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JIM LONBORG |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
Jim Lonborg
stops the Sox losing streak
at five games
July
9, 1967 ... Jim Lonborg stopped the longest
Red Sox losing streak of the season at Tiger Stadium. After the Sox
had lost the opener of a doubleheader, 10 to 4, he pitched seven
masterful innings in the second game, to give the Red Sox a 3 to 0
victory. Home runs by Reggie Smith and Carl Yastrzemski provided
the winning runs for his 11th victory. They bowed to Earl Wilson in the first
game and the Sox losing streak went up to five games. However, Lonborg, with
relief help from John Wyatt in the last two innings, stopped the rampaging
Tigers on four hits.
The Tigers had won seven in a row until Lonborg came along and didn't give up
a walk, until he was relieved in this 87° heat. The Sox staked Lonborg to a 2 to
0 lead in the second inning, when Jerry Adair tripled and Reggie Smith hit a
home run. Adair was playing the second game because Rico Petrocelli said his
injured wrist was sore. Adair lined a bolt off starter Dave Wickersham to the
370 foot mark in right-center for the triple. Smith followed, and with a three
and two count, laced a line drive off the facing of the upper deck in right for
his sixth home run of the season.
Wickersham left the game when the Sox got the first two runners on base in
the third inning. He was picked up by Fred Gladding, who pitched four scoreless
innings in relief.
Lonborg, meanwhile, was hit hard in the first two innings, but escaped
without any harm when several hard-hit balls went right at Sox fielders. Then,
pitching to Dick McAuliffe with two out in the sixth, Lonborg started to feel
dizzy from the heat, which brought out trainer Buddy Leroux and manager Dick
Williams. Jim stayed in the game until the seventh inning, when he left in favor
of John Wyatt.
Carl Yastrzemski, fighting his way out of his worst hitting slump of the
season, made it 3 to 0 with his 19th home run of the year to lead off the
eighth. Pat Dodson, the third Tiger pitcher, served it up to Yaz and he sliced
it into the left-field seats.
The Tigers put the first game out of sight early. They jumped on Gary Bell
for four hits in the third, and for four more off José Santiago in the fourth
inning. It gave them a 9 to 3 lead.
McAuliffe hit his 16th home run and put the Tigers ahead 1 to 0 in the first
inning. The Sox bounced back with three runs in their third to take a brief
lead. Bell opened up the inning with a single and Mike Andrews reached on an
error by first baseman Norm Cash, who dropped an easy throw from pitcher Earl
Wilson. Joe Foy bunted the runners along and Yaz singled to right to tie the
game. After Tony Conigliaro struck out, George Scott hit an easy pop up behind
first base and McAuliffe and Cash got confused about who was going to catch it.
The ball finally bounced out of McAuliffe's glove for an error, with both
runners scoring, making it 3 to 1 in favor of Boston.
Manager Dick Williams then replaced Scott, who he thought didn't hustle on
the pop up, and replaced him with George Thomas. No sooner had Thomas taken his
position, Lenny Green cracked a single past him, to get the first four-run rally
underway. Then with two outs, Bell walked McAuliffe and Cash to load the bases.
He threw a wild pitch that scored one and Jim Northrup laced a single to right
to put the Tigers back in front, 4 to 3.
José Santiago was then called in and he was not much better. He pitched to
nine batters and six of them had hits, most of which were hard line drives. The
first one was a single by Bill Freehan that scored Northrup from second. He then
got Mickey Stanley to fly out and end the inning, but the Tigers were ahead 5 to
3.
In the bottom of the fourth Earl Wilson greeted Santiago with a home run.
Green then doubled to left and was brought in on a single by Jerry Lumpe.
McAuliffe singled Lumpe to third and he scored on a base hit by Cash. After
getting Northrup to ground out, Santiago was replaced by Gary Waslewski. He
uncorked a wild pitch that allowed McAuliffe to score, making it 9 to 3.
Waslewski was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning and replaced by Dan Osinski
who gave up the final Tigers run on a double by Northrup and a single by
Stanley. |
