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Troy O'Leary triples and the
Sox walk-off winners
August 2, 1996
...
Troy O'Leary's long drive flew into the night on Dan Naulty's second
offering, first looking as if it would easily reach the Sox bullpen,
then drifting into that sinister triangle that usually spells doom
for someone. The ball was coming down and the Twins’ Rich Becker
seemed to have a bead on it, following it ever so carefully. But at
the moment of impact, it grazed off his glove for a triple that
scored pinch runner John Valentin and Lee Tinsley, capped the Red
Sox' two-out, none-on rally from a three-run deficit and produced an
uplifting 11-10 victory over the Minnesota Twins before a fraction of
the 28,041 fans who started out at Fenway. The Sox, beaten badly by the
Twins at the Metrodome last weekend in three of four games, trailed, 10-7,
heading into the ninth after Heathcliff Slocumb blew his seventh save in a
five-run eighth, the big blow a two-run, bases-loaded single by Becker, who was
not available to discuss his bittersweet night after the game.
It was the 19th blown save by
the Sox bullpen, and the fans began to exit in disgust. They would regret
leaving. A 445-foot two-run homer by Reggie Jefferson, who went 4 for 5 to raise
his average to .359, following a two-out walk to Tim Naehring began Naulty's
demise.
Then came a nifty at-bat by
Scott Hatteberg, who had come in as a defensive replacement for catcher Mike
Stanley (three RBIs, including his 19th homer). Hatteberg lined a shot off the
pitcher's right shin and the ball bounded toward the first base line. Hatteberg
appeared to run out of the baseline trying to avoid Naulty, slipped and fell
momentarily before getting up and being called safe by umpire Chuck Meriwether,
who ruled that Naulty's throw pulled first baseman Scott Stahoviak off the bag.
Tinsley, who had entered in the eighth as a defensive replacement, worked a
walk, setting the stage for O'Leary's heroics.
The Sox went up, 4-0, against
former Fenway relief temp Rick Aguilera in the first, ignited by Darren Bragg's
homer on the first pitch he saw in a Boston home uniform, an RBI single by
Stanley and Mike Greenwell's double to right that was botched by Matt Lawton,
yielding two runs. But Tom Gordon couldn't maintain the cushion, eventually
falling into a 5-5 tie before the Sox pulled ahead, 7-5, entering the eighth.
Then Bragg committed a
seemingly fatal error, dropping Dave Hollins' routine fly off Stan Belinda to
ignite the five-run Minnesota uprising. Thanks to Jefferson and O'Leary,
however, the Sox ultimately did win it. |
