For the first time in Millennium League history, a #8 seeded team has knocked off the #1 seed. Boston, in the playoffs for the first time, defeated Atlanta 4 games to 2. The Red Sox strong starting pitching (Martinez, Glavine and Lowe) shut down Atlanta by allowing only 13 runs in 6 games. Click here for the boxscores. A summary of the series:
Boston travels to Atlanta for games 1 and 2.
Game 1: Glavine vs Millwood.... The Red Sox strike in the 1st inning thanks to Johnny Damon and Nomar. That 1-0 lead holds up until the 5th inning as Jeter, Chipper and A Jones all drive in runs to take a 3-1 lead and it would hold up. Atlanta takes game 1 3-1.
Game 2: Pedro v Maddux... a nice pitching matchup but Maddux doesn't hold up his end of the bargain and Boston hits 4 HR's to win 7-2.
The series is tied at 1-1 and goes to Boston.
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The series shifted to Boston, tied at 1-1.
Game 1: Glavine vs Millwood.... The Red Sox strike in the 1st inning thanks to Johnny Damon and Nomar. That 1-0 lead holds up until the 5th inning as Jeter, Chipper and A Jones all drive in runs to take a 3-1 lead and it would hold up. Atlanta takes game 1 3-1.
Game 2: Pedro v Maddux... a nice pitching matchup but Maddux doesn't hold up his end of the bargain and Boston hits 4 HR's to win 7-2.
The series is tied at 1-1 and goes to Boston.
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The series shifted to Boston, tied at 1-1.
Game 3: Derek Lowe pitched 7 innings giving up only 2 runs, and Nomar Garciaparra, up 1-0, hit a 2 run single in the 5th that gave Boston enough for the victory, as they won 3-2. John Smoltz pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Game 4: Damian Moss and Tim Wakefield squared off for 8 innings in a pitchers duel that Atlanta came out on top, as they tied the series at 2, with a 3-0 win. Andruw Jones hit his 1st homerun of the series, against Wakefield. Juan Acevedo pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
Game 5: In a rematch of Game 1, Millwood and Glavine faced each other again. Boston scored 1 run in each of the first 2 innings, and the score remained the same until the 5th. In that inning the Red Sox had 1st and 3rd with 2 outs when Jason Varitek hit a 3-run homerun to make it 5-0. Atlanta couldn't muster much against Glavine, until the 8th, when Rafeal Palmiero walked to load the bases. Esteban Yan came in to face Adruw Jones, and got him to pop out to end the inning. Timlin came in to pitch the 9th and got the Braves 1-2-3 to give Boston a 6-0 win, and a 3-2 series lead going back to Atlanta.
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Boston travels to Atlanta hoping to clinch the series...
Pedro v Maddux.... Boston strikes in the 2nd inning for a 2-0 lead and extends the lead off Maddux to 3-0 after 4 innings of play. Pedro is taking a no-hitter into the 5th before giving up a solo HR to Palmeiro. Atlanta ties the game in the next inning at 3 as Chipper knocks in a couple. The game will stay tied after regulation. Boston takes a 4-3 lead in the 11th on David Bells SF. Boston turns it over to Smoltz who puts the nail in the coffin for Atlanta's season. Boston wins 4-3 and knocks off the top-seeded Atlanta Braves.
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Boston travels to Atlanta hoping to clinch the series...
Pedro v Maddux.... Boston strikes in the 2nd inning for a 2-0 lead and extends the lead off Maddux to 3-0 after 4 innings of play. Pedro is taking a no-hitter into the 5th before giving up a solo HR to Palmeiro. Atlanta ties the game in the next inning at 3 as Chipper knocks in a couple. The game will stay tied after regulation. Boston takes a 4-3 lead in the 11th on David Bells SF. Boston turns it over to Smoltz who puts the nail in the coffin for Atlanta's season. Boston wins 4-3 and knocks off the top-seeded Atlanta Braves.