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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ... May 28, 1967 ... Jim Lonborg finally broke the spell that the Orioles had over the Red Sox with a 4 to 3 victory. He was sailing along toward his third complete game in a row, but weakened in the eighth-inning as John Wyatt was called upon to save the game with two outs. Lonborg had weakened and left the field angry with himself for not being able to finish. Wyatt came in and for one-hitter and it looked as though the lead might be in jeopardy. He threw a wild pitch which allowed a run across the plate, but he bore down after walking Dave Johnson and struck out Larry Haney. When the game started, it looked like Lonborg might have the same fate as the two previous Red Sox starting pitchers. The club had given him a one run lead in the first inning on a double by Reggie Smith, a foul pop by Mike Andrews, which move Smith over to third, a walk to Carl Yastrzemski and a delayed double steal attempt. Yaz headed for second on the pitch to George Scott, but hung up halfway when the throw went to second base, allowing Smith to score easily. Up 1 to 0, the two Robinsons came back in the bottom half of the inning. Russ Snyder reached first on a tap down the second base and after Brooks Robinson had fanned, up came Frank Robinson. In the four games this year against the Sox, Frank had hit at least a home run in a game and he made it five with a wallop into the left-field stands on Lonborg's first pitch, to give the Orioles the lead, 2 to 1. But that was the last time the Robinson boys got to Lonborg it all. He struck out Brooks three times and struck out Frank twice, before making him hit a soft grounder to second in his final at bat. Steve Barber was on the mound facing the Red Sox and he staggered along until the fourth with a one run lead. After Don Demeter and grounded out, Rico Petrocelli hit his sixth home run of the year into the left centerfield stands to tie up the game. In the sixth inning, Smith and Andrews hit back to back singles. For Andrews it was his 10th hit of the trip in 22 times at bat. Smith raced to third on the single and Yaz hit a fly ball to deep center that scored Smith, putting the Sox up 3 to 2. Reggie blasted a double to open up the seventh and Andrews bunted him along to third. After Yaz had fanned, George Scott, with only two hits in 20 times up, stood there when Barber uncorked a wild pitch that scored Smith with the Red Sox fourth run. Lonborg had allowed only one man to reach second from the third inning through the seventh, but Russ Snyder started the eighth with a line drive to center. Reggie Smith tried for a shoestring catch and it got by him for a double. Frank Robinson moved Snyder ahead and the situation looked desperate as Lonborg walked the next two men. That was all for him with Wyatt getting the ball after a visit from Dick Williams. With the count two and two on Johnson, Wyatt threw a fastball past Mike Ryan, allowing Snyder to score and the others to move up. He then walked Johnson the load the bases. But he threw three balls past Larry Haney for a strikeout to get out of the inning. He kept the bases clear in the ninth-inning for his third save of the season. |
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