Youneverknow. Last night's game had me thinking of Joaquin Andujar. With 2 quick outs in the bottom of the 8th, Boston trailed Cleveland 3-2. But David Ortiz sliced a line-drive double into the left field corner and when Bill Mueller followed with another opposite field double, off the left field wall, pinch-runner Cesar Crespo scored the tying run. Gabe Kapler chopped his second infield hit of the night and Boston had men at 1st and 3rd.

Brian Daubach was announced as a pinch-hitter for Pokey Reese and Cleveland manager Eric Wedge pulled Jose Jiminez and brought in Scott Stewart, his only left-handed reliever. Terry Francona countered by calling Daubach back and sending up David McCarty. ... Blind Squirrel McCarty took a strike before finding a nut -- rifling a low-and-away pitch down the right field line. The fans wisely left the ball alone (as they had with Varitek's game-winning hit last Friday), so while it rattled around the corner for McCarty's first triple in four years, both runners were able to score. Keith Foulke pitched a perfect 9th -- striking out the final two batters -- and Boston won 5-3. New York beat Anaheim in 10 innings, so the Red Sox held onto their half-game lead.

I have no idea what's up with Pedro Martinez and why he cannot get into a groove until the second or third inning, but hopefully, he and Dave Wallace can figure something out. Seven of the first 12 Cleveland batters reached base against Martinez, then none of the next 16 did. He also struck out the side in the first two innings (something he had not done even once so far this season) and finished with a season-high of 11 Ks.

He allowed two runs in the first inning, but was not hit particularly hard. After striking out Matt Lawton, Omar Vizquel reached on a grounder that took an odd bounce off the lip of the grass and past Ortiz's glove. With Vizquel being held on first, Gerut grounded a singled through the hole into right. Victor Martinez then pounded a first-pitch fastball to the right-center field gap that brought in both runners. Travis Hafner struck out looking, and after Ronnie Beillard walked (on what looked like strike 3), Ben Broussard struck out swinging.

In the second, Lou Merloni struck out swinging (the NESN gun registered strike 3 at 100 mph, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't an accurate reading!), Coco Crisp singled to center, Lawton struck out again, Vizquel singled up the middle (and stole second base) and Gerut walked. That was the last batter that reached base against Pedro (and outside of Victor Martinez's home run in the 8th, the last Cleveland base runner of any kind). Martinez struck out V. Martinez for the third out and then retired the side in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th innings.

There has been an amazing (and highly annoying) trend in games between Cleveland and Boston this year. The scores after one inning:

May 3:

Boston     0

Cleveland  2

May 4:

Boston     0

Cleveland  2

May 5:

Boston     1

Cleveland  2

May 6:

Boston     0

Cleveland  2

May 10:

Cleveland  2

Boston     2

May 11:

Cleveland  2

Boston     0

Memo to Tim Wakefield: Please pitch a scoreless first inning tonight. Thanking you in advance,