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Sox bats smash the
California Angels
May 15, 1996
...
It was by far the best and biggest Red Sox victory of the season,
17-6 over the California Angels on April 15th, at Fenway Park. An
offensive outburst of 17 hits, including six doubles and four homers.
Mo Vaughn (2 homers, 4 RBIs), Mike Stanley (4 RBIs) and Troy O'Leary
(3 doubles) highlighted a big night and the bullpen turned in another
good performance, allowing just one run over five innings. Neither Sox starter, Tom Gordon
nor California starter Jason Grimsley could hold a lead. The Angels went up,
1-0, on Jim Edmonds' triple to center that scored Garret Anderson, who led off
the game with a single. Gordon walked a couple, loading the bases, then started
a double play to help escape the jam. The Sox responded with Mike Stanley's
three-run homer, a line drive that barely made it over the top of the wall.
Setting it up was John Valentin's single to right and stolen base and Jose
Canseco's walk.
The Angels chipped away with
solo runs in the second and third. The second-inning run was a gift of Stanley's
errant arm as he overthrew second on Randy Velarde's steal. Velarde advanced to
third and scored on Gary DiSarcina's ground out. In the third, Chili Davis
stroked an RBI single, knocking in Edmonds, who had doubled.
It was 3-3 when Grimsley gave
up the lead again. This time Wil Cordero set the table with a single to center
and easily came home on Troy O'Leary's double to left. Canseco made it 5-3 with
a solo homer high atop the net in left-center on a 2-2 offering, his fifth
homer.
With one out in the fourth,
Gordon allowed back-to-back hits to Jorge Fabregas (single) and DiSarcina (RBI
double). On the DiSarcina hit, Valentin's relay throw to the plate was
completely missed by Stanley for his second error of the game. If that weren't
bad enough, Tim Naehring let Anderson's hard-hit grounder elude him, allowing
the tying run to score.
The Sox opened it up in the
fourth, taking a 10-5 lead, capped by Vaughn's first homer, a mammoth shot over
the triangle wall in right-center off lefty Mark Holzemer. The homer prompted
Angels manager Marcel Lachemann to race out of the dugout as the ball was in
flight. Vaughn added another two-run blast later, and he's now hitting .326 with
14 homers and 41 RBIs. Through 37 games last year, Vaughn was .308 with 13
homers and 35 RBIs. His Fenway numbers this season: .420 with 8 homers and 22
RBIs. |
