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THE SOX STUMBLE AND
FALL AT THE END ...
The Sox sweep the Orioles and stay in first
September 20, 1971 ...
In the biggest doubleheader of the long bizarre pennant race thus
far, it came down to the best of the Red Sox against the best of the
Baltimore Orioles. Marty Pattin and Luis Tiant did it again, in
beating two pitchers named Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar, by scores of
9 to 1 and 4 to 0. There were other heroes of the night also.
Carlton Fisk, Luis Aparicio, Dwight Evans, Doug Griffin and Tommy Harper. In
fact from the time the Red Sox went ahead in the fifth inning of the second
game, everyone all the way down to Andy Kosco, got ovations from the 28,777
fans. But the night belonged to the pitchers.
Jim Palmer, the man the Orioles have counted on to win, got racked. The Red
Sox pounded him in a 9 to 1 romp in the opening game. Palmer came in with a
20-8, 1.82 ERA record and hurt himself with a wild pitch and an error at
inopportune times.
The Red Sox jumped to a 2 to 0 lead in the third inning as after Aparicio and
Fisk had their first moments of enjoyment. Aparicio lined a leadoff double and
after one out, Reggie Smith walked. Palmer got an 0-2 count on Rico Petrocelli
and then moved the runners up with a wild pitch. Rico then hit a line drive
sacrifice center that scored Fisk with the second run.
After the Orioles cut the lead to 2-1, in the top of the fourth, Doug Griffin
singled and Pattin bunted back toward the mound. Palmer got the ball but threw
it low and wide toward second base. Dave Johnson had to dive after it and kick
the bag before the ball reached his glove, so Pattin was safe. After Aparicio
singled Griffin in for a run, Yastrzemski hit the wall for a double and another
run. The Red Sox were up 4 to 1 and Palmer was out while rookie Roric Harrison
took over.
Harrison and walked Reggie Smith intentionally to load the bases and then
unintentionally walked in Petrocelli to force in a run. Carlton Fisk lined a
single and Dwight Evans did the same. Harrison now left the game, down 9 to 1.
Fisk had two singles, a double, a walk and three RBIs.
In the second game it was all Luis Tiant. He scattered four hits, walked four
batters and struck out seven. The only time he was in trouble was in the seventh
inning. With one out, Paul Blair doubled off the wall in left-center field. He
moved over to third on a groundout, and Luis had to face Boog Powell. The
Orioles were down 1 to 0 at the time, and Luis got the Orioles big firstbaseman
to hit a soft ground ball to Doug Griffin for the final out.
The Sox scored their first run in the fifth inning. Griffin led off with a
single to left and was moved over to second on a bunt by Tiant. Tommy Harper hit
one down the third-base line into the corner that allowed Griffin to score the
first run of the game.
Then in the next inning the Sox added two more runs. Dwight Evans hit a line
drive to the right-field corner that rode around the base of the wall allowing
him to be let get out to third-base. After Griffin grounded out, Tiant struck
out. But Mike Cuellar walked Tommy Harper and Luis Aparicio knocked in Evans
with a single to left, while Harper made it over to third. Catcher Johnny Oates
allowed a passed ball to get by him that allowed Harper to score the third run.
He allowed another pitch to get by him when Reggie Smith was up at bat, but it
ended up not costing the Orioles any damage.
In the bottom of the eighth-inning Dwight Evans knocked out his first major
league home run to put the Red Sox ahead, 4 to 0. |
