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THE TED
WILLIAMS ERA COMES
TO A DRAMATIC END ...
The Sox rally in a three-run ninth
and walk-off a win against the Tigers
May 6, 1960
... For eight innings the Red Sox were unable
to advance beyond second base against Tigers pitcher, Jim Bunning.
But they erupted in the ninth-inning at Fenway Park and made their
way to a 3 to 2 victory. A bobbled ball by the shortstop, hit by
Pete Runnels provided the tying run. The winning run came home on a bloop fly to
short center by Frank Malzone, that Al Kaline couldn't quite reach.
Bobby Thomson opened up the inning with a single to left. Gene Stephens
banged the next pitch on the ground into right for another base hit, allowing
Thomson to scoot over to third-base. Lou Clinton, next hit a grounder between
third and short. Tigers thirdbaseman Eddie Yost went over and made a lunging
stop that put him down on his knees. He couldn't recover in time to make a
throw, so Clinton was safe at first. Stephens made his way over to second base
and Thomson crossed the plate with the first Red Sox run.
Don Gile bunted the two runners along to second and third with now one man
out. Pinch-hitter Marty Keough was intentionally walked and that put it up to
Don Buddin. He worked the count to three and two and then struck out. It was
Bunning's 13th strikeout of the day.
Next up was Pete Runnels. He hit the second pitch on the ground a few feet
from the second base side of shortstop Chico Fernandez. As the ball approached
Fernandez, it took a funny hop and hit off the top of his glove into his face as
Stephens raced home with the tying run.
Malzone came up and hit a two and one pitch on the fly into short center
field. Kaline was playing him too deep, came galloping in and couldn't quite
reach the ball, that came to him on the first hop. Clinton raced over the plate
and the ball game was over.
Against starting pitcher Frank Sullivan, Detroit took the lead in the first
inning. Yost doubled off the fence just above the scoreboard. He took third on a
fly ball then scored on a sacrifice fly. Sullivan put the Tigers hitters down
for the next three frames, but then yielded another run in the fifth. He allowed
five hits in seven innings after going out for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
Tom Brewer came in and pitched the final two innings, giving only a walk and
a ninth inning double by Bunning, getting the win. Bunning for eight innings,
struck out four men in the first two innings, and eight in five innings. |
