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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 June 10, 1986 ... The Red Sox' resourcefulness was the means to their 4-3, 10-inning victory that snapped a three-game losing streak and stretched their American League East lead to four games over the Orioles and Yankees. In the 10th, manager John McNamara employed three straight pinch hitters. He used ailing Rich Gedman (single) and Wade Boggs (intentional walk) and, finally, Mike Stenhouse, who drew a bases-loaded walk that delivered Dwight Evans with the deciding run. While you're at it, give an assist to Jim Rice and Don Baylor, whose back-to-back homers in the fifth wiped out a 3-1 Toronto lead. And also to McNamara, who used four pitchers and all but one of his regular players to outfox Toronto. Time had moved backwards in the previous five games for Boston. Except for a 3-0 victory Friday, they were a throwback to the old Red Sox teams - short on pitching and long on misery. But tonight they came alive for 11 hits. They won by using Boggs (bruised ribs) and Gedman (stiff neck), who had been unable to start. They won because McNamara took out contact hitter Marty Barrett in the 10th and replaced him with Stenhouse, a left-handed batter with the patience to wait out the soft servings of Mark Eichhorn, who been unhittable in recent appearances. The Sox' wakeup call came in a strange but effective way. They were trailing, 2-0, in the third when Bell led off with a single to left. As he stood on first, he engaged in a shoving and pointing match with Buckner. Both benches emptied, and memories of last year's brawl quickly flashed. It was clear that the Red Sox hadn't forgotten that Bell's flying karate kick began the demise of Bruce Kison's career. The Jays recall that it was Buckner who kicked one of their coaches, John Sullivan, in the head during that fight in Toronto. A truce had been called, with Boston now the first-place team instead of Toronto. But after tonight's incident, which did not produce any punches or ejections, it was clear that the Red Sox wanted to find a way to show the Blue Jays how they really felt. Bell scored in the inning, and Boston fell behind, 3-0. But the homers by Rice (No. 6) and Baylor (No. 14) and a 400-foot double by Tony Armas sent Blue Jays starter John Cerutti packing. Sox starter Jeff Sellers, meanwhile, had recovered from some early jitters and was in command until the seventh. When he faltered and walked a man with one out, Steve Crawford took over and held the fort until the ninth, when Boston survived a bases-loaded bid by the Blue Jays. With two out, Crawford gave up a single to Tony Fernandez and walked Rance Mulliniks on four pitches. Joe Sambito took over and hit Lloyd Moseby with a pitch, filling the bases. Enter Stanley. He got Bell to ground to second, and the game went into extra innings. Boston pulled out all the stops in the 10th, loading the bases with two out. Evans singled with one out, and after Armas struck out, Evans moved to third on a base hit to right by Gedman, who was batting for Marc Sullivan. Then McNamara played an ace by inserting Boggs to hit for Rey Quinones. Blue Jays manager Jimy Williams trumped it by walking the AL batting leader. That brought up Stenhouse, who helped bring an end to the Red Sox' anxiety. As if the Red Sox didn't have enough to worry about, they learned this morning that the American League batting champion had literally bounced himself out of the starting lineup because of an accident in his hotel room. Boggs, who is hitting .389, was hurt while taking off a pair of cowboy boots. He lost his balance as he bent over, and suffered bruised ribs as he bounced off a heavy couch. Boggs' injury was merely the latest piece of bad news for manager John McNamara, whose pitching staff continues to fall around him. As had been suspected, the injury to Sammy Stewart's forearm is serious enough that he was placed on the 21-day disabled list. He will be replaced by Mike Trujillo, the right-hander who was sent to Triple-A Pawtucket after spending the 1985 season with Boston. Stewart couldn't be placed on the 15-day list, because the last spot is taken by Bruce Hurst, who is improving each day and is expected to return June 18. |
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