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Bobby Ojeda throws his 3rd shutout May 30, 1984 ... The game is called baseball, and it was played tonight by the Red Sox, who delighted a crowd of 12,642 with a showpiece 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins. This gem was both crisp and economical. It required only an hour and 59 minutes to create. Bob Ojeda (5-4) deftly crafted a seven-hitter for his American League-leading third shutout of the season, outdueling Minnesota's John Butcher (2-3). Jim Rice provided the offense with a third- inning sacrifice fly and his first Fenway homer of the season, a bazooka shot into the center-field bleachers in the seventh. Mike Easler, who thundered out of a 6-for-50 slump on this homestand, collected his second four-hit game and raised his on- base streak to 19 for 23 (12 hits, 7 walks). Bill Buckner, the newcomer from the Cubs, blasted through his AL orientation course with three hits. The Sox defense supported Ojeda with an array of superlative plays: Jim Rice's throw from left field that caught Mickey Hatcher trying to stretch a Wall single in the second; a double play launched by second baseman Marty Barrett that proved to be a true Twin killing in the sixth; Dwight Evans' stab of a sinking Hatcher liner to right with a man on second in the seventh. And as a bonus, the Sox showed that not all of their landmark decisions are confined to the courtroom. Bobby Ojeda's effort marked the first back-to-back Fenway shutouts by Boston lefthanders since two kids named Babe Ruth and Dutch Leonard blitzed the Yankees on Sept. 28 & 29, 1916. Granted, this latest entry in the history books should carry an asterisk, since it was achieved only because a 5-0 Minnesota lead was rendered nonexistent by a fourth-inning rainout Tuesday. But who's going to quibble? Ojeda was mainly responsible for making the evening a fast frolic. He threw 102 pitches, issued only one walk and went to three-ball counts on just three hitters. |
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