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Ellis Burks wins the game with a walk-off June 16, 1992 ... The bases were loaded and all Ellis Burks wanted to do with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning was hit something that would grab some Fenway sod. Nothing fancy. Not necessarily a homer. Not a double or a triple. On a 2-and-2 offering from Yankees righthander John Habyan, Burks poked a single into right field, scoring Jody Reed for a 4-3 victory. The hit culminated a long evening of ball, but one that saw the Sox go two games over .500 and gain ground on Baltimore and Toronto, both of whom lost. It was a strange night in that there were really two games in one. One was a pitchers' duel between Roger Clemens and Tim Leary for seven innings. The other featured a frenzy of activity, including questionable decisions to take out effective pitchers in favor of closers. Both Jeff Reardon and Steve Farr blew save opportunities. The key on the pitching side was Danny Darwin, who worked out of an incredible jam in the top of the 10th, striking out two batters with the bases loaded. Lefthander Greg Cadaret put two Sox on base in the 10th, walking Reed and hitting Wade Boggs with a pitch right above the right elbow. Habyan came on and struck out Jack Clark, but walked Phil Plantier, who had homered to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. That set it up for Burks. Darwin relieved Tom Bolton, who allowed a single and double in the 10th. Hobson had Darwin walk pinch hitter Jim Leyritz intentionally to load the bases with one out, and Darwin then performed perhaps his best pitching of the season. He fanned pinch hitter Danny Tartabull swinging and rebounded from 3-0 to get Sox killer Randy Velarde on a called third strike. Yankee manager Buck Showalter yanked Leary after he had come out to start the ninth in favor of Farr. Plantier wrapped his fifth homer around Pesky's Pole in right, Boston's first hit since Tim Naehring singled in the second inning. Reardon, on his way to his second blown save of the season, secured the first out of the ninth, but Kevin Maas doubled to right and pinch runner Pat Kelly scored on Velarde's single to right. Velarde advanced to second on Plantier's throw to the plate, and when Mike Gallego fouled out to Tony Pena, who fought off a stampeding Scott Cooper, Velarde, in a daring move, tagged at second and went to third as Pena had a little trouble getting away from Cooper. Andy Stankiewicz singled to left for the go-ahead run. Clemens worked in and out of trouble, but always bore down to get the big out when he needed it. Leary's first tour around the Sox' lineup was an adventure. The first three hitters, Reed, Herm Winningham and Boggs, produced singles and the first run. Clark, making his first start in six games, lined to short left with runners at first and third and nobody out, but third-base coach Don Zimmer waved Winningham in, testing Mel Hall's arm and making it. |
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