (the opportunity in the preseason NIT)
with the proper perspective and in the proper way,"
Amaker said. "We think the proper way is utilizing it to
make us work harder in the fall and the preseason."
To win those big games, Michigan will need to clamp
down on defense, playing into the strengths of the team.
With sophomore forward Courtney Sims working in the
offseason to improve his strength, and Brown an d junior
Chris Hunter also making offseason improvements, the
Wolverines will continue to win with defense, starting
with the front court.
"Since Coach Amaker has been here, he has imple-
mented a system that is predicated on how we play
defense," junior Daniel Horton said. "The games that
we win are the games when we're rebounding well and
playing great defense. This year, I think there will be
more emphasis on getting the ball down low because our
big guys can play."
The Wolverines were sanctioned by the NCAA in
May of 2003 for bylaw violations. The sanctions includ-
ed a postseason ban that was lifted before last season.
AP PHOTO
Houston manager Phil Gamer chose to start Pete Munro over Roger Clemens.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Hanoi Jane
Jane Fonda is known among
Vietnam Vets as "Hanoi Jane" for
her actions during the Vietnam
War. They included a friendly
visit to North Vietnam, where
she made radio broadcasts
encouraging the enemy to hold
out against us. She even posed
on an anti-aircraft gun and
said that she wished she could
shoot down an American plane.
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