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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 July 23, 1986 ... It is not unusual for a Boston team to lose four in a row on a West Coast swing. But when the A's slugged their way to a 9-2 victory this afternoon, completing the first three-game sweep by Oakland in 10 years, it was confirmation that the slump Boston has slid into since the All-Star break has reached epidemic proportions. Even if Roger Clemens comes back in Anaheim to win for the 10th time this year after a Red Sox loss, it will be like a small bandage on a giant wound. Today marked the first time Boston has lost four in a row, and its one-time eight-game lead in the AL East is down to three games for the first time since June 9th. The Red Sox have lost six of the seven games thus far. The offense has been outscored, 46-25, and is batting .232 (57 for 246). Boston pitching in seven games, including a 9-4 victory by Clemens, has produced a 5.58 earned run average. After a victory over the Yankees, Al Nipper has struggled for five straight starts in which he has lost two. Today he was given a 1-0 lead and left in the fourth inning, trailing, 5-1. In six starts, the right-hander has been pelted for 56 hits and 29 earned runs in 35 innings of work, a 7.46 ERA. It didn't start as another day of disaster. In fact, things looked very good in the second inning when Don Baylor walloped a fastball by Dave Stewart over the left-field fence. And it was encouraging when Nipper pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the inning. Dave Kingman and Dusty Baker opened with singles, and Nipper retired the next three on two pop ups and a ground out. But that was only a preview of coming attractions, and for the Red Sox it wasn't a very nice picture to watch. Tony Phillips singled in the third and scored on a triple by Dwayne Murphy as LaSchelle Tarver missed a diving stab of the ball in left-center. That brought up Carney Lansford, the former Sox third baseman, who won a batting title in 1983 hitting the ball up the middle. This time he pulled a breaking ball into the left-field seats, and the A's were in command. Oakland nailed it down in the fourth. Mike Davis opened with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Alfredo Griffin followed with a single and took second on the throw to the plate. Then, with the infield drawn in, Phillips singled past first, scoring Davis and Griffin. Nipper was replaced by Tim Lollar, who has hardly distinguished himself recently. The Sox got a break as Phillips tried to advance to third on a ball that got away from catcher Rich Gedman and was thrown out. But a single by Murphy and Lansford's second home run of the day pushed the lead to 7-1. Lollar gave up another hit to Bruce Bochte, and gave way to Jeff Sellers. The A's completed the rout with single runs in the fifth and eighth innings. Sellers walked Dusty Baker in the fifth and he scored on a two-out single by Phillips. In the eighth, Murphy singled with one out and scored on singles by Lansford and pinch hitter Jose Canseco. Marty Barrett, who singled and scored Boston's second run in the sixth inning, led the Red Sox with three hits. But it will take more of that before they snap out of this latest drought. |
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