|
|
A YEAR OF REBUILDING
... May 21, 1966 ... Jim Gosger lined a base hit over a drawn-in outfield, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give the Red Sox a walk-off 6 to 5 thrilling win. Gosger also got the hit that tied the game with a double in the seventh inning. Carl Yastrzemski slammed two long homers into the centerfield bleachers and Ken Sanders, set down the last 12 A's batters to gain the victory. Joe Foy started the winning rally in the ninth inning with a lead-off triple, and kept the game going with some daring baserunning. With one out and the score tied at five apiece, he tried to score on a grounder by Rico Petrocelli to Wayne Causey, the shortstop. Foy broke for the plate, but realized he made a mistake. A quick throw from Causey to catcher, Ken Suarez, had him caught in a run-down. But Foy, with a head fake and a belly slide got back to third safely. Jack Aker, with the league best ERA of .0.66 was on the mound and Gosger worked the count to 2 and 2. With both the infield and outfield pulled in, Gosger lined the ball over the head of Mike Hershberger, the centerfielder, and Foy jogged in with the winning run. Jerry Stephenson started for the Sox and struggled into the fifth, leading 3 to 1. But the Athletics jumped on him, then Darrell Brandon and Dick Stigman for four runs and a 5 to 3 lead. Sanders took over from there and pitched masterfully, striking out four. Meanwhile, Yaz cut the K.C. lead down to one run in the sixth, by lining his second homer of the day, 12 rows up into the bleachers. On the strength of the Yaz home runs, and a base hit by George Scott, starting A's pitcher Rolland Sheldon got knocked out of the game in the sixth inning, with Kansas City leading 5-4. Paul Lindblad got a doubleplay ball, and then issued a pass to Dalton Jones. At that point, manager Alvin Dark brought in his ace from the bullpen, Aker. Bob Tillman started off the seventh inning with a base hit off Aker. Earl Wilson came in to run and was sacrificed to second by Sanders. A two-out double into the left field corner by Gosger, brought in Wilson with the tying run. That set-up the winning rally in the ninth inning. Foy lined Aker's first pitch into the right field corner and as it rolled around, Foy sped into third base, Mike Ryan was next intentionally walked and the A's chose to pitch to George Smith instead, who was erased on a grounder to third. Foy held, but Ryan moved down to second on the play. Then Petrocelli hit the grounder that caught Foy in the rundown. In the first three inning, Larry Stahl and Yaz swapped homers to knot the score at 1-1. Then the Sox went up 3 to 1 when Gosger reached on an error by Dick Green, the secondbaseman for the A's. Yaz's base hit moved him over to third with the fifth straight hit off Sheldon. After George Scott struck out, Tony Conigliaro's fly to center scored Gosger. Dalton Jones then drew a walk and Yaz trotted down to second, from where he scored on a single from Foy. The A's bounced back with those four runs in the sixth inning to grab a 5-3 lead, but it wouldn't be enough. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
