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Marty Barrett comes back and then wins
the game
for the Sox, |
ON THIS DATE (July 30, 1988) ... The Red Sox extended their Fenway streak to 19 straight with a 3-2, sudden-death victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Roger Clemens fanned 13 and walked one (intentional) in a 149-pitch masterpiece. The winning run was knocked in by Marty Barrett, an inning after he had hurt the cause with a base running blunder. It was 2-2 with one out in the bottom of the eighth when Jim Rice hit a sinking, bases-loaded fly to right. Rob Deer made a sensational catch, and Barrett was caught halfway down the line. He went back and tagged but was an easy out at the plate. Unfazed, Clemens carried the weight again in the ninth and got the Brewers in order, fanning two. It didn't matter that it was 100 degrees or that the Sox should have been ahead. Clemens would not give it up. So it was left to the Sox to win it against the estimable Teddy Higuera in the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Romine, inserted for defense in the eighth, led with a double off the wall, took third on Rich Gedman's bunt (Higuera's throw to third was late), then watched as Ed Romero flied to right and Jody Reed was intentionally walked. Enter Barrett. Higuera had been feeding him curves all day, and Barrett looked for a curve. He smacked the first pitch to left, past a drawn-in infield, for the game-winning single. Clemens owns the Brewers. Prior to today, he'd pitched 30 consecutive scoreless innings against Milwaukee, fanning 32 with no walks and only 13 hits. Therefore, it was no surprise when the Rocket got the first eight Brewers in order, five on strikeouts. Meanwhile, Jim Rice hit a Higuera changeup over the screen in the second inning to give Clemens a 1-0 lead. It looked like that's all he would need until the fifth. Rob Deer led off the fifth with a first-pitch double down the third-base line. Deer was 1-16 with nine doubles against Clemens prior to the hit. B.J. Surhoff drove a 1-2 forkball into the Sox bullpen for his third homer of the season and a 2-1 Brewer lead. Clemens showed his character in the sixth. Yount led with a lazy fly to center, but Burks lost the ball in the sun and it plopped out of his glove for a three-base error. Faced with a man on third and nobody out, Clemens did what he had to do: He struck out the next two batters, Greg Brock and Jeff Leonard. Then Deer went out on a fly to center, setting up the Sox’s game-tying rally in the bottom of the inning. Jody Reed led with a walk and took third when the fired-up Benzinger doubled on an opposite-field drive, just inside the first-base bag. Mike Greenwell scored Reed with a sacrifice fly to center. The Brewers gave a little more in the eighth. Paul Molitor led with a single to right and was sacrificed to second by Jim Gantner. He stole third on a 2-0 pitch, beating Rich Gedman's throw, which was to the foul side of the bag. With the infield in, Robin Yount hit a grounder to short. Reed inhaled the ball and had Molitor caught off third. Molitor did a nifty job dodging throws and tags and lasted long enough to allow Yount to get to second. Clemens then walked Brock intentionally to get to Leonard. The Rocket fell behind, 3-1, but got a break when Yount broke for third on the next pitch. Leonard swung and missed and Gedman nailed Yount with a perfect throw. Marty Barrett gave a little bit back in the bottom of the eighth and then won it in the ninth. The Sox trail first-place Detroit by only one and one half game and Joe Morgan’s 19th win gives him a major league winning percentage of .941 |
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