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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 September 12, 1986 ... Bill Buckner was the man who carried the Red Sox to a 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees tonight. Sure, the Yankees thought an early 2-0 lead against Boston might stand up long enough for them to get to their relief ace Dave Righetti. But what they hadn't counted on was the sweet stroke of the 36-year-old Buckner, who crashed a pair of clutch home runs to give the Sox a 3-2 lead and spark them to their 12th victory in the last 13 games. Buckner is hot. He drove in four runs, sending home an insurance run in a four-run eighth. He has seven home runs and 15 RBIs in his last eight games. Any resemblance to the Buckner whose error started Boston on the way to an 8-6 loss Thursday night was purely coincidental. And, with Toronto also losing, the Red Sox have a 10-game lead in the AL East and the magic number for clinching is 12 games. Buckner ignored his bone spurs, his bad ankle and bad knees to turn in a clutch performance which ruined an otherwise strong performance by rookie right-hander Scott Nielsen. Both of Buckner's homers were line shots into the right-field stands. At the start of September, Buckner was hitting .257 and struggling. Since then he has been on a .435 spree (20 for 46) and he now has a career high of 17 home runs. With 98 runs batted in, he has moved ahead of Don Mattingly of the Yankees and Wally Joyner of California (tied at 92) as the top left-handed run producer. His three hits pushed his average to .271. The first came in the fourth inning with the Sox trailing, 2-0. Lefty Bruce Hurst (11-7) who went the distance, was shaky in the early going and gave up single runs in the first and third innings. Wade Boggs singled past second, extending his hitting streak to 14 games, to open the fourth. Nielsen got Marty Barrett to fly to center, but then Buckner hit a 3-2 pitch into the right-field seats to tie the game. Nielsen gave up a double to Jim Rice after that, but proceeded to retire seven straight batters. The eighth batter was Buckner, who this time hit a 1-0 pitch into the seats. Once the Red Sox had the lead, they weren't about to let it get away like they did in Baltimore. Crucial wins are what the Red Sox are all about. Buckner added four good defensive plays, including a leap to cut down a sure double by Mattingly in the fifth. Boston has now come from behind to win 38 times, including 10 of the last 12 games. And the Yankees know they will have to battle just to stay in the battle for second place. It became even harder in the eighth inning when the Red Sox exploded. Rod Scurry replaced Nielsen and walked Spike Owen, who was sacrificed to second by Boggs. Barrett followed with a single, scoring Owen, and then stole second. That set the stage for Buckner's third hit of the night, a run-scoring single. The Yankees brought in right-hander Tim Stoddard to pitch to Rice. Stoddard's first pitch was inches from Rice's head and the Sox left fielder drove the next one over the left-field fence for his 19th home run. The Red Sox had good new. Oil Can Boyd has no apparent injury from a tumble he took in the seventh inning of Thursday's 8-6 loss to Baltimore after a collision with the Orioles' John Shelby. |
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