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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9 September 29, 1986 ... With the luxury of having the American League East title wrapped up, the Red Sox will be very happy if they can coast home with the kind of effort that resulted in a 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles before a crowd of 27,372 at Fenway Park. For a time, the Red Sox played this one for real, shooting to a 4-2 lead in support of Al Nipper, who pitched the first five innings to gain credit for his 10th victory. It was Boston's 15th win in the last 16 games at Fenway. The night began on a glorious note. John McNamara sent out his regular lineup, even though the Red Sox had wrapped up the East on Sunday, and the starters received a two-minute standing ovation. After they received the plaudits of the crowd, it didn't take long for them to pick up from Sunday's 12-3 victory. They got three runs in the second inning, taking advantage of the wildness of Baltimore starter John Habyan and an error by shortstop Cal Ripken. The big hit in the inning was a two-out double by Wade Boggs (2 for 4, .353). Walks to Jim Rice (three hits) and Don Baylor got the inning started. Both advanced on a ground out by Dwight Evans. Rice scored easily on a deep sacrifice fly by Tony Armas. Ripken's error allowed Marc Sullivan (three hits) to reach, and a walk to Spike Owen loaded the bases. Then Boggs unloaded for his 201st hit of the season, and Boston led, 3-0. Habyan left in favor of righthander Odell Jones, who retired the side. The Orioles, who came to town in last place and losers of seven of eight, began making noises in the third inning, scoring twice against Nipper, who hadn't pitched since Sept. 20 in Toronto. Ken Gerhard singled with one out, and moved to third on a double off the wall by Ripken. Eddie Murray brought both runners home with a double into the right-field corner, and it was a 3-2 game. But Boston got one of those runs back in the fourth inning after a one-out single by Sullivan. He moved to third as Owen collected his second straight walk, and catcher Rick Dempsey threw the ball into center field in a pickoff play that surprised everybody in the park, including his teammates. When Boggs singled sharply to left, Sullivan scored and the Boston lead was 4-2. Baltimore got a run in the top of the fifth, and again it was Murray who did the damage. John Shelby singled as leadoff man, and with two out trotted home on a double by the Orioles' first baseman. But that only set the stage for another Boston surge that sent Jones to the showers and enabled the Red Sox to push their lead to 6- 3. Singles by Rice and Baylor with one out and a walk to Evans loaded the bases. The fifth run scored as Armas hit a checked-swing grounder to short for a force out at second. When Sullivan doubled sharply to left-center, Baylor scored and Boston had a three- run lead again. Nipper was replaced in the sixth inning by Sammy Stewart, who had not worked since last Tuesday in Milwaukee. His rustiness was apparent as he walked two batters, threw two wild pitches, and gave up two runs. With one out, Stewart walked Dempsey and wild pitched him to second. He also walked Ricky Jones, and another wild pitch put runners on second and third. Stewart got pinch hitter Jim Dwyer to pop to short for the second out. But he couldn't get Shelby, who singled sharply to right, scoring two runs and cutting the Sox lead to 6-5. Doubles in last night's game by Boggs and Marc Sullivan pushed the Red Sox' season total to 310, tying the club record set in 1979. Boggs has 45 doubles, a career high. Sullivan had the second three-hit game of his career. |
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