|
“DIARY OF A WINNER”
|
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ... May 10, 1967 ... The Red Sox completed the road trip in Kansas City by giving the Athletics a 7 to 4 victory at Municipal Stadium. The loss gave the Sox a 6-3 record on the trip. Three of the losses, including this one, came as a result of poor defense in the late innings. Paul Lindblad, a relief pitcher for the Athletics, got the win by pitching shutout ball over the last three innings. Going into the seventh, the Sox were guarding a 4 to 3 lead. The A's tied the game and then got an unearned run, which turned out to be the winner, on an error by Mike Andrews. Billy Rohr started for the Red Sox, and after being staked to an early lead, got knocked out the third inning. Lee Stange and Don McMahon tried to hold the A's off, but Stange took the loss, as he gave the Athletics the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning. The Red Sox charged Blue Moon Odom with a three run assault before he could get a man out in the first inning. José Tartabull started the siege by beating out an infield hit. Joe Foy then singled to right and Carl Yastrzemski doubled home Tartabull as Foy moved over to third. On the first pitch he saw, George Scott lined a single to left-center to score both the runners and give Billy Rohr a three run lead. But Rohr couldn't hold it as the A's ripped him for three runs in the third inning. A walk to catcher Phil Roof and a single by Odom, set up Bert Campaneris as he doubled in the first run. With runners on second and third, Rick Monday lashed a single to left, that scored two more runs and tied the game. Hank Fischer came in to replace Rohr and got Jim Gosger to ground out with a bases-loaded, thus ending the threat. The Sox took the lead back from the A's in the fourth, when pinch-hitter Tony Horton came through with another base hit. He batted for Fisher with Andrews on second and Bob Tillman on first and two outs. Horton lined a single to right to score Andrews and put the Sox ahead, 4 to 3. Lee Stange came into pitch in the fourth and didn't give up a run through the middle innings. But then he ran into trouble in the seventh inning, when his defense could make the big play. Monday started the inning by beating out a bunt to third, when Foy's throw hit him as he crossed first base. Then on a perfectly executed hit and run, Mike Hershberger singled up the middle, moving Monday over to third with nobody out. Cleanup hitter, Danny Cater, next hit a slow roller to short. Rico Petrocelli didn't have a shot at getting Monday at the plate, so he went for the double-play. But on the relay to first, Mike Andrews threw wild for an error, allowing Cater to reach second. Stange got Ed Charles on it easy ground ball, only to have Dick Green single up the middle and score Cater, putting the A's ahead 5 to 4. In the eighth-inning, Kansas City wrapped it up against Don McMahon, as Rick Monday homered and McMahon walked four men in succession, forcing in the final run. And thus the Sox lost three games by one run, one by two runs and two by three runs on this trip. For Rohr, it was his third straight failure after his two great appearances early in the season against the Yankees. In his last three starts he has failed to reach the fourth inning and has given up 12 runs and 15 hits in his last 7 2/3 innings. Russ Gibson was optioned to Pittsfield, cutting the Red Sox roster to the 25 man limit. Meanwhile, in Toronto, Dave Morehead and Gerry Stephenson each pitched back-to-back shutouts against Jacksonville. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
 |