08:33 AM EDT on Friday, July 23, 2004

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

AP photo Abe Alvarez delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning at Boston's Fenway Park yesterday.

BOSTON -- Abe Alvarez' day will come. Just ask him. But the confident, 21-year-old lefty showed yesterday that he's not quite ready for prime time.

A pitcher short entering yesterday's doubleheader against Baltimore, the Sox summoned their top minor-league pitching prospect from Double-A Portland. Alvarez admitted he was "shocked" when told of the news Tuesday night in Norwich, Conn., and yesterday he was, in a word, shaky. Known as a crafty pitcher with good control, Alvarez walked five and was in constant trouble.

In five innings, he surrendered two homers, eight hits and five runs, and his major-league debut was over. The Red Sox couldn't recover from the 5-1 hole and lost to the Orioles in the openr of their day-night twin bill, 8-3.

"I can't remember the last time I walked that many people," said the Fontana, Calif., native. "I wasn't nervous. I just had trouble finding the strike zone; that was it."

With almost no scouting report on Alvarez, the Orioles wanted to put some early pressure on the rookie, and they succeeded. After throwing three straight balls to leadoff hitter Brian Roberts, Alvarez battled back to a full count before issuing the walk. He struck out David Newhan, but Melvin Mora followed with a rocket up the right-center gap for an RBI double. That brought up Miguel Tejada. Alvarez worked the star slugger away for two balls, and when he came inside with his mid-80s fastball, Tejada blasted a shot into the Monster Seats in left for a 3-0 lead.

"You have to try to get something inside, and the second one was just up some," Alvarez said. "Hey, Tejada, he's a great hitter."

Alvarez continued to walk the fine line between danger and disaster the rest of his outing. He was bailed out of a two-on, one-out jam in the second when Jason Varitek picked off Jerry Hairston at third base. Mora cranked a solo homer in the third, but Tejada fell asleep and was doubled off second for a key out later in the inning. Alvarez allowed a single and two walks in the fourth but escaped unscathed. He did allow a run in the fifth after a walk, a hit-batsman and a Hairston double.

"That was a big inning, just being out there for the first time," Alvarez said of his first-inning woes. "It was kind of like a 'welcome to the big leagues' type of deal."

Red Sox pitching coach Dave Wallace said he was impressed with the youngster's toughness, if not his control.

"For a young kid to come up in this situation, in this park, I thought he did an admirable job," Wallace said. "It could've been a lot worse, but he didn't fold. He didn't give in."

Making a large jump up the professional baseball ladder is nothing new for Alvarez. Last June, the Red Sox made him the 49th (second round) overall pick, awarded him a $700,000 bonus and sent him to Lowell for a short season in Class-A ball. He was dominant at the level, allowing no earned runs in 19 innings. That effort spurred the Sox to skip the former Long Beach State All-American over a full Class-A season and place him in Portland.

So far, he has responded pretty well. In 19 starts for Portland, he's 8-6 with a 3.53 E.R.A. He's limited left-handed hitters to a .202 batting average and allowed only three walks in his last 24 innings.

When Alvarez was told that he'd get a taste of the big leagues, he didn't believe it. "I was shocked. I almost took it as a joke. I was shaking," he said.

He called his parents and put them on a plane to Boston, and Alex and Mercedez Alvarez were at Fenway yesterday.

Born with an infection, Alvarez was given potent medication that left him legally blind in his left eye. He has slightly blurred vision, but says he's not bothered at all when he's on the mound.

"I think this was a huge step," he said of yesterday's Boston debut. "To think that just about a year ago I was getting drafted. I'm glad they have so much confidence in me."

The Sox optioned Alvarez back to Portland after the game.

****

Alvarez performance

INNINGS: 5

BATTERS FACED: 25

RUNNERS ALLOWED: 13 (8 hits, 5 walks)

OUTS RECORDED: 15 (6 ground balls, 4 fly balls, 2 strikeouts, 1 runner picked off, 1 runner doubled off, 1 runner thrown out at plate)

RUNS ALLOWED: 5 (all earned)

HOME RUNS ALLOWED: 2

NUMBER OF PITCHES: 95

NUMBER OF STRIKES: 49 (51.6%)