THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The Sox bullpen melts down allowing 11 runs

August 2, 1986 ... It was an inning unlike any other. It's a safe bet that the 34,941 witnesses of today's 13- 2 Royal flush of the Red Sox at Fenway Park will never again see the likes of Kansas City's 11-run seventh.

Things seemed pleasant enough when Sox starter Tom Seaver walked off the hill with a 2-1 lead and tipped his cap to an appreciative audience. Twenty pitches later, the Sox trailed, 9-2.

It was an inning in which the first 12 Royals reached base and the first 11 scored. It was an inning in which Bob Stanley's earned run average went from 3.99 to 4.79, while Tim Lollar's rose from 5.35 to 6.08. It was an inning in which KC's No. 9 batter, Angel Salazar, KO'd two Boston pitchers.

The luckless Seaver (he's 0-4 in his last five starts, and the Sox have scored five runs in his behalf) cruised into the savage seventh with a 2-0 lead. He'd recorded a season-high eight strikeouts, while tossing 60 strikes and only 23 balls in the first six innings. The Sox, meanwhile, had tapped Royals starter Mark Gubicza (5-5) for a run in the fifth and another in the sixth.

The immortal Mike Kingery (four hits) opened the ugly inning with a triple off the wall in left-center. When Jim Sundberg walked on five pitches, manager John McNamara trotted out to talk with Seaver.

Seaver got Salazar to hit a high bouncer toward first. The ball bounded over the head of Bill Buckner for a run-scoring single, and McNamara elected to go to his bullpen.

Stanley Steamer arrived on the scene with a full tank of no-lead, high-octane gasoline. Lonnie Smith was the first batter to face Stanley. Smith bunted an 0-1 pitch to the left side. Stanley started in, then stopped. Wade Boggs did the same thing. By the time Boggs recovered to make the play, it was too late to get Smith. The bases were loaded.

Pinch hitter Jamie Quirk followed with a first-pitch single to right, scoring Sundberg and Salazar. Darryl Motley ran for Quirk. George Brett was next, and he doubled to left, over Jim Rice's head. Stanley was blameless on this one. The ball landed on the warning track behind Rice, no small feat considering how deep Rice plays. It was Brett's second such double of the day. Smith scored on Brett's drive, and KC led, 4-2. Stanley walked Jorge Orta intentionally to reload the bases. Frank White followed, and he hit a first pitch liner into the corner in right for two more runs. McNamara came out with the hook. Stanley was loudly booed for his 11-pitch effort.

Lollar, the human white flag, was next. His nine-pitch performance yielded four hits and three runs. Steve Balboni greeted Lollar with a prodigious three-run homer over the screen in left. 9-2. The bases were clear, the Royals had batted around, nine runs were in, and there still weren't any outs. Kingery (remember him?) started Round 2 with a single to left- center. Sundberg followed with a single to left. Then Salazar knocked Lollar's glove off with a shot up the middle. It was good for a single, which loaded the bases again. Lollar was rescued.

Sammy Stewart replaced Lollar. The Royals had a chance to tie an American League record (13 consecutive baserunners, set by the KC A's in 1956), but Stewart struck out Smith. Darryl Motley also struck out, but Brett scored two more Kansas City baserunners with a single to right. Brett was thrown out going for two as the inning mercifully ended. Stewart was touched for a couple of "who cares?" runs in the eighth, but less than half the hostile crowd stayed for the finish.

The Royals snapped a four-game losing streak. It was Boston's ninth loss in the last 12 games, and trimmed the Sox' American League East lead over Baltimore to 3 1/2 games.

Tom Seaver is 4-10 overall, 2-4 with the Red Sox, but he has done the job the Sox want him to do. His Red Sox earned run average is 3.57. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his seven Boston starts. But the Sox have scored only five runs in Seaver's last five starts, and he is 0- 4 in that span.

The Red Sox have been committing a lot of errors, and today's league statistics indicated that Boston has the worst fielding team in the American League. The Sox fielding percentage was a league-low .975. The Red Sox have committed 99 errors in 102 games.

Rich Gedman is in a 2-for-19 slump, Wade Boggs is 6 for 37 and Marty Barrett is 4 for 27. Jim Rice had two hits and is up to .336.