A year ago, when Boston's Shea Hillenbrand was turning impatience at the plate into an art form, he faced the New York Yankees' ace closer, Mariano Rivera, four times.
"No chance," said Hillenbrand, recounting his 2001 failures against Rivera.
So yesterday, when Hillenbrand was allowed to hit against Rivera with the tying run at second base and two outs in the eighth, he wasn't exactly feeling overconfident.
"Against him, I wasn't expecting to succeed," admitted Hillenbrand.
But Hillenbrand surprised himself and shocked Rivera and the supposedly invincible Yankees by crushing a two-run homer high into the net in left field, carrying the Red Sox to a dramatic 7-6 victory over New York at Fenway Park.
Hillenbrand's blast, on a 2-and-2 fastball from the Yanks' generally automatic save-machine, touched off a wild celebration among the Sox fans in the sellout crowd of 33,756.
The homer, which was Hillenbrand's team-leading fourth, didn't give Boston the win. But the Sox nailed it down in the ninth when catcher Jason Varitek ended the game by gunning down pinch-runner Alfonso Soriano trying to steal second, the team's first such success in 14 attempts by the opposition.
The save went to Ugueth Urbina, working in this third consecutive game. Urbina now has five saves, and Boston has captured the first two games of this four-game set with the Yankees, who have dropped four in a row on the heels of a seven-game winning streak.
And don't look now, but the Red Sox, who escaped from a 4-0 first-inning hole they were plunged into by starter Pedro Martinez, are in first place in the American League East, edging a half-game ahead of New York.
Overtaking their rivals was especially sweet for the Sox and their fans.
"When we come from behind there's a lot of energy here," said Varitek. "But when you do it against the Yankees, there's twice as much energy."
"After we play the Yankees 19 times this season, I'm sure we'll see a lot of games like that," said Boston manager Grady Little. "Hopefully we're on the upper end of some of those."
The Red Sox won yesterday because they were opportunistic. The Yankees were not officially charged with any errors, but they were extremely sloppy defensively. Third baseman Robin Ventura twice threw balls away and second baseman Enrique Wilson threw wide on an easy double-play chance with slow-footed Tony Clark running.
But it was in the fateful eighth that Boston made New York pay dearly for its defensive lapses.
With one out, starter David Wells cruising and the Yanks on top, 6-3, center fielder Bernie Williams drifted back but was unable to hold onto Johnny Damon's liner to deep center, the ball somehow falling out of his glove. Damon was credited with a double.
After Ramiro Mendoza hit Nomar Garciaparra with a pitch and Manny Ramirez looped an RBI single to right-center, Rivera entered the game. New York still led, 6-4, but Boston had runners at first and third. The first batter he faced, Clark, hit a one-hopper to first baseman Jason Giambi, who fell to his knees awkwardly in making the grab.
Giambi still had time to get up and start a double play, especially with Clark running, but decided to take the sure out at first. A run scored, making it 6-5. And that brought up Hillenbrand.
But then again, Hillenbrand wasn't so sure he'd get the chance to face Rivera, even if he has been Boston's hottest, most consistent hitter.
"I looked into the dugout," said Hillenbrand. "Last year I would have been pinch-hit for. I didn't want to walk all the way to the plate and then have to come all the way back."
So he walked to the plate. And, as Hillenbrand explained it, he was almost having an out-of-body experience.
"An aura came over me," said Hillenbrand. "It was weird."
It was just as strange to see him take the first pitch. At least, it would have been strange last year, when Hillenbrand was so eager to swing the bat he'd seemingly come out of his shoes swinging at whatever the pitcher threw. Not this season, though. He's taking pitches.
"That's the hardest thing for me to do because I love to swing the bat. But the more pitches I see, the better I can see a guy's stuff and see what a pitcher is trying to do to me," said Hillenbrand, crediting hitting coach Dwight Evans with helping him to accept that philosophy.
Hillenbrand took the first pitch, a patented Rivera cutter for a strike. After taking two balls, Hillenbrand swung and missed another cutter. This is where his new approach came into play again.
"Last year if that happened I was finished. I would have been in awe," said Hillenbrand, the Sox's third baseman. "But I was able to get back on the plan, analyze my swing, regroup and give myself a chance."
Rivera threw another fastball, but this one didn't cut away from Hillenbrand. It stayed up about belt high and on the inner half of the plate. Hillenbrand turned on it and put a charge into it.
As the ball left the bat's sweet spot, Hillenbrand tossed his bat down, clapped his hands and pumped his fist in triumph as he began running out of the box. The ball sizzled into the net, with only the top of the screen keeping it from the Mass Pike.
"That was a bomb. Not just a home run. A bomb," said Evans with a smile.
"That was probably the most incredible feeling I've had outside of my wedding," said Hillenbrand, now batting .400 with a team-high 12 RBI. "If someone had bet a million dollars on this happening, I'd have said they were crazy, especially to pull the ball off Mariano. To tell you the truth, I don't know how it happened. It's a situation as a kid you dream for."
And the dream came true for Hillenbrand, the Sox and their loyal fans yesterday.
