Red Sox Remain Alive Without Star Power, 9-3

The Curse of the Bambino be damned.

The Boston Red Sox looked as dead as a late-December New England maple leaf Saturday, their star shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, sidelined because of a bruised wrist, their ace, Pedro Martinez, reduced to a spectator because of a back strain, and the all-powerful Cleveland Indians poised to step on their throats.

Yet the Red Sox--the Lou Merloni-led Red Sox, for crying out loud--are still standing, having defied all odds and their own legacy of playoff misfortune with a stunning 9-3 victory over the Indians on Saturday in Game 3 of the American League division series before 33,539 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox, who trail the best-of-five series, 2-1, turned a tense 3-3 game into a Valentin’s Day Massacre with six runs in the seventh, the key hit coming when John Valentin rifled a bases-loaded, two-out, two-run double to left to break the tie.

That capped an emotional afternoon for Valentin, who ended his 0-for-10 playoff drought with a sixth-inning home run that put Boston in front, 3-2, only to throw away the lead with a crucial error in the top of the seventh that allowed the Indians to tie the score.

Brian Daubach, an unheralded 27-year-old rookie who has epitomized Boston’s surprising playoff run, followed Valentin’s seventh-inning hit with a booming three-run homer to center, making the score 8-3.

Ramon Martinez, Pedro’s big brother, gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 solid innings, and Derek Lowe (no earned runs in 2 1/3 innings) and Rod Beck (scoreless ninth) provided much more relief than the Indians’ Jaret Wright (five runs in four innings) and Ricardo Rincon (three runs in 2/3 inning).

And Merloni, the utility infielder who grew up 15 miles west of Fenway in Framingham, Mass., and played down Interstate 95 at Providence College, had two hits, drove in a run and scored a run in place of Garciaparra.

“That’s the way it’s been all year, people count us out, and that’s when we play our best,” Daubach said. “We’ve had so many injuries this year, and guys that aren’t expected to do a whole lot keep stepping up.”

But to beat the Indians without their biggest offensive threat, an All-Star and MVP candidate who led the league with a .357 average and had 42 homers and 104 RBIs? Even that stunned Red Sox fans, many of whom could be heard exiting Fenway saying, “I can’t believe we won without Nomah!”

The Sox believed.

“This didn’t surprise us, because we’ve been doing it all year,” Boston center fielder Darren Lewis said. “A national audience had a chance to see why we win. We do a lot of little things, we play together and we play hard. A lot of people say we’re lucky, but you don’t win 94 games by luck.”

There was nothing but hard luck for Boston before the game. Pedro Martinez, trying to throw for the first time since leaving Game 1 after four innings Wednesday, was shut down after one minute because of discomfort and remains questionable for Game 5, if there is one.

Then Garciaparra, the swelling in his right wrist interfering with his ability to hit and throw, told Manager Jimy Williams he couldn’t play.

“When you’re trying to do the extreme motions you need to play baseball and know you just can’t do it because of the swelling, you have to realize that maybe another day [off] will help,” said Garciaparra, who hopes to play tonight. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

The reaction in the Boston clubhouse: Just another day at the office.

“No one had to get up and make a speech or anything, that’s not a part of this team,” first baseman Mike Stanley said. “If someone did that, we would have looked at him funny and said, ‘Sit down.’ ”

Merloni didn’t exactly step up in the field--his wide relay throw to first on Harold Baines’ potential double-play ball in the sixth allowed Cleveland to score and pull even, 2-2.

But Merloni singled and scored on Lewis’ RBI single in a two-run fifth, walked to start the Red Sox rally in the seventh and capped the inning with an RBI single.

After Merloni’s walk in the seventh, Wright hit Jason Varitek with a pitch. Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove pulled Wright for left-hander Rincon, and the Indians pulled a successful wheel play, third baseman Travis Fryman fielding Lewis’ bunt and forcing Merloni at third, where shortstop Omar Vizquel was covering.

But a wheel of fortune, it wasn’t. Jose Offerman walked with two out to load the bases, Valentin doubled two runs in, Daubach homered, Stanley walked, Troy O’Leary singled, Merloni singled in a run, and the Indians were done.

“This showed the character of this team,” Lewis said. “Obviously, we want Nomar out there, he’s our guy, but we have guys around him who can do the job.”