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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
Dwight Evans & Don Baylor lead
the Sox over Milwaukee
September 17, 1986
... Don Baylor and Dwight Evans were a two-man wrecking
crew in a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers before a crowd of 26,976 at
Fenway Park. Each collected a pair of hits, including back-to-back home runs in
the sixth inning to seal Oil Can Boyd's 15th victory. It was Boston's third
straight victory and 15th in 18 games.
Baylor and Evans combined to
score a pair of runs in the second inning to
provide the winning margin. Boyd went the distance
for his ninth complete game, and is tied for second
on the staff with Bruce Hurst behind Roger Clemens
(10).
Baylor opened the second with a walk off loser Mark
Knudson. Evans brought him home with a double high off the wall. Evans moved to
third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out.
In the seventh inning, Baylor led off with his 30th home
run of the year. It was his 25th off a right-handed pitcher. He now has 87 runs
batted in. Evans followed with his 24th, a towering shot off the left-field
light tower. He now has 19 home runs and 72 runs batted in off right-handed
pitching.
Boyd scattered eight hits in running his record to 15-9. He
lost his shutout in the ninth inning as Bill Schroeder hit a home run with one
out. He walked one batter and struck out six. Boyd got off to a rocky start in
the first. Paul Molitor led off with a single and Ernest Riles doubled off the
wall. But that is when the slender right-hander's cruise control clicked in.
First, he got Cecil Cooper to fly to short left. Then he struck out Glenn Braggs
and got Rob Deer to ground to second for the third out.
This began a pattern which Boyd followed for the next five
innings. In the third, the Brewers had two hits without scoring. Gorman Thomas
tripled high off the wall in deep center in the fourth with two out, but Rick
Manning popped to short. Molitor singled in the fifth inning and Deer singled in
the sixth. Neither man advanced.
Knudson kept pace. Marty Barrett and Bill Buckner singled
in the third inning with one out but were stranded. Boston had two base runners
in the fourth inning with two out, but the rally died as Wade Boggs grounded
out.
But the Brewers rookie had a rude awakening in the sixth
when the Red Sox hit back-to-back home runs. Baylor connected on a 1-2 pitch
into the left- field screen. It marked the third time in his career Baylor had
reached the 30 home run plateau.
No sooner than the crowd settled down from that blow, than
Evans drove one deeper for his 24th home run.
The Sox have had an extra-base hit in 19 straight games The
club has 44 home runs in the last 27 games. |
