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The Sox sweep a doubleheader by different routes May 2, 1971 ... The fans at Fenway Park were treated to a real smorgasbord of baseball, as the Red Sox swept a thrilling doubleheader from the Minnesota Twins by scores of 1 to 0 and 9 to 8. The first game was a pitching masterpiece, with Ray Culp serving up a brilliant two-hit victory over Bert Blyleven. The second game was more pot luck, as the Red Sox came back to win with a dramatic ninth inning rally. Trailing 8 to 7, in the nitecap, opening up the ninth-inning, George Scott rammed a triple to knock in the tying run, before scoring the game-winner himself on a clutch single by pinch-hitter George Thomas. Culp and Blyleven had allowed only 12 baserunners between the two of them. But in the second game, which lasted more than 3 1/2 hours, the two teams had 43 men reach base. When it was all over, the Red Sox had a full game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. Culp had pitched many great games since joining the Red Sox, but this may have been his best. He gave up a double to Cesar Tovar, to lead off the game, and then retired the next 15 men, before Leo Cardenas doubled to open up the sixth inning. Culp then set down 11 men before walking Steve Braun in the ninth-inning with two outs. He then forced Tony Oliva to bounce a ball back to the mound and end the game himself. The winning run was scored by the Red Sox in the third inning and was unearned. Luis Aparicio lined a double to left-center with one out. Blyleven struck out Reggie Smith and Yastrzemski hit a ground ball to secondbaseman Braun. But Braun let the ball get by him for an error and Aparicio alertly sprinted all the way home from second base. The second game was pure chaos. The Sox jumped on Twins starter Steve Barber, for a 2 to 0 lead in the first inning. Then Minnesota clobbered Sonny Siebert to move out to a 7 to 2 lead, going into the Sox half of the seventh-inning. Then the Red Sox tied it up in the eighth. In the ninth, Minnesota went back in front, 8 to 7, but blew it in the bottom half of the inning. Billy Conigliaro had sent the Sox in front 2 to 0 in the first inning with a bases-loaded single. Then the Twins got single runs in the second, fourth and sixth innings, all knocked in by sacrifice flies. Two were hit by Brant Alyea and the other by Cardenas. Down 3 to 2, the wall caved in on Siebert in the seventh inning. The Twins scored four times on doubles by Tony Oliva, George Mitterwald and pinch-hitter Jim Holt, sandwiched around singles by Tovar and Braun, putting the Minnesota up 7 to 2. The Sox came back however, with four runs in the seventh inning themselves. Conigliaro reached first on an error by Cardenas and after the next two men went out, pinch-hitter Joe Lahoud was hit by a pitch from Stan Williams. Williams left the game after Aparicio singled one run home and was replaced by Tom Hall, to pitch to Reggie Smith. Hall's pitch landed off the top of the left-field fence and bounced onto Lansdowne Street for three runs, making the score 7 to 6. Sparky Lyle was called on again and blinded the Twins in the eighth-inning. Then catcher Don Pavletich opened the Sox ninth with a double, carried to centerfield by a strong tailwind. John Kennedy came in to pinch run and moved over to third on a wild pitch by Perranoski. Up next was Doug Griffin who bounced an easy roller back to the mound, but Perranoski threw the ball into the dirt at first and Kennedy came in to score the tying run. Manager Eddie Kasko then left himself open for second-guessing, when he pinch hit for Lyle with Dwayne Josephson. Josephson bunted into a force play that killed the rally. Lyle, who had given up a run all year, was replaced by Ken Tatum to pitch the ninth-inning. The first thing Tatum did was hit Braun with a pitch, before giving up a single to right by Oliva. Killebrew followed with a single to center that scored Braun and put Oliva on third-base. Holt came to bat and hit a high hopper over the mound that Aparicio moved in on quickly and in one motion, faked Oliva back to third and threw to Griffin at second. Griffin took one look over to Oliva, to make sure he wasn't going anywhere, and then rifled the throw to first for a game saving doubleplay. Ron Perranoski walked Yaz to open up the ninth. Rico Petrocelli sacrificed him to second, bringing up Scott who ripped a triple in the alley in right-center that scored Yaz with the tying run. Twins manager, Bill Rigney, ordered Billy Conigliaro walked to set up a possible double-play. But Perranoski walked pinch-hitter Phil Gagliano next, to load the bases. George Thomas was sent up to pinch-hit for Doug Griffin and he hit the second pitch on two hops, between Tovar at third and Cardenas at short. They were playing on the lip of the infield grass, looking for a home to first doubleplay. But the ball rolled toward left field. Cardenas got a glove on it, but there wasn't anything he could do, and the Sox walked off with a 9 to 8 win. |
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