Total Dominance Is American Way

There is nothing Pedro Martinez can do for the Boston Red Sox now--unless the pitching prodigy can pull off a miraculous recovery from his back strain, start Games 3, 4 and 5 against the Cleveland Indians, hit for the cycle with five RBIs each game and make a clutch defensive play every day.

Maybe then, the Red Sox would have a chance of winning this American League division series. Yeah, and maybe Babe Ruth will come back to life, get traded back to the Red Sox and bring Boston its first World Series championship since 1918.

The Indians throttled the Red Sox, 11-1, in Game 2 before 45,184 in Jacobs Field on Thursday, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, and it would seem Boston needs some kind of divine intervention to have any chance of a comeback.

At least, that’s what Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams was thinking when he was asked if there was anything he could do to shake up his lineup for Game 3 in Boston Saturday.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll get ahold of George Herman [Ruth],” he said. “What do you want me to do? We’re going to go with the same group that got us here. They’re a good group. They can hit and they can play and they can pitch.”

Just not as well as the Indians right now.

Harold Baines’ three-run homer keyed a six-run Cleveland third inning, Jim Thome’s grand slam highlighted a five-run fourth, and an Indian offense that was the first since the 1950 Red Sox to score 1,000 runs in a season shifted into steamroller mode.

And that’s without Manny Ramirez, he of the 165-RBI season, getting a hit or driving in a run in the first two games.

The Red Sox were relying on the durable and devastating right arm of Martinez to carry them through the playoffs, but it’s the Indian rotation that has dominated. Charles Nagy gave up one run on five hits in seven innings Thursday, after Bartolo Colon had pitched eight stellar innings in Game 1.

“I think we’re in a groove right now,” Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel said. “Everyone is swinging well, we’re patient at the plate, getting great pitching, and we have the momentum. But even though we’re up, 2-0, you don’t want to take anyone lightly. We want to treat Game 3 like it’s the seventh game of the World Series.”

After losing Martinez--and Game 1--Wednesday, the Red Sox spoke of how resilient they have been this year, how they have overcome adversity, how they had the right guy, Bret Saberhagen, who was 18-6 in games after Boston losses in 1998 and ‘99, starting Game 2.

All good points Wednesday. All moot points Thursday. Saberhagen, a control freak who walked all of 11 batters in 119 innings this season, walked three in the disastrous third inning, and all were costly.

So was second baseman Jose Offerman’s relay throw on Sandy Alomar’s potential double-play grounder that pulled first baseman Mike Stanley off the bag. Instead of having two out with none on, the Indians had one out and one on.

The real killer for the Red Sox: Both Travis Fryman, who was on first, and Alomar are recovering from major knee injuries, wearing bulky braces and are slower than your typical NFL offensive lineman.

“I was thinking, ‘We’ve got a cripple on first, a cripple at bat,’ that was a sure double play,” Fryman said. “But Sandy hustled, and that turned out to be a big play in the inning.”

Leadoff batter Kenny Lofton then worked a 10-pitch walk, and Vizquel slapped a two-run triple into the right-field corner to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. Roberto Alomar’s RBI double made it 3-1, Thome walked, and Baines slammed a home run into the seats in right-center field to make the score 6-1.

Williams pulled Saberhagen for John Wasdin, who fared no better. The Indians loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, Roberto Alomar hit a sacrifice fly, and Thome became the first player in major league history to hit two postseason grand slams, lining his second homer in as many nights to right center for an 11-1 lead.

Those were the 34th and 35th times this season the Indians have scored five runs or more in an inning, a back-to-back barrage that put the Red Sox in a crater, one they may need a few helicopters to be airlifted out of.

“We’re not done yet, it’s not over yet,” Williams said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. A play, a walk, a pitch or a hit can turn a game very quickly. It’s like going through a city, all the stoplights, and all of a sudden you get on the Autobahn, there is no speed limit. That’s the way the game goes.”

Yes, but there’s a signpost up ahead.

Next exit: Boston.