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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 August 14, 1986 ... Forget about the jinx of Royals Stadium. It evaporated in an avalanche of 18 hits that carried Boston to an 11-6 victory before a crowd of 40,418. Not even the nightmare of squandering a 5-0 lead could discourage the Red Sox, who gained an important series split with a Kansas City team that so many times has scuttled Boston pennant hopes. Don't worry about the pitching. If Al Nipper (8-7) can win on a night when he gives up six earned runs, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Nipper lasted five innings and needed relief help from Sammy Stewart and Calvin Schiraldi (save No. 5) to gain the victory. It seemed an easy night was in the offing as the Sox shot to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings, sparked by Rich Gedman and Tony Armas homers. Armas' was a three-run blast in the third that sent Dennis Leonard to the showers, and the Royals to an apparent early grave. But the toughness that normally makes Nipper difficult to beat with a lead wasn't there. He gave all five runs back in the bottom of the third, and from then on, it was a dogfight for Boston, which couldn't really relax until a three-run surge in the eighth broke open an 8-6 game. The Sox went ahead in the fifth inning, 6-5, only to see Kansas City tie it again at 6-6. In the sixth, Wade Boggs tripled leading off. With two out, Don Baylor singled past third, scoring Boggs and giving the Red Sox a lead they would never relinquish. It became an 8-6 game in the seventh on a two-out double by Ed Romero and single by Boggs. In the eighth, the Sox broke it open with three runs, two of which came on a homer by Dwight Evans. That helped the Sox take control for the trip. Baylor, the man whose bat Yankee owner George Steinbrenner said would be dead by August, stroked three hits for the third time this year. Three-hit games seemed to be the order of the night. Boggs had his 12th of the season and Romero his second. Boston twice broke ties to thwart the pesky Royals, regaining the lead in a fifth on a series of plays that were as comical as they were timely. Bud Black (4-7), who had replaced Leonard after Armas' homer in the third, walked Evans to open the fifth, and Bill Buckner reached on an error by Balboni that was unique, if nothing else. Not only did Balboni muff Buckner's broken-bat grounder, but while he was watching the ball roll by, the top half of the bat also rolled between his legs. Evans went to third on the play, and was almost tagged out when he overran the bag. George Brett missed, however. When Armas hit a fly to deep center, Evans scored and Boston led, 6-5. After Kansas City tied the game again on Brett's triple in the bottom of the fifth, Boston won it on its next turn at bat. Boggs matched the feat of his idol, Brett, by opening the sixth with a triple to right-center. The Royals brought the infield in, and both Marty Barrett and Jim Rice obliged by grounding to third. But then Baylor hit a grounder that went into the hole between short and third for a single, scoring Boggs. After Boggs drove home Romero for an 8-6 lead in the seventh, Boston roughed up Steve Farr in the eighth. Rice singled to left leading off. One out later, Evans drilled a pitch over the left- field fence. With two out, Kevin Romine singled to center, and scored on a single by Romero following Gedman's double. Tony Armas hit a tape-measure homer in the third inning off Dennis Leonard. The ball landed over the left-field fence 425 feet away. Armas drove in four runs, his best output since Aug. 29, 1985. Al Nipper should be smiling. In his last two games, he has given up 10 runs and 14 hits and won both times. The 11 runs were the Sox' most runs since a 13-7 victory in Cleveland May 4. The Sox finished the season series with Kansas City with a 6-6 record, the first time in four years the Royals have not come out on top. |
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