THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The Mariners win behind 17 hits

July 5, 1986 ... There was no one thing to point to in a 9-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Fenway, other than the obvious: Three Boston pitchers gave up 17 hits, and that's too many if you are planning on winning the ballgame.

Twelve of Seattle's hits were charged to loser Al Nipper (4-5), who spent most of this dog day afternoon (91 degrees at game time) pitching himself into and out of some sticky jams. Since his heroic win on his return from the disabled list June 25th, the Nip has come up empty.

Still, the gritty right-hander left his team with a fighting chance when he exited in the seventh after Phil Bradley beat out an infield single and Jim Presley lined a torpedo up the middle just beyond shortstop Rey Quinones. The score was 3-3 at the time, and John McNamara opted for middle reliever Steve Crawford.

Crawford walked Ken Phelps to load the bases. After he got Danny Tartabull swinging, he threw Dave Henderson a fastball that just cleared Quinones' outstretched glove and drove in two runs. The ball was ruled a double but probably could have been caught.

Instead, he and the rest of the Red Sox were forced to think catch up. A Scott Bradley sacrifice fly made it 6-3, Seattle, and if not for a diving grab by Dwight Evans on a Harold Reynolds blooper to right, it could have been more.

Boston regrouped to chase Seattle starter Mike Moore (5-7) that same inning when Wade Boggs singled home Rich Gedman and Marty Barrett. Manager Dick Williams then called for lefty Matt Young to pitch to Bill Buckner, who singled over shortstop Spike Owens' head. With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Young turned his attention to Jim Rice, who had driven in a run in the first. Not this time. Young jammed him on the fifth pitch for a routine ground ball to second.

It was still a 6-5 game heading into the ninth, but Bob Stanley had replaced Crawford in the eighth. The Steamer had cruised in that inning, but Phelps tagged a 2-1 pitch to lead off the final inning for a home run into the screen, his first ever at Fenway. It all unraveled from there. Stanley gave up three more hits, two more runs and also botched a pickoff attempt by throwing the ball into right field. Instead of hanging tough for a one-run holiday thriller, the hometown fans clamored for the exits and the nearest swimming pool with the troops down, 9-5.

The Sox got the early jump on Moore, not with power, but precision. In the first, Boggs grounded a single to left and Rice followed with an RBI double to left-center. Don Baylor waited out a walk, then Evans slapped a single for a 2-0 lead.

Nipper, who was behind batters all day, wrestled out of the second by giving up just one run, but found himself back in the sweatshop in the third when Phil Bradley led off with a double high off the left-field wall. Two outs later, Danny Tartabull took Nipper deep over the screen for his second two-run homer in two days.

While Nipper was dodging bullets, Moore had settled into a nice groove, retiring 11 in a row before Quinones doubled in the fifth. The rookie shortstop was an unlikely choice to break Moore's concentration, until that hit, Quinones had gone 23 at-bats without one.

Barrett punched a single to right to tie the game, 3-3, but was out at second on Boggs' fielder's choice. Buckner followed with a single to seemingly keep the fireworks going, but Boggs was nailed trying to take third on a throw by center fielder John Moses.

McNamara, Boggs and third base coach Rene Lachemann didn't like the call, but it didn't matter. It was just the way things went for the Sox today.

Marty Barrett's single in the fifth extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Tony Armas' hitting streak was stopped at six. Armas has not hit a homer at Fenway since April 22nd.