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THE SUMMER OF "MORGAN'S
MAGIC" ...
Ellis Burks' 5 RBIs sparks a Sox win
July
17, 1988 ... Some of 'em are ugly. The Red Sox
recorded their fourth consecutive victory, 10-8, over the Kansas City
Royals in front of 34,181 Fenway faithful (who sat all day in an
unrelenting 99 degrees). But let it
be recorded, too, that they hung on after taking a 7-0 lead in the second, after
using Mike Smithson in relief and even after watching stopper/closer/terminator
Lee Smith give up a two-run homer in the eighth that made it 10-8.
For the
first two innings, the most frightening thing around was the bat of Ellis Burks.
With one out in the first, the Sox center fielder muscled a 1-0 pitch high into
the screen for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead. The next inning, he lined a
shot that bounced high and by Danny Tartabull in right for a two-run triple and
the 7-0 lead.
And in his
next at-bat, Burks knocked a double to left-center that put him within a base
hit of being the first Bostonian to hit for the cycle since Rich Gedman in 1985.
He didn't do it, having been asked to bunt later in the game, and the Sox
wouldn't get what would be the winning run until Jody Reed's sacrifice fly
brought in Kevin Romine for a 9-3 lead in the fifth. Run No. 10 came in the
sixth, Wade Boggs' off-field homer into the screen.
They've
won their first four under the tutelage of Morgan and they did it today with 13
hits and without the potent bat of Dwight Evans (sidelined with a sore left
leg).
The Red
Sox have shown some spark, versatility and a certain swagger on a club that only
a week earlier was walking with heads down, in a death march. Now, people stay
in their seats even when the Sox are down and the best hitting team in the
American League can win a little when it doesn't LOB itself to death (they left
9 on base today).
When
Gardner left in the seventh, the Royals were on their way to touching him up for
six runs on eight hits. Smithson came in, gave up a two-run single (runs on
Gardner's tab) and exited in the eighth. Smith lumbered in and gave up Kurt
Stillwell's two-run bomb to right (one run on Smithson's tab), before finishing
it, 1-2-3, in the ninth.
It was the
Sox’ first series sweep over Kansas City since July 3-5, 1979. It was also
Boston's third sweep of the year and gave the Sox nine straight victories at
home. |
