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"THE SOX STUMBLE AND FALL AT THE END" ...
Reggie Smith gives the Sox a walkoff win
September 15, 1972
...
Reggie Smith cracked his 20th home run, a two run blast, and then
drove in the deciding run with a ninth inning, two out double, that
scored Carl Yastrzemski from first, and gave the Sox a hectic 4 to 3
comeback victory over the Indians. Yaz was able to score the
winning run because Roy Foster couldn't find the handle as Reggie's double
bounded off the right-field stands and bounced away from him. Foster twice
grabbed for the ball and fumbled it. His throw to the relay man was too late,
because Yaz slid across the plate before catcher Ray Fosse could spin around for
a tag.
It was obvious that Reggie was smarting after he tagged Indians starter Steve
Dunning for a two run homer in the sixth. He trotted in an unusually slow pace
while circling the bases, upset with himself for striking out his first two
times up and making an error on a fly ball.
Bob Veale, the veteran right-hander who the Red Sox picked up from the
Pirates at the beginning of the month, ran his record to 2-0, to go along with
the save. He took over for Bill Lee and set the Indians down in the ninth.
Graig Nettles, who gave the Sox plenty of headaches in a recent series in
Cleveland, drove in all his team's three runs with a double and a single. Chris
Chambliss and Frank Duffy each collected three hits for the Indians.
The Indians got to Marty Pattin with two outs in the first inning. Chambliss
doubled to left and raced home on Nettles' single to right. They threatened
again in the third when Chambliss singled and made it around to third on
Nettles' fly ball down the right-field line, that popped out of Reggie's glove
for a two base error. The fans in right let him know how unhappy they were with
the play, cascading down on him a round of boos.
But Pattin reared back and put some extra mustard on his next pitches to get
out of the jam after walking Tom McCraw to load the bases. He struck out Fosse
and retired Del Unser on a foul pop up at the plate. However all this only
delayed his exit. The Indians tagged him for two runs and three hits in the
fifth inning. |
