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THE SOX WIN THE AL EAST IN
SPECTACULAR
FASHION, BUT THAT'S ABOUT IT ...
Jeff Stone puts the Sox back on top
September
28, 1990 ... The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays,
7-6 at Fenway Park to pull into sole possession of first place in the
American League East. They won it on Jeff Stone's single over a
drawn-in Toronto outfield.
In a game
that changed moods, the Sox entered the bottom of the ninth trailing almost
hopelessly, 6-5, but loaded the bases against Toronto closer Tom Henke. Jody
Reed walked and was sacrificed to second by Carlos Quintana. Henke walked Wade
Boggs. He allowed a sharp single to Ellis Burks. Third base coach Rac Slider
held Reed. The bases were loaded for Mike Greenwell, who pounced on a Henke
fastball and lined a single to right. Slider, who is known to wave anything and
anybody to the plate, held Boggs at third. The game was tied. Stone came up for
the first time this season, 3 for 15 with the Sox last September, was the hero.
Oh, how
the moods changed. In the top of the ninth, Junior Felix belted a two-run homer
for a 6-5 lead. It was a blast into the right-field bleachers off Jeff Gray. The
blast sent a stone silence over 35,735, the biggest crowd at the ball yard since
April 23, 1978.
Before
that, the Red Sox seemed to have things under control, leading, 5-4, entering
the ninth. The player considered an American League Most Valuable Player
candidate, Kelly Gruber, was valuable to the Red Sox. The All-Star third baseman
made back-to-back throwing errors that allowed Greenwell to score the go-ahead
run off Duane Ward in the eighth. With one out, Greenwell grounded to Gruber,
who threw high over first baseman Fred McGriff's head and was awarded second.
Dwight Evans hit another grounder to Gruber, who again threw errantly. Greenwell
scored.
All the
Red Sox needed to do was hold on. Gray allowed a single to Greg Myers and then
threw the first-pitch homer to Felix. Jeff Reardon came in to get the Sox out of
further trouble. He did and got the win.
Just as
the Red Sox lost their 6 1/2-game lead over the Blue Jays, they also lost their
4-0 lead.
In the
sixth, Toronto starter Dave Stieb went 3-2 to Wade Boggs, who smacked a Stieb
offering into the Blue Jays' bullpen. Even the crowd was stunned by Boggs' first
home run since June 28th. He had missed the last two games with back spasms.
Stieb went
from mad to madder when Tony Fernandez booted a Burks grounder. Stieb got the
next two outs on liners to center and right, but nobody could come close to
catching Tom Brunansky's 406-foot blast to center field, a two-run homer that
made it 4-0.
Starter Mike Boddicker pitched six shutout innings and
allowed one run in the seventh on a hit and two hit batters, ending Toronto's
33-inning scoring drought against Boston, before Morgan went to Larry Andersen,
who had complained, shouted and told the entire free world that his arm was
tired and sore.
Three runs
later, thanks to a botched double-play ball by Luis Rivera and a grounder that
went off Quintana's glove at first, the game was tied. Boddicker hit George Bell
and pinch hitter Jim Eppard after a McGriff leadoff single. Red Sox-killer Rance
Mulliniks, pinch hitting for catcher Pat Borders, got a ground ball under the
glove of Rivera, scoring McGriff. Andersen retired Felix on a force at second
base. But Mookie Wilson singled to center, making it 4-3. Fernandez grounded a
single off a diving Quintana's glove, scoring the tying run. |
