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WADE BOGGS' RECORD
BREAKING YEAR
The Sox bats explode and sweep a doubleheader
September
7, 1985 ... The Red Sox completed a
double-header sweep by making life even more miserable for the
Cleveland Indians, 11-9, and 7-4. The Red Sox, who a week ago were in
virtual disgrace, have now won six of their last seven games and
eight of their last 10. What happened was no fluke as the
double-header sweep was Boston's first since April of 1982 in
Chicago. The Red Sox had not won a doubleheader in Fenway Park since
September 10, 1981, when they beat Detroit. You
can say that the season is almost over, and these Indians are at the bottom of
the heap. But it is still hard to belittle the fact that Boston unleashed a
30-hit barrage, 15 in each game. Or that reliever Steve Crawford was huge,
getting saves No. 7 and 8 in the two games.
You can't make too much fun of an offensive attack that
included three home runs, five triples and four doubles. When Glenn Hoffman
homered to wrap up the nightcap, it gave the Red Sox a club record of hitting
homers in 14 straight games for a total of 23 over that span.
With a double victory, there comes double pleasure. Neither
Red Sox starters, Mike Trujillo nor Al Nipper, could be pleased with their work.
Crawford's double save is one of those rarities, but is in keeping with the fact
that manager John McNamara considers him his stopper out of the bullpen.
The work of first game winner Bruce Kison (4-3) rates special
mention as he was able to shut down Cleveland in three of the four innings he
worked after Trujillo was in the process of blowing a 7- 2 lead.
Both Kison and Crawford had the benefit of having Rich Gedman
behind the plate in the opener. After falling behind, 9-8, Kison went into the
ninth with an 11-9 lead thanks to a three-run homer by Gedman. When Kison loaded
the bases in the final inning with two outs, it was Gedman who dropped down the
signs that enabled Crawford to strike out Cleveland's George Vukovich to end the
first game.
Tony Armas did contribute his 20th home run of the year to
highlight a six-run third inning. The Indians were in the game until two walks
and a three-run homer by Gedman wiped out a 9-8 Cleveland lead.
Geddy's hitting contributions were only half the story.
After Kison loaded the bases with two outs in the he and Crawford came through
with a closing effort that hasn't been seen in a long while out of the Red Sox
bullpen. Facing George Vukovich, a left-handed hitter, Crawford fell behind in
the count, 2-1. Gedman went to the mound because there was indecision in
Crawford's response to his signs. Gedman straighten things out, and what
happened is the reason why Boston is now 6-1 in its September drive for
respectability. First, Crawford threw a changeup to Vukovich for a second
strike. Then, with the game on the line, he fired a fastball past the Cleveland
outfielder to end the game, and make Gedman the happiest fellow at Fenway.
Gedman's call was the highlight of the night for him, as Marc
Sullivan caught the second game. But there was nothing wrong with his home run
blast. Twice before in the seesaw game, the Sox had runners on third base with
two out and stranded them. But this time Geddy drilled the first offering by
Jerry Reed into the right-field seats, just behind the Cleveland bullpen. It was
his first home run in Fenway since July 23rd and was his 14th of the year. It
ended an 0-10 and 1-15 skid.
The second game, a makeup of Friday's rainout, started off
like it would be a Red Sox blowout but didn't turn out that way at all.
Nipper (8-10) had the kind of night that drives him crazy,
even though he wound up lasting 7 2/3 innings, and scattering nine hits. He
wasn't happy because the Sox gave him a 4-0 lead, and he had to struggle all
night to maintain it. The Indians scored three runs in the fifth inning to cut
the lead to 4-3. But the best the Indians could do after that was pick up a
single run in the eighth inning on a double by Brook Jacoby, a ground out and a
sacrifice fly by Joe Carter.
By then, the Sox were leading, 7-3, and after a double by
Vukovich, McNamara wisely went back to his bullpen for Crawford, who had thrown
only five pitches in the first game. The reason the Red Sox were leading by such
a wide margin was that Hoffman had capped a seventh-inning rally that sent
Cleveland starter Curt Wardle to his seventh defeat. Armas opened the inning
with a double and Dwight Evans followed with a single to make it 5- 3. Hoffman
then drilled a Wardle fastball for his fifth home run, giving Boston a lead it
would never relinquish. Crawford saw to that with his work in the ninth, a 1-2-3
inning. |
