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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 August 1, 1986 ... Backed by two runs batted in apiece by Bill Buckner and Jim Rice, as well as a Tony Armas home run, the Red Sox tagged a 5-3 defeat on the Kansas City Royals in front of the biggest Fenway Park crowd in more than eight years. The American League East leaders, who stretched their advantage to 4 1/2 games on the Yankees and Orioles, rallied for Fenway triumph No. 28 after frittering away a 3-0 lead. Rice's second RBI broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth for the game winner, and Armas' homer, his fifth this year, provided the insurance in the sixth. As for pitching, Bruce Hurst won his first game at home since May 5th, despite giving up three homers in the fourth inning. After leaving in the seventh, Hurst was helped out by Calvin Schiraldi (in his first Fenway appearance) and Joe Sambito (save No. 10). Boston's Royal Rooters did have to watch the Sox tiptoe along the high wire. Off to a 3-0 lead by the end of three innings, they lost their luster quickly when the Royals tagged Hurst for the three homers in the fourth. And they weren't just homers, but total nuke jobs, including one by Steve Balboni that was last seen headed by a pizza shop in Kenmore Square. Hal McRae began the hit parade, leading off the fourth with his 16th career Fenway homer. Next, Balboni launched Hurst's 1-0 offering to hither, yon and beyond, his third homer this year at the Fens. And finally, Sundberg connected for dinger No. 3 off Hurst's 0-1 pitch. This one deflected sharply off one of the screen's support poles before it atomized into the screen for the 3-3 tie. Hurst had given up an average of one homer every 10.8 innings (8 in 86 1/3) before this start. But the outing was only his third since he returned from a severe groin pull, and he expects it will be another two or three starts before he is back to pitching par. He set down the Royals in order in the fifth, faced only three batters the next inning and exited after putting away the leadoff hitter in the seventh. The Sox built their early cushion with some timely hitting by the top of the order. Rice, who in the fifth inning snapped the 3-3 tie with his third straight hit, produced a 1-0 lead in the first with a single to left that scored Wade Boggs (2 for 4) from second. Kansas City starter Danny Jackson (6-7) fell into the 3-0 hole by the third, setting up his own trouble by walking leadoff hitter Marty Barrett to start the inning. Boggs, who had singled in the first and moved to scoring position on a wild pitch, pushed Barrett over to third with a double into the left-field corner. Buckner then lashed a single to right for his 57th and 58th RBIs and the temporary three-run lead. Barrett again began Jackson's woes in the fifth, opening with a single to right. And with two outs, having moved up on Jackson's errant pickoff attempt and a Buckner groundout, the Sox second baseman trotted in with the 4-3 lead on Rice's single to right. Jackson was relieved by right-hander Steve Farr at the start of the sixth. Armas, struggling with his home run swing all season, picked on Farr's 0-1 pitch and lined it off the wall next to the flagpole in center for the 5-3 lead. Marty Barrett, batting leadoff, came in hoping to break out of a 2-for-20 stretch over the last five games, going 1 for 3 in the 5-3 victory over the Royals. Wade Boggs entered having gone 4 for 30 in his previous nine games. He collected two hits in four trips. Along with picking up three hits and RBIs 63 and 64, Jim Rice added his 12th assist of the year, throwing out Willie Wilson in the eighth when the Royals center fielder was trying to stretch a single. |
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