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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 June 8, 1986 ... The Red Sox have blown a fuse and the picture remained fuzzy after a 7-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium. Boston has lost three of its last four games and seen its lead in the American League East shaved to three games. Remember all those nice things you heard about the Red Sox' pitching and how things would be OK if they stayed healthy? Well, add Mike Brown to the list of ailing hurlers. Brown had trouble with a pulled right thigh muscle and had to be removed in the fourth inning, when Milwaukee took a 5-0 lead. Plus, Sammy Stewart is hurt. His right forearm was throbbing so much after 2 1/3 innings that he is coming back to Boston to be examined by Dr. Arthur Pappas. The Red Sox had only 26 hits in their four-game stay here, which ended when Bill Buckner flied out with the bases loaded to end the game. They needed shutout pitching from Roger Clemens to win their only game of the series on Friday night. Tim Leary (4-5) shut out Boston for eight innings and did something even Ted Higuera couldn't do in his Saturday night shutout, he shut down Wade Boggs (.395) in three official trips. Leary also prolonged the troubles of the three men following Boggs in the order. Buckner, Jim Rice and Don Baylor are mired in a 4-for-45 slump with only 3 RBIs. Cy Young couldn't have won with support like that. Brown had things in control until the fourth, which started with a double past first by Robin Yount. A single one out later by Ben Oglivie gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. A walk and an error set the stage for a two-run single by Rob Deer, giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead. Stewart took over and walked Ernest Riles. Meanwhile, Deer had moved to third on an uncontested stolen base and a wild pitch. When Jim Gantner bounced to the mound, Stewart took the worst of three options. First he looked at Deer and ignored the fact that a Brewer runner was midway between third and home. He forgot about the double play. Instead, he threw to first as Deer scored to make it 4-0. Charlie Moore finished off the Sox with a run-scoring triple. The lead grew to 7-0 before Boston chased Leary in the ninth. Singles by Rice and Baylor and a double by Dwight Evans ended Leary's day and shutout bid. Mark Clear came on and was his old self. After striking out Steve Lyons, he gave up a two-run single to pinch hitter Rich Gedman. Pinch hitter Mike Stenhouse walked, Marty Barrett flied out, and Boggs walked. The Sox had the bases loaded, two outs and Buckner at the plate as the tying run. But on a 3-and-2 pitch, lefthander Dan Plesac got Buckner to fly to center. The same Boston team that made only 36 errors in its first 50 games is becoming a defensive liability. Two more errors ran the four-game total to eight, which is not good in the midst of 30 straight games against AL East teams, with 23 still left. |
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