BoSox HRs Secure Win For Avery

May 16, 1998 / 8:55 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Steve Avery had bottomed out.

In 1991, at age 21, he was MVP of the National League championship series. On May 5, at age 28, he had what he called a "pitiful" performance in the minors.

He started his climb back Saturday, allowing three hits in five shutout innings as the Boston Red Sox got homers from Mo Vaughn and Damon Buford and beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0.

"When I got sent down, I looked at it as if everything that's happened over the last eight years hasn't happened," said Avery, a star with Atlanta from 1991-94. "This is the start of my career."

"He had some fire in his eyes warming up," Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said. "I've never seen him that focused. He was on a mission to do something."

Avery stranded runners at second and third in the first two innings but retired 11 batters in a row in one stretch before striking out his final batter, Jose Offerman, with runners at the corners and Boston ahead 3-0.

"It's always good to get a lead early," said Buford, who hit his second homer of the season after Darren Lewis led off the first with a single. "It might have helped Avery calm down."

Avery (1-0) was recalled Friday from Triple-A Pawtucket, where he was 0-2 with a 5.56 ERA in three starts. Rich Garces pitched 2 2-3 innings and Tom Gordon finished for his major league-leading 15th save in 16 chances.

The Royals dropped to 1-5 against Boston this season and have just 12 runs in those six games while batting .176. They had only three runners in the last seven innings.

"Today was the day you hoped you could generate more offense," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "Not to take anything away from Avery, but it wasn't a good outing by our offense."

Boston's first two hitters created a 2-0 lead against Jamie Walker (0-1). Then Vaughn led off the third with his 11th homer.

Walker, making his first start in 52 major-league appearances, followed with three strong innings before leaving after six.

Boston added two runs in the eighth when Troy O'Leary, who had singled, scored on a passed ball and Mark Lemke hit an RBI double.

"They've pitched well all year, not just against us," Muser said of the Red Sox, who have allowed four runs in the last 31 innings. "We didn't adjust to the park and try to hit the ball to right-center. We tried to attack The Wall."

Avery was 6-7 last season, his first with Boston, but earned the right to exercise his option to return at $3.8 million this year when he made his 18th start last Sept. 25.

He had been a starter his entire career but appeared in relief in his nine games this season before being sent to the International League on April 29. Injuries to Butch Henry and Brian Rose made rooin the starting rotation.

"I know I can do the job, no matter how the opening comes about," Avery said.

He made the most of his opportunity Saturday, getting his first win since last Aug. 8, also against Kansas City, 8-2.

He retired the first two batters before giving up a walk to Offerman and a double to Jeff King. But he got Jeff Conine on a fly ball. The first two batters reached in the second on an error and a single, but Avery retired the next three.

After retiring 11 consecutive batters, he allowed a walk to Shane Mack and a single to Shane Halter before striking out Offerman to end the fifth.

The Red Sox (26-15) remained 3 ½ games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East with their second straight win over Kansas City after a season-long four-game losing streak. The Royals lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Notes: Both starters began the day with high ERAs: 9.64 for Avery and 10.80 for Walker. ... Dean Palmer, scratched from the lineup Friday night because of upper back spasms, missed his third game of the season. He had 10 of his team's 34 homers going in. ... Lewis, 1-for-19 in his previous five games, reached base on his first three at-bats with two singles and a hit by pitch. ... Mike Benjamin is batting .321 in his eight starts at shortstop in place of Nomar Garciaparra, who has a mild shoulder separation and can come off the disabled list May 25. ... Kansas City has two homers in its last eight games.