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DAVE BOSWELL |
THE "CARDIAC KIDS" &
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
Dave Boswell limits the Sox to three hits
August
5, 1967 ... The Red Sox lost to the Minnesota
Twins, 2 to 1 for the second straight night at Metropolitan Stadium.
They managed only three hits off right-hander, Dave Boswell, one of
them being Rico Petrocelli's 10th home run of the season. But they
went down in order in six of the nine innings. Their only serious
threat consisted of three walks issued to them in the fourth inning.
Things went bad right from the start. After Twins leadoff batter, Zoilo
Versalles, was thrown out going for two bases, on a single to right in the first
inning, Cesar Tovar lined a single off Sox starter, Lee Stange's glove. With
Tovar running on the first pitch, Tony Oliva lined a single to right that went
over Tony Conigliaro's head for a run-scoring double. Petrocelli got that run
back in the second inning with a line drive over the left-field fence. Then
Versalles got the lead back for the Twins, with a leadoff home run in the third,
that went 375 feet into the bleachers in left-center.
In the fourth inning, Boswell walked Conigliaro and George Scott with one
out. Petrocelli flied to center and Reggie Smith walked to load the bases.
Elston Howard, making his first appearance in a Red Sox uniform, ran the count
to one and one, and then with Conigliaro breaking for a home, Boswell threw
another pitch that Howard fouled off. The next pitch was a high fastball over
the plate, that Howard swung at and missed.
The Sox reached base only two times after that and each man was erased, as
Boswell faced the minimum of 15 men in the final five innings. Conigliaro was
hit by a pitch, with one out in the sixth, and was out trying to steal.
Petrocelli led off the seventh with a single to left, but Reggie Smith, trying
to sacrifice, popped it up in the air and Boswell turned it into an easy double
play. Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Conigliaro and George Scott were up in the ninth
but Boswell got them easily to end the game.
The loss negated a splendid pitching performance by Lee Stange. After the
third inning home run by Versalles, Stange retired 10 successive batters. With
one out in the sixth, Oliva slammed his second double of the day off the fence
in center. After Killebrew was intentionally walked, Bob Allison took a called
third strike to end that threat. Boswell also doubled off the left centerfield
fence in the eighth with two out, but he was stranded.
John Wyatt came in and pitched the eighth and got into trouble. Oliva beat
out a chopper with one out and came wheeling around third-base when Killebrew
hit a line drive off the fence in left field. But Yastrzemski and Petrocelli
threw strikes to nail Oliva at the plate. |