Again. They did it again.
And this time, Scott Fletcher-remember him?-was the hero.
Fletcher`s two-run pinch double in the ninth inning was the big hit as the White Sox, down 5-0 early, overwhelmed the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 Friday night in front of 24,102 in County Stadium.
It was the 21st time this season the Sox had won in their last at-bat. A statistic that once seemed a little contrived has become astounding with the kinds of comebacks this club has made lately.
Unless you`re Tom Trebelhorn.
”Good for them,” said the Milwaukee manager with a touch of mockery.
”Good for them. I hope they don`t have any hot water in their hotel tonight.”
Trebelhorn, of course, was having some fun. Not as much fun, of course, as the White Sox had.
Five runs off Alex Fernandez in the first two innings, three on Greg Vaughn`s homer in the first, had put the Sox in a hole before they scored four on starter Jaime Navarro in the sixth. The last two came on a homer by Dan Pasqua, whose sore ankle had made him a doubtful starter.
”Danny`s home run was big,” said Sox manager Jeff Torborg. It made it a game again.
Then in the ninth, Carlton Fisk, leading off the inning against Dan Plesac (0-3), reached on an error by Bill Spiers. Lance Johnson, trying to sacrifice, forced pinch-runner Ron Karkovice. But Sammy Sosa`s bloop single down the right-field line put Sox on first and second.
Up came Fletcher, batting for Joey Cora. Torborg had given the struggling veteran three starts just before the All-Star break, and he had gotten two hits in nine at-bats, matching his hit total for the previous month.
”I thought over the weekend he was starting to swing the bat well,”
Torborg said.
When Cora was activated Thursday, Fletcher was back on the bench.
”I would`ve started him here,” said Torborg, ”but I didn`t want Joey sitting around. I wanted to get him back in as quickly as we could.”
Torborg liked this matchup, even though Fletcher hadn`t driven in a run in 44 at-bats. His last RBI, on May 31, came on a ninth-inning single, and it beat Oakland.
This time, he launched a double toward the left-field corner that brought in two runs, gave the Sox a 6-5 lead and brought the thousands of Sox fans in the doomed ballpark to their feet.
It was a rare chance for Fletcher to contribute. When he asked for a trade before the break, he said that`s all he wanted-a chance. Here it was.
”I was trying not to think about the situation,” Fletcher said, ”as opposed to what I was trying to do at the plate. That`s all I was thinking.” And he contributed.
”That was a professional at-bat,” said Torborg, ”but it was also professional preparedness. Scotty was not happy sitting, but he`s never brought it to the team. Never long-faced. He stays and works as hard as he can. He`s ready to hit, and all of a sudden he`s starting to get his bat in the swing.”
There were other contributors.
Robin Ventura`s two-run single in the ninth made it 8-5, which made meaningless Spiers` two-out homer off Bobby Thigpen (save No. 19) in the Milwaukee ninth. An RBI double by Frank Thomas in the sixth, before Pasqua`s homer, kept that inning alive.
Then there`s Melido Perez.
After Fernandez got rocked, Perez (5-4) pitched 6 2/3 innings of shutout relief. His earned-run average out of the bullpen, in 14 appearances, is down to 1.27 and his record up to 4-0.
”He`s just gone to that bullpen and come out really tough,” Torborg said. ”He`s come out aggressively to pitch.”
”So far, I`m doing a good job down there,” said Perez, who seems almost embarrassed by what`s happened. ”He likes the way I`m pitching there.”
And the Sox continue to win games in their last at-bat. What`s the secret?
”I really don`t know,” Torborg said. ”It`s just what they`ve got in their stomachs, I guess. They`re just a very strong-willed bunch of kids.”
And Friday night, they were led by a very strong-willed veteran second baseman.
