When Pedro Martinez returned to action on August 26 after two months on the disabled list, it sparked hope among Bostonians that the ace could pitch the star-crossed Sox into the playoffs.
Unfortunately for Boston Red Sox fans, while Pedro pitched six shutout innings in his second start since returning from the disabled, it was not enough to save the squad from losing 3-1 to the New York Yankees.
Then on Sunday night, the Sox' playoff hopes were essentially extinguished when Mike Mussina came within one strike of throwing the first perfect game in Fenway Park's 89-year history. Carl Everett came off the bench and ran the count to 1-2 before lining a pitch into leftfield, ending Mussina's stab at perfection with one out in the ninth. While Mussina failed to complete the gem, he finished with the fourth one hitter of his career and slammed the door on the Sox season.
Following the loss, Boston's eighth in a row, Dan Duquette fired pitching coach John Cumberland - despite a dominating performance by David Cone - where he matched Mussina with eight shutout innings before surrendering an unearned run in the ninth to lose the game.
Adding insult to injury, former Boston star and current New York ace Roger Clemens picked up a win in the opening night of the series to improve his record to 18-1. Two Cy Young's later and well on his way to a third since leaving Boston (his sixth overall), Clemens continues to defy skeptics.
In a similar occurrence for notorious losers, the Chicago Cubs, who are actually in a pennant race this year, received some uplifting news from their star right-hander and staff ace, Kerry Wood. Wood, who has been on the disabled list since August 4 with right shoulder tendonitis, threw off the mound for the third time before Sunday's game against the Atlanta Braves - pain free. The big right-hander will be activated in time to start on Friday against the Braves.
Of course, the discussion of great pitchers returning from injuries would not be complete without mention of the Cincinnati Reds' Jose Rijo, who has made the most inspirational comeback of all. Even the writers had all but written off Rijo, as he was on the Hall of Fame ballot this past year and actually received a vote.
But on Sunday, Rijo continued his reemergence against Pittsburgh in the Reds' 8-6 victory. While his line was not overly impressive - two innings, two hits, and one earned run which raised his ERA to 3.38 - it is important to understand how this man's appearance in a box score is a miracle. After a six-year absence from the MLB in which Rijo had five elbow operations since his last game in 1995, the 36 year-old right-hander tossed two scoreless innings of relief in his return on Aug. 17. Although Rijo sported a 111-87 career mark with a 3.16 ERA at the beginning of the season, he will continue to pitch out of the bullpen for the time being.
Barry Bonds has been chasing home run history all season, but in a recent twist, Slammin' Sammy Sosa has entered the mix. While Bonds is new to the home run race - he had never hit 50 before this season - Sosa is right at home in the pursuit of home run records. Who can forget the classic 1998 duel between Mark McGwire and Sosa when the two surpassed Roger Maris' record 61 on the way to finishing with totals of 70 and 66, respectively.
Sosa followed up his 66 in 1998 with 63 and 50 in the two following years. While Bonds and the Arizona Diamondbacks' Luis Gonzalez had dominated the chase until Sosa's most recent explosion, Sosa's 16 homeruns in August put him at 53 dingers - only four behind Bonds. When Sosa slammed his 50th homerun on August 26, the slugger joined McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players to hit 50 or more in four seasons.
