The Mets can Boyd and the Red Sox
October 21, 1986 ...
Oil Can Boyd had spoken with confidence Monday while talking about
what it took to master the Mets. Unfortunately for the Sox, he wasn't
able to get his message across until the second inning, and by then,
New York had scored four times and was on its way to a 7-1 victory,
giving the World Series a sense of competition that was lacking in
the the first two games.
Don't blame it all on Boyd. A 4-0 deficit at Fenway is not
an insurmountable deficit. But with former Boston pitcher Bobby Ojeda on the
mound for the Mets, Red Sox bats went silent for the first time in three games,
and when Ojeda left after seven innings, the Red Sox were out of the ballgame.
The Sox had only five hits off Ojeda. Roger McDowell
finished up after the Mets pushed a 4-1 lead to the 7-1 bulge. That sent the
crowd of 33,595 home in time for the 11 o'clock news.
The Mets let Boyd know right away they could read. Boyd
knew it too the moment he gave up a homer to the first man he faced, Len
Dykstra. This proved to be more than just a mistake by the skinny right-hander.
It was a wake-up call for the Mets, who got four more hits in the inning and
turned them into three runs.
Ojeda, the first man to start a World Series game against
the team for which he had pitched the previous season, was also on the spot. But
with an early cushion, he settled down into a rocking- chair repertoire of
fastballs and off-speed pitches. It was the old Bobby Ojeda, but this time he
was doing his best for the Mets.
Dykstra's homer was just the spark the Mets needed. They
had looked woeful offensively in losing the first two games and had a .190
average for their first eight postseason games. Dykstra's homer was followed by
singles by Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez. When Gary Carter (three RBIs)
doubled to the wall in left-center, Backman scored, making it 2-0.
Boyd got his first out of the inning as Darryl Strawberry
struck out. But then disaster struck on a ground ball to third, which led to a
rundown play the Red Sox botched so badly that all runners were safe. Hernandez
appeared trapped off third when Wade Boggs fielded the grounder by Ray Knight.
To compound matters, Carter was on his way to third, and for a time, both men
were within a few feet of the bag. Boggs threw to the plate, and catcher Rich
Gedman took the throw as Hernandez retreated. With shortstop Spike Owen covering
the bag and Boggs running toward Hernandez from where he had made the initial
throw, Gedman gave chase. Boggs caught the ball after Hernandez had passed him,
and Hernandez dived back into third safely as Boggs threw belatedly to Owen.
That left only Carter hanging. Carter raced back toward second, and when Owen,
who was pursuing the runner, turned his back to check on Hernandez, the Mets
catcher made it safely. Boyd then gave up the two-run single to designated
hitter Danny Heep, and the Mets never looked back.
For five innings after the first, Boyd sent the Mets back
into a slump. They had jumped on his fastball early, and looked for his sliders.
But for a time, Boyd was his old self, retiring 18 of 19 batters in one stretch.
In the meantime, the Sox could reach Ojeda for only one
run, Dave Henderson opened the third with a single, Boggs drew a one-out walk
and Marty Barrett brought Henderson home with a single.
And the Mets finally got to Boyd for good with two
insurance runs in the seventh before finishing their productive evening with a
run on Knight's RBI double off Joe Sambito in the eighth.
It wasn't a pretty ending for Boyd. He loaded the bases and
convinced manager John McNamara to let him gut it out. Instead, he gave up a
two-run single to Carter on an 0-2 pitch.
Don Baylor appeared in his first World Series after 2,072
regular-season games. Only three active major leaguers have played in more games
without a World Series appearance. They are Jose Cruz (2,189), Toby Harrah
(2,155) and Buddy Bell (2,133). Baylor had a double in four trips.
Red Sox ace Roger Clemens added another postseason award to
his growing list of honors when he was selected the American League Pitcher of
the Year by the Sporting News. Houston's Mike Scott was named National League
Pitcher of the Year.
