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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 August 24, 1986 ... Al Nipper was touched for two home runs and the Sox were beaten, 5-2, by the Cleveland Indians before a crowd of 25,221 at Municipal Stadium. Nipper, who has allowed 21 home runs, second to Oil Can Boyd on the team, gave up homers to Joe Carter and Julio Franco, wiping out any hope the Sox had of leaving town on a winning note. He is again on the down side of a roller-coaster season, and fell victim to the home run ball and amazing knuckleballer Phil Niekro, while losing his second straight game and falling below .500 (8-9). Since coming back from a leg injury suffered in June, Nipper is 5- 5 with a 5.94 earned run average. Today he gave up eight hits and saw his season ERA soar to 5.00, its highest mark since July 23. Nipper's fastball is only average, but his ability to spot pitches has been compared occasionally to Tom Seaver's. Each time after allowing the homers, Nipper threw knuckleballs and screwballs with amazing effectiveness. Making his first start in Cleveland Stadium, Nipper had problems in the first inning when an error and Carter's line-drive homer put him in a 2-0 hole. With one out, Franco reached base when shortstop Spike Owen booted his routine grounder. Carter then stroked his 21st home run. When Mel Hall singled and Cory Snyder followed with a double, it looked as if Nipper might not escape the first inning. But he got out No. 2, as Pat Tabler grounded to third and Wade Boggs threw out Hall at the plate. Brett Butler then fouled to third, and Nipper was out of the inning. Niekro, whose start was pushed back three days because of a sore elbow, was as dazzling in the first four innings as fellow knuckleballer Tom Candiotti had been Saturday. But, there was a ray of hope for Boston in the fifth inning, when a home run by Tony Armas cut the lead to 2-1. But the Indians came back in the bottom of the inning. Chris Bando doubled off the wall in center, and Tony Bernazard followed with a run-scoring single up the middle. Before the fans could settle down, they were cheering again as Franco hit a 1-1 Nipper pitch over the wall in right-center. With a 5-1 lead, Niekro got even tougher. He gave up a one-out double to Bill Buckner in the sixth but, after walking Rich Gedman with two out, induced Owen to hit a weak grounder to second, ending the inning. Niekro called it quits in the eighth inning after Boggs singled and Marty Barrett walked. He was replaced by hard-throwing right-hander Frank Wills, and the difference was literally like night and day. Instead of Niekro's soft servings, Red Sox hitters had to deal with 90 mile-per-hour fastballs coming out of the sunlight and into the shade. First, Wills struck out Jim Rice on a 3-2 count. Then, Wills struck out Don Baylor on a 2-2 pitch. Only rookie Mike Greenwell, filling in for Dwight Evans (who left the game because of a slightly pulled hamstring), wasn't fooled. Greenwell hit a line-drive double to center, scoring Boggs. Unfortunately for the Sox, the ball cleared the fence on one hop, and Barrett was held at third. But Wills got out of the inning by getting Buckner to fly to center, and the Red Sox had squandered their last legitimate shot. Sox outfielder Dwight Evans was a casualty, suffering a slightly-pulled right hamstring running out a ground ball in the seventh inning. Evans said it didn't feel very sore, but he won't know for sure until tomorrow. With his 10th home run, Tony Armas has driven in 19 runs in his last 14 games, during which Armas has hit .327 (18 for 55). Phil Niekro, who won his 310th career game, is 7-3 in his last 10 starts with a 3.39 ERA. Despite Nipper's latest failure, the Red Sox maintained a six-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the American League East. |
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