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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
Everything falls in place for the Red Sox
June 2, 1986
... The
road to victory No. 34 was not scenic. The Red Sox never led by more than two
runs. They managed but one extra-base hit, a Jim Rice double. They were outhit,
10-7. Wade Boggs went only 1 for 4 and suffers now with a scant .396 average.
And Oil Can Boyd (7-3) gave up nine hits and struck out but two batters in 6 2/3
innings before being saved by Steve Crawford's fastball.
For much of the early going, what was most
remarkable was how the Sox had cheated themselves
out of a first-inning run and how they were still
nursing a 2-1 lead into the seventh. After taking a
1-0 lead in the first, when Rice's infield grounder
scored Marty Barrett, they had a run called back
when Rice missed third base as he bolted for home
on Dwight Evans' apparent single (eventually scored
a fielder's choice). Tony Armas, left at the plate
when the appeal play on Rice ended the first, then
began a second-inning rally that gave Boyd a 2-0
lead. Armas singled and eventually came across on
Rey Quinones' single up the middle off Neal Heaton
(2-5).
Boyd,
meanwhile, was constantly tiptoeing in and out of trouble. Two singles and a
walk left him with the bases loaded and two outs in the second, with the count
2-and-0 on Andy Allanson. But Allanson ended that when he popped a 3-and-2 pitch
to right. Boyd, in fact, had only one 1-2-3 inning, the fourth, and watched his
lead get cut in half in the sixth when Hall popped a homer just inside the
right- field foul pole.
Then, in the
seventh, a number of saves, first by the infield and then by Crawford, helped
Boyd preserve what would be his sixth victory in his last seven starts. With no
one out, Barrett prevented Boyd from throwing the ball into right field as the
pitcher fired to second to start a double play on Allanson. Barrett had to reach
up, snare the wild throw, and shoot the ball to first for the DP.
And finally
Crawford, summoned from the pen, supplied the last punch. He ended the threat
with an 0-and-2 fastball that Joe Carter popped to right and then allowed only a
Chris Bando pinch single in the ninth.
The Red Sox
announced they had called up right-handed starter Jeff Sellers from
Pawtucket to replace injured lefty Bruce Hurst in the rotation. Sellers was 5-1
with a 3.57 ERA with the PawSox, having given up 59 hits and 30 walks while
striking out 39 in 63 innings of work.
The bad news
about Hurst improved slightly with word from team physician Arthur Pappas that
he could be back pitching within three weeks. Hurst was placed on the 15-day
disabled list retroactive to June 1, was originally thought to be out of the
rotation for at least a month when he was felled with a groin pull Saturday. But
both Pappas and general manager Lou Gorman now say the lefthander could miss
only two or three starts.
Al Nipper,
whose right thigh muscle was torn up in a home plate collision May 18, will be
back in town today after a brief respite at home in St. Louis. Pappas said
Nipper will begin exercising the leg by the end of this week; his cast will be
removed temporarily for the light workouts and then replaced for routine
walking. He is still expected to be back by mid-July.
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