ON THIS DATE (September 1,
1990)
...
The Red Sox had won nine straight
on September 1st, the longest winning streak in the American League.
They reintroduced power to their lineup with four home runs
accounting for 10 runs and clobbered their oldest and biggest rivals,
the New York Yankees, and clobbering them good. This time it was
15-1, with a 19-hit attack.
After
Ellis Burks' three-run homer and Tom Brunansky's two-run blast in the first off
Andy Hawkins got the Red Sox off to an unbeatable start, the biggest clump of
runs on one swat came on Mike Greenwell's inside-the-park grand slam. Go back to
Gary Geiger's inside-the-park grand slam in 1961 for the last sighting of such
an animal at Fenway. The ball actually got down the line swiftly past Kevin Maas
and then got by Gold Glove right fielder Jesse Barfield, who bruised a knee in
pursuit.
The Red
Sox wiped out two Yankee outfielders in the seven-run fifth. Mel Hall injured a
wrist on Wade Boggs' double, which put runners on second and third after Carlos
Quintana walked. Burks also walked to set up Greenwell's slam.
Jody Reed
later doubled in a run and Quintana doubled in two in the fifth. The Sox were
up, 12-1.
The Red
Sox offense lately has been astonishing. They have driven in 13 runs in their
last seven plate appearances with the bases loaded. Burks, with two home runs
and four RBIs, is now hitting .310 with 18 home runs and 76 RBI. The Nos. 3, 4,
5 and 6 hitters in the Red Sox lineup went 12 for 18 with 12 RBIs. After Tom
Brunansky's two-run homer, Yankees manager Stump Merrill walked out to end Andy
Hawkins' misery. The manager noticed that Hawkins was talking to himself. The
Sox had gone 10 straight days without hitting a homer, and now they have hit 12
in the last six. Burks hit a solo shot in the sixth. In the eighth, Greenwell
hit a ground-rule double for an RBI, while Brunansky singled in the 15th run.
