MILWAUKEE -- When Derek Lowe took the mound as the starting pitcher for the American League in last night's All-Star Game at Miller Park, he was trying to uphold a recent Red Sox tradition.
The last two Red Sox pitchers to start in the Midsummer Classic not only earned the victory, but also the Most Valuable Player Award. They were Roger Clemens in Houston in 1986, and Pedro Martinez at Fenway Park in 1999.
Lowe, however, wasn't so fortunate. When Lowe was lifted after two innings, he was on the hook for the loss, though his A.L. teammates saved him from the defeat by rallying for the lead in the seventh inning.
The right-hander gave up a run on two hits, and it was his balk that helped set up the National League for its first run, in the second inning.
It could have been worse for Lowe, but Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter robbed Barry Bonds of a homer with a leaping, over-the-fence grab in right-center to end the first. And Red Sox teammates left fielder Manny Ramirez and third baseman Shea Hillenbrand combined to gun down Sammy Sosa trying for an extra base in the second inning.
"The buildup was something I had never experienced before, but once you get out there you're fine," said Lowe, who pitched a scoreless inning of relief in 2000 in his only other All-Star appearance.
"I'll tell you what, it was a lot of fun," said Lowe, who at 12-4 is tied for the league lead in wins, and is tops in the A.L. in earned-run average (2.36). "By far that's the toughest lineup I'll have to face. I was trying to take it all in, but on the other side, you don't want to go out there and embarrass yourself."
The only real embarrassing moment for Lowe came when he and catcher Jorge Posada got mixed up as Lowe began his motion from the stretch. Posada began to change signals, and Lowe stopped, taking his hand out of his glove, which pushed baserunner Vladimir Guerrero to third base.
Guerrero scored the game's first run on Mike Piazza's hard-hit ball to second base. The hits Lowe gave up were a laser of a single up the middle to Sosa and Guerrero's high chopper that bounced through the left side for a single.
Ramirez and Hillenbrand were the other Sox in the starting lineup.
Ramirez, playing a few steps away from the red number nine on a white square painted on the outfield grass to honor the late Ted Williams, racked up an assist when Sosa tested his arm and his approach to fielding Guerrero's single. Sosa never slowed down rounding second, but Ramirez never panicked. He fielded the ball and threw a strike to Hillenbrand, who slapped the tag on a sliding Sosa.
At the plate, Ramirez went 2-for-2. He turned around a 97-mph fastball from National League starter Curt Schilling and bounced a single to center in the second inning. In the fourth, Ramirez, an All-Star for the sixth time, delivered the first run of the night for the A.L., knocking in Jason Giambi from second with a looping two-out single to right off Odalis Perez.
Hillenbrand, voted in as a starter in only his second major-league season, went 0-for-2. He lost an eight-pitch battle to Schilling in the first inning, striking out swinging after fouling off five pitches.
In the fourth inning, Hillenbrand must have wished this game had been played at Fenway Park. He lofted a high, deep drive to left off Perez that easily would have cleared the Green Monster. Unfortunately, Miller Park is a bit longer in left, so Hillenbrand's drive was hauled in on the warning track by Lance Berkman.
Boston had six players in the game, more than any other team with the exception of the Yankees, who also had six.
Johnny Damon became the fourth member of the Sox to appear when he took over for Hunter in center field in the bottom of the fifth.
Damon, making his All-Star debut, manufactured a run in the seventh inning. He led off with a broken-bat single to first base, easily beating pitcher Mike Remlinger to the bag.
Damon promptly swiped second base, tagged up on a fly ball to right and trotted home on Garret Anderson's grounder to second base, narrowing the A.L. deficit to 5-3 and helping ignite a rally that produced a 6-5 advantage before the inning was over.
