Daubach Is the Right Man at Right Time for Red Sox

The Fenway crowd of 30,957 was on its feet cheering for Brian Daubach, but one onlooker gave him some encouragement that meant more than most.

With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox down by two and Daubach facing a full count, Nomar Garciaparra simply told Daubach, “Go do your job.”

With that, the rookie first baseman returned to the batter’s box and won the game, hitting a three-run double that gave Boston a 6-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics and preserved its lead in the AL wild-card race.

Oakland, which would have tied the Red Sox in the wild-card race with a win, led 4-0 after three innings and had a 5-3 lead in the ninth with closer Doug Jones (3-5) on the mound.

After singles to Jason Varitek and pinch-hitter Butch Huskey, Trot Nixon flied out to left. Jose Offerman singled to load the bases and John Valentin struck out before Tim Worrell relieved Jones to face Daubach.

Texas 13, Cleveland 5--Rafael Palmeiro, making a rare pinch-hitting appearance, hit a three-run homer and Ivan Rodriguez homered twice at Cleveland where the Rangers snapped the Indians’ six-game winning streak.

Palmeiro, pinch-hitting for the second time this season, connected for his 31st homer in Texas’ five-run seventh inning.

Seattle 7, Toronto 5--Alex Rodriguez homered for the fifth consecutive game, hitting his 32nd of the season at Toronto as the Blue Jays suffered their fifth consecutive loss.

New York 2, Minnesota 0--Roger Clemens (11-5) gave up four hits in 8 2/3 sharp innings, outpitching former Yankee farmhand Eric Milton at New York.

Shane Spencer’s single with one out in the eighth broke a scoreless game.