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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 September 9, 1986 ... It's good news when Al Nipper can make it all the way back as he did tonight in a 7-5 victory that gave the Sox their 10th straight win, their longest streak in nine years. The Orioles were first out of the blocks, yet became the victim on a gold rush of three home runs, two by Dwight Evans; a game-winning double by Marty Barrett in the seventh, and the relief pitching of Joe Sambito. This was the 36th time this year Boston has come from behind. If someone had only told you that Nipper had thrown 144 pitches, the suspicion might be that he suffered yet another embarrassing loss that cost him his spot in the rotation. Actually, the number of pitches reflects how hard Nipper worked to keep a 4-1 deficit from getting out of hand. While it looked bleak when Nipper gave up a three-run homer to Floyd Rayford in the second inning, it looked glorious when he was still pitching in the seventh en route to his ninth victory. Reliever Bob Stanley made it interesting, allowing one run (charged to Nipper) on three hits in the eighth and giving up two more singles in the ninth before Sambito came on. But all is well, that ends well. Stanley got a big out in the ninth, when he induced dangerous Eddie Murray to fly to Dave Henderson in center. Then Sambito made everything come out right for Boston by getting pinch hitter Juan Bonilla to ground into a 1-6-3 double play. In the seventh inning the Sox overcame a 4-2 lead. Evans led off with the first of his two home runs. Rich Bordi replaced rookie John Habyan, who had limited Boston to seven hits, and in hindsight that may have been the mistake of the night by Baltimore. Rich Gedman walked with two out and moved to second as Rayford at third booted a grounder by Spike Owen which would have ended the inning. Bordi worked the count to 3-2 and Barrett pulled his next offering past Rayford. The ball hit the concrete base of the stands and rolled away from left fielder Mike Young, allowing Owen to score from first. Even though Evans' second home run gave Boston a 6-4 lead, Nipper could not survive the eighth inning, and Stanley came within two outs of disaster. Nipper was replaced after a walk to Larry Sheets with one. Stanley came in and gave up singles to Young and pinch hitters Jim Traber and Juan Beniquez. Suddenly it was a 6-5 game. But in typical Stanley manner, he cleaned up his own mess by getting two ground balls to end the inning. Jackie Gutierrez bounced to the mound and Stanley threw out Young at the plate. John Shelby then grounded to second, and Boston's lead was still intact. Things really looked bright when Boston scored again with two out in the top of the ninth on a walk to Boggs and a single by Barrett off Bordi. Bill Buckner then greeted lefthander Brad Havens with another single, scoring Boggs. All that remained was for Stanley to get out of the ninth without a run scoring. He did but mostly because he got Murray to fly out with two on and nobody out. Stanley got in trouble when he gave up leadoff singles to Jim Dwyer and Cal Ripken and found himself facing Murray, who was hitting .425 against him (17 for 40). Henderson, who was playing deep, made a long run to catch Murray's fly ball. Sambito then replaced Stanley. Wade Boggs, who began the night as the American League batting leader (.352), also tops the league with 110 putouts. He is second in double plays (26) and third in assists (225). |
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