ALCS GAME 2
Yankees 3
Red Sox 1
Who is Pedro’s daddy? Jon Lieber.
Is it possible for a pitcher to earn $8 million in one night? It is if your name is Lieber and you accomplished what he did last night at Yankee Stadium in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Red Sox.
Pitted against Pedro “Who’s Your Daddy” Martinez, Lieber clearly was the better pitcher the same way Mike Mussina dominated Curt Schilling in Game 1.
Lieber saved the premier performance of his brief Yankees career for the best moment, blanking the blood rival Red Sox into the seventh inning on the way to a 3-1 victory that put a pinstriped choke-hold on the ALCS and moved the Yankees within two games of the World Series.
Signed to a two-year deal worth $3.5 million prior to the start of last season even though the Yankees knew the veteran right-hander wouldn’t pitch because of Tommy John surgery, Lieber was a calculated risk that produced the mother lode.
Now after performing well in two October starts, the 34-year-old could be working himself into position where the pitching-starved Yankees pick up his $8 million option for next season.
Beating the Red Sox in October has its rewards in The Bronx.
The victory was witnessed by 56,136 and gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that shifts to Fenway Park for Game 3 tomorrow night when Kevin Brown draws Bronson Arroyo.
John Olerud, another of Pedro’s daddies, supplied a two-run homer off Martinez in the sixth that stretched the lead to 3-0. With the hurt of burying two beloved relatives in Panama Tuesday still with him, Mariano Rivera recorded the final four outs for his postseason record 32nd save.
So, in two games, the Yankees have beaten Schilling and Martinez, and Schilling has an ankle problem that may force him out for the remainder of the series.
Pitching with chants of “Who’s Your Daddy!” filling his ears and not much command of any pitch, Martinez battled through six innings in which he gave up three runs and four hits.
Working quickly, Lieber stifled the powerful Red Sox lineup like Mussina did through six innings. But unlike Mussina, he got through the seventh unscathed thanks to feeding Kevin Millar an inning-ending double play.
When Lieber gave up a leadoff single to Trot Nixon in the eighth, Joe Torre hooked him for Tom Gordon, and Lieber left to a thunderous ovation. Jason Varitek ripped a double to right that put runners at second and third for Orlando Cabrera. Gordon traded a run for an out by getting a grounder to short that scored Nixon and trimmed the Yankees’ lead to 3-1.
Gordon retired Bill Mueller on a grounder to the right side and was replaced by Rivera, who fanned Johnny Damon looking and worked the ninth.
After giving up Orlando Cabrera’s leadoff single in the third, Lieber retired the next 13 until David Ortiz laced a 0-1 pitch to right for a one-out single. Mel Stottlemyre visited Lieber while Gordon started to throw in the bullpen.
Martinez was far from sharp through 51/3 innings but still held the Yankees to a first-inning run and nothing else until Olerud stepped in with Jorge Posada on first via a leadoff walk and one out. Olerud, who batted .214 (3-for-14) in the ALDS versus the Twins, crushed a 1-2 pitch on a line over the right-field wall for his ninth career postseason homer and a 3-0 lead.
