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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 10
October 18, 1986 ...
Rice drew a walk from Mets starter Ron Darling leading off the seventh and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, he scored as a ground ball by Rich Gedman went through Teufel's legs. Both teams seemed loose in the pregame workouts. It was cold when the teams took the field. At game time, the temperature was 51 degrees and the wind was 9 miles an hour. But the air was heavy, and it would come into play in the first three innings. The Red Sox got the first hit when Marty Barrett singled past second with one out in the first. Boston also hit into the first double play. Bill Buckner followed with a weak tap to second, and was an easy victim on the relay from Rafael Santana. Darling got tough after that, retiring the next six batters. Dwight Evans and Dave Henderson hit deep fly balls that were catchable because of the wind. Hurst struck out three of the first five batters he faced. But he ran into trouble by walking Ray Knight and giving up a single to Tim Teufel with two out in the second. Hurst recovered by retiring Santana on a bouncer to the mound that ended the inning.
Hurst picked up his fourth strikeout at the start of the third inning, making Darling the victim. But Hurst's control then betrayed him. Mookie Wilson worked the count to 3-2 and walked. With Len Dystrka at bat, Wilson easily stole second. Dykstra then walked. Keith Henandez was next, and he hit a ball to right field that on most nights would have been a home run. But Evans ran it down 336 feet away. Then Hurst escaped again by getting Gary Carter to hit into a forceout at third. The Sox made their first serious bid with two in the fourth. Buckner threw his bat at an outside pitch and singled through the hole between third and short. He moved to second on a wild pitch by the Mets right-hander. Jim Rice fouled off several pitches before walking. Darling then got out of the inning by retiring Evans on a fly to left. Hurst opened the bottom of the fourth by walking Darryl Strawberry, who stole second with two out. But again, the Sox lefthander got off the hook. Santana did hit a hard line drive to center, but Henderson was playing shallow and made a tough catch look easy with a one-handed running grab. Henderson singled with one out in the fifth. But Spike Owen flied to center, and Hurst struck out for the second time in the game. Hurst's fourth walk got him in trouble in the sixth. Hernandez drew the pass leading off. Carter followed with his first hit, a broken-bat single through the box that put Hernandez on second. Undaunted, Hurst calmly took care of business. With three pitches, two of them curveballs, he retired Strawberry, who looked at a third strike. Then Ray Knight hit into a 5-4-3 double play. In the seventh, the Sox finally broke through, and as he crossed the plate, there was a collision behind the plate between Darling and on-deck hitter Henderson. Both men were slow in getting up after the play, in which Gedman wound up on second. The Red Sox powerful lefty pitched his way out of another jam in the seventh. Teufel led off with a single, and pinch runner Wally Backman was sacrificed to second. Mitchell pinch hit for Darling and Hurst caught Mitchell looking at a called third strike. Wilson hit a hot grounder toward left, but Wade Boggs dived, speared the ball and threw out Wilson. Hurst cruised through the eighth, getting the Mets in order on three fly balls. With a chance to pad the lead, Sox manager John McNamara sent Mike Greenwell up to hit for Hurst in the ninth. Pitching is the name of the game in this Series. The Sox scored tonight's only run without getting a hit |
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