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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 April 24, 1986 ... No game scheduled April 25, 1986 ... When he faces the Royals, something happens to Oil Can Boyd. The skill and poise that carry him elsewhere vanish, and eventually he has to pay the piper. The Royals roughed him up again and when they had finished, Boston was a 6-0 loser. So what's new? Boyd has beaten Kansas City only once in five career starts, in 1983. And the Red Sox are 13-21 in the last five years here. Until tonight, the Royals had been on a downslide, losing three in a row and looking awful at the plate. But Boyd went down in a hail of hits, including two-run homers by George Brett and Darryl Motley. It was more than enough firepower for Charlie Leibrandt, who pitched a five-hitter as he beat Boston for the second time this season. Boyd immediately was victimized by the type of rally the Royals used last year to squeeze their way to the world championship. Rudy Law opened the game with a walk and stole second. He moved to third on a groundout by Willie Wilson and scored on a fly to center by Brett. In the third, Boyd again made the mistake of walking a batter, and it cost him. After Wilson reached with two out, Brett crashed a two-run homer to right, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead. The home run was Brett's first off Boyd, but it wasn't necessarily surprising, because the Royals' star has owned The Can during his career, going 11 for 27. The Royals threatened again with two more baserunners. Frank White was credited with a hit when his sharp grounder to third hit a crease and bounced off the chest of Wade Boggs. Steve Balboni hit a dribbler up the line, and again Boggs had no play. Boyd escaped further damage, getting Hal McRae to pop up. Meanwhile, Leibrandt had a no-hitter for five innings. Jim Rice and Don Baylor hit deep fly balls in the second which were caught. Boggs walked with one out in the fourth but was erased on a double play. In the fifth, Leibrandt kept his no-hit bid alive thanks to a sensational catch by Wilson in center field. With one out, Baylor hit a smash that appeared destined to reach the wall in left- center. Wilson raced back and made a one-handed leaping catch, then held the ball as he crashed into the fence to the left of the mark. Leibrandt finally faltered in the sixth inning when aggressive hitting by Rich Gedman broke up the no-hitter. Gedman fouled off Leibrandt's first offering and missed the second. But with two strikes, he hit a hot grounder past Brett at third, and it rolled into the left-field corner for a double. Ed Romero walked with one out. But then Leibrandt regained his mastery, getting Dwight Evans to fly out and striking out Boggs on a 2-2 pitch. The Red Sox' hopes vanished in the sixth when the Royals took a 5- 0 lead. Another mistake by Boyd, this one with two outs, led to the two runs. First, he got a fast ball up, and Hal McRae hammered it to left for a double. Motley followed with his third home run of the year, a towering drive that cleared the left-field fence. Kansas City wrapped up scoring in the eighth against two relievers. Frank White tripled off Tim Lollar with one out and scored on McRae's two-out double off Mike Brown. |
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