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THE SUMMER OF "MORGAN'S
MAGIC" ... June 26, 1988 ... The Sox produced seven doubles by six players, plus first-inning two-run homers by Mike Greenwell (No. 14) and Jim Rice (No. 4), as they belted the Orioles, 10-1. The offensive largesse was all to the benefit of Mike Smithson (3-2), who was winning his second consecutive Fenway outing while painting a complete-game, four-hit, six-strikeout win. The Sox had their 10-1 lead through five innings after ringing up four in the first and three in the second and fifth. Their first five hits were all for extra bases and they had three consecutive extra-base hits in both the first and fifth. Fred Lynn had given the Orioles a 1-0 lead with a home run in the first. But the Sox started where they had left off the day before. They pounded out four extra-base hits in the first, while taking a 4-1 lead, then took advantage of Cal Ripken's error on Rick Cerone's leadoff grounder in the second to score three more. Greenwell emphatically extended his hitting streak to 17 games (32 for 70, .457) when he crushed Oswaldo Peraza's two-out serving over the Sox' bullpen for a two-run job. It was his eighth homer and 28th and 29th RBIs in the month of June. Greenwell has six homers in seven games. Ellis Burks kept the first inning going with a double down the left-field line and then Rice drove a bullet over the screen, giving him 21 RBIs for the month. When Dwight Evans' two-out double off the center-field wall in the second plated Cerone and Marty Barrett, the Sox had a 6-1 lead and their fifth extra-base hit of the game. When Peraza walked Greenwell after Evans' hit, it was time for Mark Williamson's sojourn to the mound. Peraza had faced 13 batters in 1 2/3 innings and had given up three doubles, two homers and two walks. Off Williamson, Burks roped a single to left to score Evans, who had moved up on a passed ball. Terry Kennedy's second passed ball of the inning moved Burks to second and Greenwell to third, and the inning ended only when Rice lashed a line drive right at old teammate Lynn. Bidding to win their first series on the road since last August in California, the Orioles never had a chance. Smithson put down a couple of mild threats in the fourth and fifth. He got Larry Sheets on a liner to right and struck out Kennedy with two on to end the fourth. And with two aboard and two out the next inning, he got bailed out when Cal Ripken bounced to Boggs. The Sox returned to their hitting ways in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Rice walked and Todd Benzinger, Cerone and Spike Owen followed with consecutive doubles. That made it 9-1 and the fun continued. Boggs was walked intentionally to load the bases and Barrett's infield out scored Cerone. Evans walked, bringing Greenwell back for a curtain call. Greenwell ended the inning, but not before launching a shot that took Lynn to the warning track. |
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