Garcia Plays Villain Again

The fans had done all they could. They packed rickety old Fenway Park, paid as much as $60 to park in nearby lots, waved rally towels madly for their beloved Red Sox. The most dedicated, or the most crazed, shaved their heads in unison with the players who had done the same.

Alas, the ninth inning had come Tuesday, with the Red Sox three outs away from losing to the hated New York Yankees. So the Fenway faithful took out their frustration on one Yankee player, the outfielder who could be back in Boston this fall to face charges of assault and battery.

And so they taunted Karim Garcia in that derisive singsong way: “Jail-bird! Jail-bird!”

Garcia already had annoyed the Bostonians on this day, with a two-run single in his first at-bat since injuring his left hand in Saturday’s bullpen melee. With David Wells and Mariano Rivera teaming up for a six-hitter, the Yankees drove Boston to the brink of elimination with a 4-2 victory.

The Yankees lead the American League championship series three games to two, one victory away from advancing to yet another World Series and extending the Red Sox’s championship drought to 85 years.

If the Red Sox cannot win today and Thursday in Yankee Stadium, the gates of Fenway will not swing open again until April.

Garcia did not see the sign that said “Cream Garcia.” He did hear the chants in the ninth inning, he said, but he could not make out what they were saying until his wife called on his cellphone after the game and told him.

“She got a kick out of it,” he said.

Although a Boston police report states that officers observed Garcia landing a punch against Red Sox groundskeeper Paul Williams in Saturday’s fight, Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson dismissed the incident as much ado about nothing. Garcia would make much more from his World Series share, Jackson said, than he would have to pay in a fine to resolve possible criminal charges.

“It’s just a spat in the bullpen. It’ll blow past,” Jackson said. “Ain’t nobody going to jail. It’ll cost you a few bucks and you move on. The guy will be asking you for an autographed ball before it’s over.”

Jackson and Garcia talked hitting over the last two days, and Garcia was astonished anyone would wonder why.

“He’s Mr. October,” Garcia said.

Garcia, his left hand still bandaged after Saturday’s brawl, could not swing well enough to play Monday and was not in the Yankees’ original lineup Tuesday. After Garcia launched a couple of balls into the bullpen during batting practice, Torre removed David Dellucci from the No. 9 spot and put Garcia there.

“He thanked me,” Torre said.

Garcia repaid him with a hit in the second inning, a two-out single with the bases loaded that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Alfonso Soriano followed with another single, driving home another run.

The Red Sox got one run back, when Manny Ramirez homered in the fourth inning, and the teams traded runs in the eighth.

Wells, who has volunteered to push the button whenever the Red Sox demolish Fenway Park, nonetheless reveled in the Yankee-hating environment. When the Yankees’ bus returned to the team hotel Monday, he said, Boston fans lined up to extend obscene salutes.

“I wish I had a video camera,” Wells said. “It’s unbelievable.”

So is this: The Yankees are batting .196 in the series and winning. And this: Nomar Garciaparra, the Red Sox’s No. 3 hitter, is batting .105. He struck out with two men in scoring position in the third inning and drove in his first run in 39 postseason at-bats in the eighth, on a ground out.

“Never give up,” Garciaparra said. “This team hasn’t. I’m not going to.”

Indeed, the Red Sox won three consecutive elimination games in the first round of the playoffs, so winning two in a row now would not be impossible. Win today, and the Red Sox get ace Pedro Martinez in a rematch against Roger Clemens, with a spot in the World Series to the victor.

“It’s storybook,” Boston first baseman Kevin Millar said. “It’s the way it’s going to be, Clemens and Pedro in Game 7.”