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THE SUMMER OF "MORGAN'S
MAGIC" ...
Solid pitching wins it for the Red Sox
July
24, 1988 ... In finishing it off with a 3-2
triumph over the Chicago White Sox, the Boston Hitting Machines have
turned on the Fenway Faithful with the kind of juice expected of them
all year. Incredible is still the right word. Today, the pieces of
the jigsaw puzzle were set in place again. To go along with timely
hitting and great defense, the Sox added the ingredient of solid
pitching with five innings by Bruce Hurst, then strong relief
performances by Dennis Lamp and Lee Smith, who picked up his 15th
save. Pitching for the first time since July 6th,
Hurst had control problems, so he used a lot of fastballs among his 95 pitches.
He went five innings and picked up the win to improve to 10-4, but not without
help. Lamp replaced him and pitched out of a jam in the fifth, doing exactly the
same thing by throwing heat. Then, in the eighth and ninth, Smith put on a
simply awesome show, striking out the side in the ninth despite allowing two
hits. All came through as advertised.
Ninety
percent of the victory was pitching. The Sox got 10 hits but were shut out after
the third inning. But there is an air of confidence about this team that wasn't
there at the All-Star break.
Mike
Greenwell's triple was a good example of just how confident the Sox have become.
The inning seemed over after a single by Boggs and a walk to Marty Barrett was
followed by a double play. Dwight Evans slashed at a 3-0 pitch and hit a line
drive that Steve Lyons caught and threw to first, doubling up Barrett.
Undaunted, Greenwell stepped up and hit Long's next offering into the
right-center triangle. It was the seventh time in the last eight games the Sox
had put a run on the board in the first inning.
The Sox
made it 2-0 in the second inning, thanks to Jody Reed and Larry Parrish, the
newest Red Sox heroes. Reed opened with a double off The Wall. Parrish followed
with a single up the middle, driving in his eighth run in the seven games he has
played for Boston.
Chicago
got one run back in the third, but in the bottom of the inning, a walk to Evans,
a double by Greenwell and two ground outs scored what turned out to be the
deciding run.
Bruce
Hurst left after putting two runners on base in the fifth, having given up 10
hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Dennis
Lamp said he might nominate Lee Smith for the win, as the stopper picked him up
with one out in the eighth inning. Chicago played for a tie, following a walk to
pinch hitter Daryl Boston with a sacrifice bunt. Morgan didn't hesitate to go to
Smith.
Smith
created his own jam in the ninth, giving up singles to Dave Gallagher and Harold
Baines, sandwiched around a strikeout of Lyons. But even before Morgan ran out
to talk strategy, Smith and catcher Rick Cerone had made up their minds to go
hard after the next two hitters, Ivan Calderon and Greg Walker. Both struck out,
much to the delight of the Fenway crowd. |
