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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
BOSTON (AP) – Hideo Nomo already has a no-hitter this year, so a
one-hitter wasn't a shock. Allowing no walks for the first time
this season might have been.
|  | | Only two batters hit the ball out of the infield against Hideo Nomo on Friday night. |
He spiced up his one-hit complete game with a season-high 14
strikeouts and faced just one batter over the minimum as the Boston
Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Friday night.
"I know he had a no-hitter but, to me, that was a much more
impressive game," Boston manager Jimy Williams said of Friday's
performance.
Shannon Stewart's clean leadoff double to left-center in the
fourth was the only hit for a Toronto team that's fourth in the AL
in runs. Only one other ball – Tony Batista's routine fly to left
to end the second – went out of the infield.
Of the other 26 batters, 14 struck out, 11 hit groundouts and
one popped out to Nomo (5-3).
The victory put Boston in first place in the AL East, a
half-game ahead of New York. The Yankees had taken the spot by
beating the Red Sox on Thursday. Toronto fell 2 1/2 games behind.
Nomo spotted his fastball on both sides of the plate, making his
other pitches more effective, particularly his forkball.
"I concentrated on only one thing, the catcher and his mitt,"
Nomo said.
He entered the game tied for the AL lead with 31 walks. But he
issued one walk in his previous start and none Friday.
"He just decided he wasn't going to walk any more people,"
Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said. "He told us that two
weeks ago. He decided that so he could pitch more innings."
In his no-hitter in his Red Sox debut April 4, he struck out 11
and walked three against Baltimore. He took a no-hitter into the
seventh on April 26 before Minnesota's Torii Hunter led off that
inning with a single. In that game, he struck out eight and walked
five in seven innings.
Nomo got the support he needed Friday on Carl Everett's
run-scoring double in the first off Esteban Loaiza (4-5). Mike
Lansing added a three-run double in the eighth.
"We had a great performance from Loaiza," Toronto acting
manager Cookie Rojas said. "He has the stuff to be a consistent
winner."
Nomo lowered his AL-best mark for opponents' batting average
from .182 to .163, allowing 34 hits in 60 innings over 10 starts.
"Nomo had great command of his fastball and kept us off balance
all night," Stewart said. "I got my hit on a curveball. I think
it was the only one he threw all night."
Nomo struck out seven in a row – three less than Tom Seaver's
major league record and one less than the AL mark – before Jose
Cruz Jr. grounded out to end the eighth.
It was Boston's second pitchers' duel in two days. On Thursday,
Pedro Martinez and Mike Mussina each struck out 12 in the Yankees'
2-1 win. On Friday, Loaiza allowed eight hits before leaving with
two runners and no outs in the eighth.
Jose Offerman led off the first with a walk and took third on
Trot Nixon's double. Everett doubled, scoring Offerman, but Nixon
stopped at third.
Manny Ramirez then struck out, Troy O'Leary flied out and Jason
Varitek struck out.
In the eighth, Loaiza left after allowing singles to Ramirez and
O'Leary. Kelvim Escobar walked Varitek but retired the next two
batters before Lansing's double.
Nomo retired the first nine batters before Stewart started the
fourth with a double, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. He
took third on Alex Gonzalez's sacrifice bunt but was stranded when
Carlos Delgado struck out and Raul Mondesi grounded out.
Delgado started a streak of 10 strikeouts in 13 batters.
Two strikeouts were controversial. Stewart was ejected by
home-plate umpire Tim Timmons after arguing a called third strike
that ended the top of the sixth.
Mondesi was out on a third strike on which he barely moved the
bat in the seventh. The Red Sox appealed to first base umpire Jeff
Kellogg, who ruled he had swung.
Game notes
Rojas filled in for Buck Martinez, who was expected to miss
the first two games of the three-game series because of his
mother-in-law's funeral. ... Nomo is the first to pitch a no-hitter
and one-hitter in the same season since Kevin Brown did it with
Florida in 1997. ... Loaiza stayed in the game after being hit in
the right arm in the fourth by Lansing's liner. The ball deflected
to shortstop Gonzalez, who threw to first for the third out. ...
The seven straight strikeouts represent the longest streak against
Toronto. The AL record of eight in a row is shared by Roger
Clemens, Nolan Ryan and Ron Davis. Clemens did it for Boston in his
20-strikeout game against Seattle on April 29, 1986.
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RECAPS
Baltimore 7
Texas 6
Boston 4
Toronto 0
Cleveland 6
NY Yankees 4
Chi. White Sox 8
Detroit 4
Anaheim 6
Tampa Bay 4
Seattle 9
Kansas City 6
Oakland 4
Minnesota 2
Chicago Cubs 1
Milwaukee 0
St. Louis 5
Cincinnati 4
Philadelphia 10
Montreal 8
NY Mets 4
Florida 3
Atlanta 1
Pittsburgh 0
Arizona 7
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 4
Houston 1
Colorado 6
San Francisco 1
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