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Dick Gernert's 10th inning
walk-off homer
wins a thriller against the Orioles
August 28, 1959
... Dick Gernert pumped his 11th home run, with a man
on base, to give the Red Sox a 6 to 4 win, in a 10 inning thriller,
against the Orioles. After Gary Geiger flied deep to right to
start the tenth, Pete Runnels came through with a base hit, his
fourth of the game. Gernert came up next and worked the count to 3-2
against Billy Loes. Then he took hold of a waist-high fastball high
into the left field nets for a walk-off game winner.
His smash gave Nelson Chittum his first big league win. Chittum had
come in at the start of the eighth inning and held Baltimore
scoreless, after Tom Brewer and Mike Fornieles had pitched before
him.
The Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead for Brewer, who shut-out the O's for
the first six innings. Three consecutive singles by Geiger, Runnels
and a little infield squibber by Gene Stephens, gave them their first
run in the first inning off Hal Brown. Then Runnels chased home
Geiger with a sharp double down the right field line in the third
inning, for the second run.
Brewer lost his stuff in the seventh inning when the Orioles brought
home four runs, to take a 4-2 lead. Willie Tasby, who had four hits
in the game, doubled and Billy Klaus singled. Bob Nieman's grounder
brought in the first run and Gene Woodling brought in the tying run
with a sacrifice fly.
Billy Jurges then brought in Mike Fornieles, who served up a double
to Walt Dropo to bring in the go-ahead run. That was followed by a
single by Brooks Robinson, scoring Dropo, for Baltimore's fourth run
of the inning.
But the Sox came back with a single run in the seventh inning, on a
line double by Frank Malzone that bounced off the wall, and a high
fly, wall-ball double by Ted Williams, who pinch-hit for Sammy White.
In the eighth inning, singles by Geiger and Runnels off Billy O'Dell,
put runners on the corners for Gernert who came in to hit for
Stephens. He tied the game up with a sacrifice fly. And so it
remained until the 10th inning.
Runnels and Geiger accounted for seven of the twelve Red Sox hits in
the game. |
