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DUQUETTE PUSHES ALL
THE RIGHT BUTTONS ...
Wes Chamberlin pinch hits a walk-off HR
May 9, 1995
...
Wes Chamberlain had never hit a game-winning home run in the ninth
inning. But on a night when pitching seemed to frustrate every hitter
on both teams, Chamberlain came through with just that, a dramatic
pinch-hit shot that enabled the Red Sox to pull out a 4-3 victory
over the Baltimore Orioles and take sole possession of first place in
the American League East.
Chamberlain's blast was thunder and lightning. He turned around a
95-mile-an-hour fastball by reliever Armando Benitez on a 3-and-1 count to
deliver Boston's fourth straight victory, which moved it a game ahead of the New
York Yankees.
Despite their reputation for mashing and bashing, the Red Sox looked quite human
last night. Mo Vaughn did hit a 402-foot shot into the bleachers in the first
inning off Ben McDonald, but the Sox could muster only two more hits before
Chamberlain's blow.
Boston led twice, 1-0 and 3-2, but couldn't hold down catcher Chris Hoiles, who
drove in all three Baltimore runs. In the second inning, Hoiles followed a walk
to Cal Ripken with a homer. In the sixth, after walks to Rafael Palmeiro and
Harold Baines, he stroked a single to center, creating a 3-3 tie.
McDonald left after five innings, and the Sox did nothing against Alan Mills
(three hitless innings) and Jesse Orosco. Rheal Cormier worked five innings for
Boston, giving up two runs. The Orioles got the third off Jeff Pierce, but were
shut down the rest of the way by Derek Lilliquist and winner Stan Belinda.
Phil Regan was managing the Orioles as if this were the World Series. His
pitchers were tough inside. Jose Canseco and Mike Macfarlane were hit by
pitches, with Macfarlane forced out with a bruise. Even though the Sox could do
nothing with Mills, Regan brought in Orosco, a lefthander, to start the ninth.
He promptly struck out lefthanded-hitting Troy O'Leary.
Once Chamberlain was announced as a pinch hitter for Luis Alicea, Regan went to
Benitez, a tall righthander from the Dominican Republic who is seen as
Baltimore's stopper of the future. Benitez obliged by falling behind in the
count, 3-and-1. His next pitch went out like shot from a cannon.
Greenwell and the rest of the Sox don't look at Chamberlain as a spare part. His
success is their success, and vice-versa. |
