THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The Rangers slug Bruce Hurst

August 27, 1986 ... When the skies behind Arlington Stadium lit up, it spelled the beginning of the end for Bruce Hurst and the Sox. In short order, a 2-1 game was turned into a 4-1 loss for Boston, which closed out a 10-game road trip with a 5-5 record.

The fireworks from the nearby Six Flags Over Texas amusement park didn't hurt the Sox lefthander. But solo homers by Larry Parrish and Toby Harrah in the sixth inning did. They clinched the victory for Texas in the rubber game of a three-game series before a crowd of 26,285 and sent Boston home with its American League East lead reduced to five games over the Blue Jays, who swept a doubleheader from Cleveland.

Hurst's record fell to 8-7, and he allowed 11 hits in six-plus innings. The Sox gave Hurst a 1-0 lead in the first inning. But the Rangers came right back to tie the game and took the lead for keeps in the fifth. Oddibe McDowell beat out a bunt single, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt. He scored on a single by Pete O'Brien.

For the third straight night, Boston took the early lead against the Rangers, this time at the expense of Edwin Correa. Boston produced a run in the first on two hits. Bill Buckner scored the run after getting a two-out single to right. He stole second base, his sixth steal of the year, and then scored on a single to right by Jim Rice.

The Rangers tied the game in the bottom of the first although Hurst struck out the side. Scott Fletcher beat out a bunt to the left of the mound with one out and went to second on a throwing error by Hurst. The Red Sox argued that Fletcher had run out of the baseline, but couldn't convince plate umpire Larry Young. Hurst struck out O'Brien. But rookie Pete Incaviglia singled sharply to right, scoring Fletcher.

In the second, Hurst had to pitch out of another jam and did so masterfully. Singles by Parrish and Don Slaught gave the Rangers two runners with none out. But Hurst got Steve Buechele to bunt into a forceout at third base. A walk to Harrah loaded the bases. But Hurst escaped as McDowell hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

Boston loaded the bases in the third but didn't score. Correa walked Marty Barrett, Buckner and Don Baylor. But with two outs, Mike Greenwell popped to third.

In the next two innings, Correa didn't yield much ground. After retiring the side in order in the fourth, he escaped in the fifth although he gave up a single to Barrett with one out. Barrett went to second on a groundout, but the scoring bid failed as Rice struck out.

Hurst gave up a single to Slaught with one out in the fourth, and got the next two batters on deep fly balls. But he wasn't so lucky in the fifth when the third Ranger bunt of the game produced the third hit and led to a 2-1 Texas lead. McDowell reached on a bunt up the third base line. Hurst appeared to have him picked off first. But Buckner's relay throw to second was late, and McDowell was credited with a stolen base. A sacrifice by Fletcher put McDowell on third. With the infield in close, McDowell scored on a grounder hit behind second by O'Brien, a ball that never reached the outfield grass. Shortstop Spike Owen ranged far to his left to snare the grounder, but he couldn't prevent O'Brien from getting an infield hit, or McDowell from crossing the plate.

Boston mounted another threat in the sixth, loading the bases and sending Correa to the showers. Tony Armas walked with two out and moved to third on a hard single to right by Rich Gedman. When Correa walked Owen to load the bases with Boggs coming up, Rangers manager Bobby Valentine brought in lefthander Mitch Williams. The strategy worked. Boggs drove a 2-1 pitch to left for the third out, and Boston's best shot of the night had gone for naught.

That failure was compounded in the bottom of the sixth as Texas took a 4-1 lead on two towering homers. The first was by Parrish, who stroked his 21st of the year into the right-field seats leading off the inning. With two out, Harrah sent a shot into the left- field seats for his sixth homer of the year.

The end for Hurst came in the seventh when Fletcher and O'Brien singled. Hurst was replaced by Bob Stanley, who got out of the jam in quick order. First he struck out Incaviglia. Then he induced Ward to hit into a 4-3 double play.