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Saturday, Sep. 23 4:35pm ET
Nixon's walk drives in winning run | |||||
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GAME LOG
BOSTON (AP) -- They're almost eliminated from playoff contention, and the manager and front office are at odds over the GM's failure to discipline the star center fielder. Still, the Boston Red Sox play on. Trot Nixon drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning Saturday, forcing in the winning run as the Red Sox overcame their internal turmoil to beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7. "It was a special game out there today, to come back," manager Jimy Williams said. "It's a credit to all of them." Before the game, Williams and closer Derek Lowe criticized general manager Dan Duquette for failing to discipline outfielder Carl Everett, who reported late for the opener of Thursday's doubleheader against Cleveland. "If I was the general manager, I would back the manager, and if you can't, you probably need to get rid of me," Williams said. Lowe added that Duquette had undermined Williams. "You hope it doesn't snowball to the point where there's no rules at all," Lowe said. But the Red Sox got past the distractions, and remained five games back in the wild card race. Boston, which has seven games left, is six games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. "We need to win out," Nixon said. "If anyone out there wants to say, 'Let's pack it in,' I don't feel like playing with them." Baltimore rallied from a 6-2, sixth-inning deficit and took a 7-6 lead on Luis Matos' two-out, RBI single in the 10th off Hector Carrasco (5-3). Ryan Kohlmeier (0-1) walked Nomar Garciaparra leading off the bottom half and Troy O'Leary followed with an RBI double, then took third on the throw home. "I should have thrown a slider on the first pitch to O'Leary," Kohlmeier said. "I was struggling to find the plate, and it was obvious he was looking for a fastball." Lou Merloni and Scott Hatteberg were intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Jason Varitek lined out and Brian Daubach fouled out. That brought up Nixon, who was 0-for-5. "I can't find a hit anywhere, and I walked in the end to win it," he said. "I love to get hits and drive in the guys, but as long as you get the win, that's all that matters." Baltimore has lost seven of its last nine games and blown 24 save chances this season. It was Kohlmeier's first blown save in 12 chances. "I knew the streak was going to end sometime, but that was a tough way for it to end," Kohlmeier said. Orioles starter Pat Rapp allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings, while Boston's Rolando Arrojo gave up two runs and five hits in five innings in his first start since Cleveland chased him with seven runs in the first on Thursday. Delino DeShields' RBI single put Baltimore ahead in the first, but Merloni hit a two-run double in the second and Garciaparra hit a two-run homer in the third -- his first home run in 39 games and 147 at bats since Aug. 9 at Anaheim. Chris Richards' solo homer cut it to 4-2 in the fourth, but O'Leary singled in a run in the bottom half and Merloni hit an RBI double. Baltimore closed in the sixth when Cliff Richards doubled in a run and scored on Melvin Mora's single. Garciaparra's error at shortstop allowed a run to score in the seventh, and Cal Ripken tied the game at 6 with an RBI single off Rod Beck. Game notesDeShields made a nice leaping grab to get Nixon's liner to left in the fifth. ... Merloni has 10th multihit games in just 33 games since Boston purchased his contract from Pawtucket | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Baltimore Clubhouse Boston Clubhouse Manager, closer rip Red Sox GM for easing off Everett
RECAPS NY Yankees 13 Detroit 8
Boston 8
San Francisco 9
Milwaukee 5 AUDIO/VIDEO   Manager Jimy Williams comments about the recent squabbles within the Red Sox organization.wav: 267 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||