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DEAN CHANCE |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
Dean Chance
stops the Red Sox with a 5-hitter
May
6, 1967 ... The Red Sox lost for the fourth
time in a row and the fifth time in their last six games. Dean Chance
was the villain this time, as he threw a five hitter that stopped the
Sox, 4 to 2 at Metropolitan Stadium. For eight innings he gave up
just two singles. However, the Red Sox got to him for two runs in the
ninth to spoil his shutout. Darrell Brandon took the loss of the
Sox, but really didn't pitch a bad game. He gave up all four runs, with two of
them being unearned, and pitched well enough to win many games.
His defense made two errors behind him that gave the Twins two runs, but he
walked Cesar Tovar to lead off the game. Rod Carew promptly singled Tovar over
to third. Zoilo Versalles, who was on a hot hitting streak, then singled him in
with the first run. Brandon appeared to be out of the inning with just one run
against him, when Harmon Killebrew struck out and Carew was out trying to steal
third base. But then Bob Allison struck out and the ball got by catcher Bob
Tillman for a passed ball, allowing Allison to reach first. Andy Kosco then hit
a ground ball to third and Dalton Jones threw the ball away, letting Versalles
score from third, to make it 2 to 0.
Dean Chance, on the way to his fourth win of the young season, toyed with the
Red Sox for eight innings. In the first, Carl Yastrzemski singled to left and
leading off the sixth, José Tartabull beat out a bunt. That was all the hitting
the Sox could muster until the ninth-inning.
Meanwhile, the Twins built up a 4 to 0 lead with two more runs in the
seventh. Rookie thirdbaseman Ron Clark started the inning with a line drive home
run off the left-field foul pole. Brandon erased the next two batters and should
have escaped without any further trouble, but Dalton Jones let a ground ball go
through his legs for another error. Carew and Versalles both singled to move the
runner around from first with the fourth Minnesota run.
With Chance pitching the way he had been, it seemed that the Sox were just
about done. Yet they gave it a try and the ninth when Tartabull and
pinch-hitter, Don Demeter, opened up the inning with singles. Yaz flied out, but
George Scott drove Tartabull home from second with a ground single up the
middle. Jones lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Demeter from third, but Chance
got Rico Petrocelli on a deep fly to left to end the game. |
