For 7 innings it looked like the Kansas City Royals were going to avenge their Game 1 doubleheader loss against the Boston Red Sox. Reggie Smith drove home Gary Peters in the bottom of the sixth to take a 1-0 lead over Bob Johnson and the Royals. Pat Kelly then drove in two runs against Peters to chase him from the game and give the Royals the lead. With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Rico Petrocelli hit a grand slam to put the Red Sox up for good. Vicente Romo (4-0, 3.38 ERA) got the win and Sparky Lyle got the save and the Sox had won their fifth straight game 5-2 at Fenway Park.
Peters got the ball in the top of the first inning and Pat Kelly flied out to left to start. Paul Schaal and Amos Otis stroked back to back singles but Bob Oliver struck out swinging. Lou Piniella popped up to second to end the inning. Johnson got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mike Andrews grounded out to third to start. Reggie Smith popped up to third and Carl Yastrzemski grounded out to short to end the inning.
Luis Alcaraz flied out to left to start the top of the second before Jackie Hernandez singled to right. Ellie Rodriguez banged into a double play to end the inning. Tony Conigliaro struck out swinging to open the bottom of the second before Rico Petrocelli popped up to short. George Scott struck out swinging to end the inning.
Johnson struck out swinging to open the top of the third but Kelly singled to left. Schaal forced Kelly at second and Otis forced Schaal at second to end the inning. Don Pavletich popped up to first to start the bottom of the third but Luis Alvarado singled to right. Alvarado stole second but Peters struck out swinging. Andrews popped up to short to end the inning.
Oliver walked to begin the top of the fourth but Piniella flied out to center. Oliver moved to second on the grounder to third by Alcaraz and Hernandez flied out to center to end the inning. Smith grounded out to first to start the bottom of the fourth before Yaz popped up to first. Tony C was plunked but Petrocelli popped up to first to end the inning.
Rodriguez flied out to right to start the top of the fifth before Johnson took strike three. Kelly walked and stole second but Schaal grounded out to third to end the inning. Johnson cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Scott struck out swinging to start. Pavletich took strike three and Alvarado flied out to right to end the inning.
Otis flied out to center to start the top of the sixth and Oliver also flied out to center. Piniella grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the sixth as Peters singled to right to begin. Andrews dropped down a bunt to move Peters to second and Gary scored on the base hit to right by Smith. Reggie took second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball but Yaz struck out swinging. Tony C struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The Royals answered in the top of the seventh as Alcaraz and Hernandez got back to back base hits to start before moving over on a passed ball. Rodriguez walked to load the bases and Hawk Taylor pinch hit for Johnson. Taylor took strike three but Kelly lashed a base hit to left. Yaz then turned and threw the ball onto the Mass Pike for an error to score Alcaraz and Hernandez to give the Royals the lead. That was it for Peters who allowed 2 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Vicente Romo came in to pitch and Schaal walked to reload the bases, but Otis flied out to center. Oliver took strike three to end the inning with the Royals up 2-1.
"Dammit Yaz"
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh with Al Fitzmorris now on the mound. Petrocelli and Scott both grounded out to third but Pavletich singled to left. Dick Schofield pinch hit for Alvarado but grounded out to first to end the inning.
Schofield moved to third with Petrocelli at short for the top of the eighth and Piniella grounded out to short to start. Alcaraz flied out to center and Hernandez popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox suddenly rallied in the bottom of the eighth as Mike Derrick pinch hit for Romo to begin. Derrick grounded back to the mound but Andrews ripped a base hit to left. Smith popped up to short but Yaz and Tony C drew back to back walks to load the bases. Petrocelli then smashed a grand slam to put the Sox on top. Scott flied out to right to end the inning with Boston ahead 5-2.
Sparky Lyle came in to close out the top of the ninth and Rodriguez grounded out to third to start. Rich Severson pinch hit for Fitzmorris and singled in the hole at short. Kelly lined out to left and Schaal flied out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2.
Hero of the Night is Rico Petrocelli. His two out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth put the Sox up for good.
Petrocelli The Hero
The Good:
Mike Andrews was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Don Pavletich was 1 for 3.
Luis Alvarado was 1 for 2.
Gary Peters tossed 6 1/3 innings of 2 run ball and was 1 for 2 at the plate with a run scored.
Vicente Romo got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Sparky Lyle got his eighth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
George Scott was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Dick Schofield was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Mike Derrick was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Reggie Smith was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Carl Yastrzemski was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error but walked and scored a run.
Tony Conigliaro was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked, was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
This season has been a disaster so far but today was fun. Winning both games of a doubleheader put the Sox back over .500 temporarily. Its a shame that back in April the Sox looked like they could hang with Baltimore but the Sox pitching never got untracked to help the offense. Peters did well today but his ERA is damn near 6.00. Maybe the Sox can turn it around this month but its highly unlikely. They also don't have much to trade to bring in some help unless they want to give up their 1967 core in the process. Still, they won the first game and they won this game with a timely grand slam from Petrocelli. The win improved the Sox to 25-25, 9 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Tuesday night in Chicago to take on the hapless Chicago White Sox. Sonny Siebert (5-2) takes on Gary Janeski of Chicago at 8:05 PM Eastern time at Commiskey Park.
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