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| | Monday, October 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BOSTON -- Fenway's fans didn't scare El Duque and neither
did the Boston Red Sox.
When you've fled Cuba -- by raft or yacht, it doesn't matter --
nothing intimidates you.
On a night many degrees removed from his island homeland in temperature and locale, Orlando Hernandez wrapped up the New York Yankees' record 36th American League pennant in his typical Mr. Cool fashion. The MVP pitched them past the Red Sox 6-1 Monday night to win the AL Championship Series 4-1. "I never thought this beautiful moment would happen to me," Hernandez said through a translator. "I would like to thank my teammates for all their support the last two years." Less than 1½ years after making his major league debut, he's 4-0 in postseason play with a 0.97 ERA, nearly halfway to Whitey Ford's Yankees record of 10 postseason wins. Think that's impressive? Toying with major league hitters as if they were kids on sandlots, he's allowed four earned runs in 37 innings. Nothing seems to rattle him. Not the taunts of Red Sox fans or the threat of debris flying on the field. Not falling behind 3-0 in the count. He's just setting up the batter -- with more windups than most teams have pitchers. Not questions about his age -- is he 30 or 34? He answers only to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Not the debate over whether he left Cuba on a raft or in a luxury boat. His answers are as hard to figure as his pitches. On a staff that struggled for consistency at times, he became the anchor, never going more than three starts without a win after mid-May.
With all the concern about Roger Clemens' legs, Andy Pettitte's mind, David Cone's arm and Hideki Irabu's gut, Hernandez was the constant: Just give him the ball and let him pitch. The fans were shivering at Fenway Park as Boston completed its 81st consecutive season without a World Series title. If El Duque was cold, it was hard to tell. He allowed just five hits in seven-plus innings -- just one from the second through the seventh -- and struck out nine, making 138 pitches. The Red Sox had first and third with no outs in their first time up, and he got out of it. They had first and second with two outs the inning after that, and he got out of it again. They got a runner to third with one out in the sixth, still trailing by just 2-0, and he escaped. Jason Varitek's leadoff homer in the eighth was the only run he allowed. By then, New York had built a 4-0 lead. Last year he was the savior, starting against Cleveland with the Yankees' season suddenly starting to slip away and beating the Indians to even the AL championship series 2-all. After that, pitching with the Yankees ahead 3-1 must have seemed easy. "That," he said, looking at his trophy, "belongs to the team, the Cuban people and my family." That was guts, this was glory. | ALSO SEE El Duque closes out Red Sox in 6-1 victory
Boston police beef up security for Game 5
This time, Jeter homers over the fence
Yankees vs. Red Sox series page
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