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The Sox rally in the bottom of the 9th inning
June
11, 1984 ... A Yankee-Red Sox game is still
the best drama going these days in baseball, and proof of the pudding
was a six-run ninth inning explosion that carried Boston to a 9-6
victory that had to been seen to be appreciated. The game-winning hit came off the bat of Reid Nichols, who
hadn't appeared in a game since May 19th. He stroked a three-run homer off loser
Bob Shirley with two outs to cap the six-run explosion. Shirley has a pretty
mean sinker, too, and he was the obvious choice for the Yankees in the ninth. He
took over from Jay Howell, who had been called up when lefty Ray Fontenot let
the first two batters, Jackie Gutierrez and Wade Boggs, reach base on a single
and a walk. The 6-3 game then became a 6-4 game when Howell gave up singles to
Dwight Evans and Jim Rice.
After Howell got Tony Armas to pop up with the bases loaded,
it seemed the Yankees had a chance of surviving. Shirley looked ready, and he
had no trouble getting Mike Easler on a popup. And when he ran the count to 3-2,
it looked like the same fate for the next batter, the left-handed-hitting Bill
Buckner, who had not seen him since Shirley's National League days.
But Buckner's single up the middle was all the Sox needed to
tie the game, then Nichols' home run won it, giving Boston its most stirring
victory of the season.
Nichols, who hadn't had a base hit since May 2nd, said all he
was trying to do was reach The Wall with a short compact swing.
It was the sixth victory in the last seven games and the 11th
in the last 13, which was important because it showed that the team has the
character to win games even when things don't seem to be going just right.
Before the ninth inning, the Sox were on the verge of seeing
ace Bruce Hurst have a four-game winning streak broken. Hurst (8-4) had fallen
behind in the first inning, 3-0, on a sacrifice fly by Dave Winfield, who had a
17-game hitting streak stopped last night, and a double by Lou Piniella.
Hurst struggled all night, really, turning in a performance
that was similar to a 154-pitch effort that resulted in a 5-3 Red Sox victory in
New York last week. This time, Hurst threw 139 pitches and could not get out of
the ninth. The Yankees got to him for 12 base hits, including five doubles.
But Boston had much the same kind of success against Yankee
starter Jose Rijos who gave up 10 hits, including solo home runs by Jim Rice and
Rich Gedman. But the Yankees stayed ahead, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2 and 4- 3. And when
Fontenot took over in the fifth inning, he allowed only one hit in 3 1/3
innings.
New York picked up a single run in the sixth on doubles by
former Red Sox Mike O'Berry and Willie Randolph, who was 4 for 5 for the night.
Another double by Randolph and a two-out single by Don Baylor in the ninth put
New York ahead, 6-3, and set the stage for the dramatic finish. Mark Clear, who
finished up the ninth for Hurst, wound up with his fifth win of the season. |
