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MORE OF "MORGAN'S MAGIC"
(BUT NOT ENOUGH)
Roger Clemens and Jody Reed
master the Yankees
September
20, 1991 ... At Fenway Park there was a 2-0
victory for the Red Sox, who, at this point, are pounding at the
first-place Blue Jays like an incredible headache that refuses to go
away. Since
August 9th, the club is 30-10. Roger Clemens, who three-hit the Yankees, is
literally unbeatable; Jody Reed, the diminutive second baseman, is so
ridiculously hot that it would be perfectly appropriate if he simply took his
position and burst into flames.
Wade Boggs
sat out last night with a sore right shoulder and Reed moved into the leadoff
spot and went 3 for 4 with a single, a run-scoring double and homer off the
left-field foul pole against right-hander Scott Sanderson, against whom he is
hitting .692 this year (9 for 13).
With the
temperature a chilly 57 degrees, Reed was cowering from the cold before the
game. It doesn't seem to matter: after going 11 for 17 in New York last weekend,
he now has a .391 lifetime average against New York. He is hitting .543 (25 for
46) against the erstwhile Bombers this season.
Sanderson
(15-10) lost for the first time in eight career starts vs. Boston; he is 5-1.
Except for Reed, the Sox did not exactly hammer him, but he had the unfortunate
fate of running up against Clemens, who is now 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his last
six starts.
Clemens
struck out seven, including two in the first and ninth innings, and walked two.
He has gone the route in five of his last six outings. The only players to hit
him were Kevin Maas and Alvaro Espinoza (2 for 3), the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters in
the Yankee order.
In the
third, the Yanks put runners on first and third with one out on unlikely
consecutive singles by Maas and Espinoza. Steve Sax then popped out, though,
ending one dangerous threat.
The Sox (80-67) moved within 1 1/2 games of the American
League East lead with 15 to play. The victory was more evidence that it seems
not to matter who is in the lineup these days. |
