Red Sox Wrap Up Wild-Card Berth in Style

The Boston Red Sox had plenty to celebrate Thursday night at Fenway Park--Tom Gordon’s major league record 42nd consecutive save, Dennis Eckersley’s record-tying career appearance, Mo Vaughn’s 200th hit.

And, of course, their first playoff berth in three years--the league’s wild-card spot.

Yet their clubhouse was strangely quiet--and dry. The plastic draped in front of the lockers to shield their contents from champagne spray seemed unnecessary.

“It’s a small step. We understand that,” said Nomar Garciaparra, whose two homers led the Red Sox to a 9-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. “There’s still a postseason to play.”

That begins for Boston on Tuesday in Cleveland or Texas. The Rangers, who started the day two games behind Cleveland, would be the opponent if they overtake or tie the Indians.

“We respect everybody and fear no team,” said Vaughn, who moved ahead of the New York Yankees’ Bernie Williams, .3344 to .3340, in the batting race by going three for five. “I can’t run a lick, so I’ve got to hit.”

The Red Sox clinched the wild card and eliminated Toronto, which didn’t play. And they did it despite Pedro Martinez’s continued struggles. Martinez (19-7) won for the first time in five starts, but gave up three homers.

“I did the best I could. Things just wouldn’t fall to my side,” said Martinez, who is set to pitch the playoff opener.

This time, he got offensive support, as the Red Sox got 18 hits. In his previous four games, the they scored just seven runs. And the bullpen came through, capped by Gordon’s perfect ninth inning in which he struck out the side for his 45th save in 46 opportunities this season.

“As long as I’m ready, healthy, strong and focused. I think I can get just about anybody out in the league,” said Gordon, who broke a tie with Rod Beck and Trevor Hoffman for consecutive save conversions.

And Eckersley, one of the game’s greatest closers, tied Hoyt Wilhelm for most career appearances at 1,070 despite yielding B.J. Surhoff’s second homer of the game and 20th of the year that made the score 9-6 in the eighth.

The Red Sox took control with three runs in the fourth against Sidney Ponson (8-9). They scored on a passed ball by Chris Hoiles and run-scoring doubles by Troy O’Leary and Scott Hatteberg.

They built the lead to 8-3, getting six hits in a 27-minute bottom of the fifth.

Darren Lewis led off with a single, took third on Vaughn’s single and scored on Garciaparra’s single. Mike Stanley’s ground-rule double made it 6-3, O’Leary hit a sacrifice fly and Darren Bragg singled in the final run of the inning.

New York 5, Tampa Bay 2--Shane Spencer, one of the newest Yankees, helped them tie one of baseball’s biggest records.

New York matched the American League mark of 111 wins as Spencer hit a grand slam in the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium.

New York (111-48) equaled the 1954 Cleveland Indians (111-43). However, these Yankees had a 162-game schedule while the Indians set the league record in a 154-game season.

Spencer, a 26-year-old rookie, is the hottest Yankee of late, with 11 hits--five of them homers--and 15 runs batted in in his last 17 at-bats.

Kansas City 6, Chicago 4--Dean Palmer tied George Brett for the second-best RBI total in Kansas City history as the Royals snapped the White Sox’s 11-game winning streak in Kauffman Stadium.

Palmer’s two-run single capped a four-run fifth inning and gave him 118 RBIs, matching Brett’s total when he was the league MVP in 1980. Hal McRae holds the club record of 133 RBIs in 1982.

Minnesota 2, Cleveland 0--Brad Radke pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings for his first home victory since June 9 and David Ortiz had a two-run double as the Twins dealt the Indians their fourth consecutive loss.

Radke (12-14) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked two for his first win at the Metrodome since pitching a four-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs. Since then, he had been 0-5 with two no-decisions at the Metrodome.