THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The Red Sox bats come alive

August 6, 1986 ... The Boston bats came alive for a 9-0 victory Over the Chicago White Sox that will at the very least send them on the road in good spirits. Using a revised lineup, Boston exploded for seven runs in the first two innings to make it a night of fun and frolic for 33,517 fans at Fenway Park, and for Bruce Hurst.

Hurst (7-5) made the most of his good fortune, limiting the White Sox to three hits. The Boston lefthander faced the minimum of 19 batters until former Red Sox outfielder Reid Nichols hit a wall-scraping double with one out in the seventh.

This was the Red Sox' greatest run production since July 19th in Seattle. Boston wound up with 15 hits, its most in almost two months and the first time in 14 games it had collected more than eight.

The new lineup produced immediately, courtesy of Wade Boggs and Marty Barrett, who traded places in the order. Boggs walked and former leadoff man Barrett followed with a two-run homer off loser Floyd Bannister (6-9) in the first. Bill Buckner, who was dropped from third to sixth, was the big stick in the game, getting three hits, including a bases-clearing double in the second, and driving in four runs. Boggs had two singles and three walks in five plate appearances.

Little did manager John McNamara think his revised lineup, designed to make the Red Sox more productive, would pay such immediate dividends. After two innings, Boston had raced to a 7-0 lead and had Bannister in the showers before the first out was made.

After Boggs and Barrett teamed up, the surge continued as Jim Rice, the new No. 3 batter, singled to center and went to second on a wild pitch. He moved to third on a single by Don Baylor and scored on a single by Dwight Evans, putting Boston ahead, 3-0. When Buckner slashed a single to center, the fifth straight hit, Baylor scored and Bannister was replaced by righthander Bill Dawley. Dawley retired the next three batters.

In the second, the Red Sox scored three runs on Buckner's shot. Dawley began the inning by walking Boggs. A passed ball by Carlton Fisk put Boggs on second, and he moved to third on a single by Barrett. Dawley struck out Rice and got Baylor on a foul to first. But then he walked Evans, loading the bases, and Buckner followed with his wallop. The ball was a line drive that Harold Baines almost caught. He raced back to the warning track, only to have the ball go past his outstretched glove and land against the wall.

Only another close call prevented Boston from another uprising in the third. Ed Romero singled and moved to third with one out on a single by Boggs. Boggs, however, attempted to go for a double on the hard-hit ball to left and was thrown out by Reid Nichols. He was called out by umpire Larry Barnett. Replays showed that second baseman Julio Cruz tagged Boggs late.

The Sox blew another scoring chance in the fifth. Buckner got his third hit of the night, a leadoff double to right-center. But with one out, he took off on a bloop fly to center by Romero and was easily doubled when John Cangelosi caught the ball in short center.

Meanwhile, Hurst was in command. The only hit he allowed in the first five innings was a leadoff single to Fisk in the second. Fisk was wiped out on a double play. Through five innings, Hurst had faced the minimum of 15 batters. Hurst continued his mastery with a perfect sixth.

In the bottom of the inning, the White Sox lifted Dawley in favor of right-hander Bobby Thigpen, the former Mississippi State outfielder-pitcher who was called up yesterday from Chicago's Birmingham farm club of the Class AA Southern League.

He was shaky but survived the sixth. Marc Sullivan lined out, but then Boggs and Barrett singled. When Rice flied deep to center, both runners advanced. But Thigpen then buried Baylor with a fastball inside, his popup to first ending the threat.

Thigpen kept the Red Sox off the board until the eighth, when walks to Boggs and Barrett opened another hole in the White Sox arsenal, and Boston poured through two runs. One scored on a single by Mike Greenwell, his first hit of the year. Greenwell had replaced Rice in left in the seventh. Barrett scored from third as Baylor blooped a single to right which Baines couldn't reach, completing the carnage.

Shortstop Glenn Hoffman worked out at Fenway Park and said he was helped by former Sox second baseman Jerry Remy during his 20-day rehabilitation stay at New Britain. New Britain outfielder Ellis Burks, a hot Red Sox prospect, was in town for a visit with Dr. Arthur Pappas yesterday. Burks, who is hitting .265, jammed his right shoulder two weeks ago while sliding. He says he is recovered, and the club wants to make sure there are no complications.