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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 September 19, 1986 ... It was bad enough that the Toronto Blue Jays rose up from the graveyard for a 6-4 victory, leaving the Sox magic number for elimination at six games. A crowd of 40,494 poured into Exhibition Stadium and saw Toronto end Boston's four-game winning streak. But after the game, it was learned that an early exit by starter Tom Seaver was caused by a sprain in his right knee and threatens the rotation that manager John McNamara had hoped to carry him right into the playoffs. Seaver will return to Boston for an examination by Dr. Arthur Pappas, the Red Sox physician. Seaver said the problem had been with him for several days and was aggravated on a pitch to Manny Lee in the fourth inning. Lee singled, but Seaver retired Tony Fernandez to end the inning and left the game trailing, 3-2. Sammy Stewart was given the job of holding the fort for a possible come- from-behind rally which has been a Red Sox trademark of late, but Toronto tagged him for three runs in the next 1 1/3 innings to wrap up the victory. The Blue Jay aren't about to let the Sox have a cakewalk to the playoffs. First, they overcame a 2-0 deficit and made a winner of Dave Stieb (6-11), who worked only six innings. Then the Sox pecked away at relief pitchers John Cerutti and Tom Henke. But when the chips were down, they were foiled by the Blue Jay defense, which at times was magnificent. Worth special mention is center fielder Lloyd Moseby. He robbed Don Baylor of a sure double with a running one-handed catch in the sixth inning with two on and one out. In the ninth, he did the same thing to Wade Boggs, depriving him not only of a hit but his last opportunity to extend a 20-game hitting streak. The loss of Seaver forced the Red Sox to their middle relief corps and neither Stewart nor Tim Lollar could keep the Jays off the scoreboard. Ultimately, these failures led to the winning runs, which were all charged to Stewart. In the sixth inning, Stewart walked three and gave up a single to Fernandez. The three who walked scored, and The Sox were unable to make up the deficit. With Seaver gone, it was imperative that the Sox get to their short relievers, and perhaps restore the two run lead it had earned earlier in the game. Stieb seemed ripe for the picking the first, giving up one run on a single by Jim Rice, and another on a wild pitch. But Stieb settled down and shut down the Sox through the sixth. Stewart had one good inning. But in the sixth he walked Jesse Barfield and and Ernie Whitt. Rick Leach ripped a hard ground that first baseman Bill Buckner could only flag down. Barfield scored from second and Toronto led, 4-2. Things got worse when Stewart walked Kelly Gruber, loading the bases. Lee hit a ball back to the box, but Stewart bobbled the pickup and had to settle for a force out at home plate. When Fernandez followed with a run-scoring single, it was 5-2 and Stewart was on his way to the clubhouse. Lollar, who had pitched only once since Aug. 10th, took over and put out the fire. But not before Toronto scored another run on a sacrifice fly by Willie Upshaw. A 6-2 deficit was indeed too much. Rich Gedman did hit a solo home run, his 15th, off John Cerutti in the seventh inning. In the eighth, the Sox got two hits but failed to score against relief ace Tom Henke. Then in the ninth, Moseby foiled a potential game-tying double by Boggs to hold the Red Sox to only one run. Tony Armas scored it after leading off with a single. He moved to second on error and to third on a groundout. Moseby's catch foiled Boggs and Marty Barrett grounded out to end the game. |
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