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CARL YASTRZEMSKI |
The Sox win with a late game rally
July
19, 1982 ... For 6 1/2 innings, the Texas
Rangers and Doc Medich had Boston shut out, 5-0. Not only that, while
the Red Sox explored the mathematical possibilities of leaving
runners on base, they handed Texas three runs and, in the process,
lost both Dwight Evans and Reid Nichols and ended up with Ed Jurak
playing center.
The Sox then came back to score four runs after two were
out in the seventh and five in the eighth in a tympani roll of singles
culminating in Carl Yastrzemski's three-run homer off Jon Matlack. After key
singles by Rich Gedman and Dave Stapleton for the seventh-inning runs and a
barehanded catch of a popup by Stapleton, Mark Clear's workout was turned into a
victory when Ed Jurak tied it with his first major league RBI. Jim Rice put
them ahead and Yaz finished it with his first Fenway homer off a lefthanded
pitcher since May 9, 1979, the club's fifth off a lefty here all season.
The Red Sox pulled off this 9-5 madness before 19,218. For
the poor Rangers, it was their seventh straight loss, not to mention their ninth
loss in 10 meetings with Boston.
The Red Sox' comeback from all that went on in those first
6 1/2 innings covers up a host of negatives. Chuck Rainey really did pitch
pretty well. He gave up 12 hits in seven innings, but not only were they all
singles, several were dunked here, there and everywhere.
After Dave Hostetler muscled a single into right for a
first-inning run, Buddy Bell hit a routine fly to right that Evans lost in the
twilight for the second run in the third. Confusion on a cutoff led to another
run in the fifth and Jurak's surrounding of a playable but sinking Mike Richardt
fly ball in his center-field debut cost them a third. Not only that, Evans
aggravated his right hamstring while striking out in the first, so he left in
the fourth. Nichols replaced him, but when he doubled in the fifth he re-pulled
his left groin muscle.
There was one saving play as Jerry Remy dived to spear a
Mickey Rivers single in the third and cut down Bell rounding too far off third.
So, with two out and none on in the bottom of the seventh,
Doc. Medich allowed a single through the middle to Rice. He pitched around Yaz,
to whom he gave two walks and two singles, and then walked Boggs to load the
bases. Enter Darwin, who'd had a streak of 19 1/3 scoreless innings snapped
Sunday. Only Gedman broke his bat and singled for two runs, Stapleton got the
kind of break he's lacked with a bouncer through the left side for two more runs
and it was 5-4.
Clear was already warmed to get some work, so he came on
anyway. He had some problems such as going to three balls on the first four
hitters, walking one, hitting another. But when Buddy Bell hit a foul popup
toward first and accidently brushed Stapleton, knocking his glove off, the Sox'
first baseman caught the ball barehanded.
Rick Miller, Saturday's hero against Dan Quisenberry, began
the eighth with a shot to center that defensive replacement George Wright played
into a double. Darwin got a nasty pitch in on Remy, who muscled it into left.
First and third. Jurak sent a bouncer through the middle of the drawn-in infield
for his first RBI and the 5-5 tie. Rice, who was 1 for 18 with no RBIs against
Darwin, sent a pea into right to make it 6-5, and when Zimmer brought in Matlack
to face Yaz, The Captain kissed a three-run shot into the Texas bullpen, his
12th homer of the season. |
