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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 August 19, 1986 ... The memory of the hard hit ball sailing through the air will stick in Al Nipper's mind for awhile. So will the sight of it landing 477 feet away in the upper deck at the Metrodome. It was the second of two home runs in the third inning that helped send the scrappy right-hander and the Red Sox to a 5-1 defeat here. Kent Hrbek hit this blast, his 25th of the year. It followed a 425-foot drive by new American League batting leader, Kirby Puckett. If Nipper's imagination is not vivid enough, consider the fact that there have been only 47 homers into the cheap seats here in five years. Hrbek's blow was his eighth this year, matching his previous combined career total. Nipper, who also gave up a run on a balk, could afford to be somewhat philosophical, for he did the best he could coming off a bout with the flu. He left trailing, 3-0, and it wasn't his fault that the Red Sox went 7 2/3 innings before they could get a run off right-hander Mark Portugal (4-8), who lived a charmed life. If figured that on a night when the Red Sox got their roster problems straightened out, something else would go wrong. Nipper did give up those two home runs. But the homer that upset McNamara the most was a two-run blast off Sammy Stewart in the sixth inning. That pushed a 3-0 lead to 5-0, and the only solace was that the Yankees and Orioles lost, too, and the Tigers split a doubleheader. Boston thus retains its 5 1/2 game lead in the American League East over New York. Toronto (6 1/2) moved ahead of the Tigers into third place. The home runs were only part of the embarrassment. Not being able to catch up with Portugal, who had an 0-2 mark and 7.71 earned run average against the Red Sox this year, was another disappointment. Boston wound up with nine hits, three by Dwight Evans. But they didn't score until the eighth when the game was out of hand. Puckett, who is now hitting .349, did the most damage for Minnesota. He had three of the 12 hits. Batting third last night in a move to give the offense some spark, he put Minnesota ahead for keeps with his 25th home run of the year in the fourth inning. That brought up Hrbek, who was more concerned about his ability to get base hits than the distance record he almost set. Hrbek had batted only .189 since the All-Star break. Nipper, who had been battling the flu, made a late decision to start. Lefty Tim Lollar had been held in reserve in case Nipper tired early. The home runs helped Portugal, who pitched out of jams in the first, second and fourth innings. In each case, the Red Sox got a runner to third base with one out or less, and failed to score. Jim Rice hit into a double play in the first to end the inning. In the second, Dwight Evans got only a double out of a towering drive. Portugal retired three of the next four batters to escape. Evans and Bill Buckner led off the fifth with singles, and Portugal again pitched out of trouble by retiring the next three batters. Nipper gave up a third run in the fifth inning on a balk. He walked Greg Gagne, who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a fly ball to deep center. Then came the balk. Nipper started his motion and stepped off the mound. Third base umpire Jim Morrison waved Gagne home. Stewart took over for Nipper in the sixth and the results weren't good. Hrbek singled to right as leadoff man and Gary Gaetti followed with his 25th home run of the year. Stewart gave up three more hits but no more runs. Portugal shut out the Red Sox for seven innings, scattering seven hits. He left in the eighth after a single by Mike Greenwell, a walk to Evans and a two-out double by Buckner produced the Boston run. George Frazier, recently acquired from the Chicago Cubs, took over, pitched out of the jam and earned his first save. |
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