The Sox did nothing in the top of the first inning as Mike Andrews struck out to start. Reggie Smith grounded out to short and Carl Yastrzemski flied out to left to end the inning. Peters struggled in the bottom of the first as Ed Brinkman lined out to second to start. Wayne Comer grounded out to third but Frank Howard beat out an infield single. Aurelio Rodriguez was hit with a pitch and Paul Casanova walked to load the bases. Mike Epstein struck out to end the inning.
Tony Conigliaro singled to center to start the top of the second but Rico Petrocelli banged into a double play. Billy Conigliaro flied out to right to end the inning. Tom Grieve struck out to start the bottom of the second before Tim Cullen flied out to left. Cox grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third inning as John Kennedy doubled to left to begin. Jerry Moses hit one under the glove of Epstein for an error to score Kennedy to give the Sox the lead. Peters banged into a double play but Andrews cracked his 11th home run of the season to give the Sox the lead. Smith lined out to short to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 2-0.
The Senators struck back in the bottom of the third as Brinkman doubled to center to begin. Comer grounded out to third and Howard grounded out to short, but Rodriguez doubled home Brinkman to cut the lead. Casanova grounded out to short to end the inning but the Senators were down 2-1.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the fourth as Yaz grounded out to second to start. Tony C grounded out to third and Petrocelli grounded out to short to end the inning. Peters got Epstein to fly out to left to start the bottom of the fourth but Grieve struck out. Cullen flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fifth as Billy C lined out to left to start. Kennedy grounded out to short but Moses singled to center. Peters popped up to first to end the inning. The Senators struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Cox struck out to start. Brinkman grounded out to first but Comer walked and took second on a wild pitch. Howard singled home Comer to tie the game. Rodriguez grounded out to third to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Andrews grounded out to short to begin the top of the sixth before Smith popped up to third. Yaz doubled to left but Tony C grounded out to short to end the inning. Peters cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Casanova popped up to third to start. Epstein struck out and Grieve popped up to second to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt again in the top of the seventh although Petrocelli walked to start. Billy C forced Petrocelli at second, Kennedy forced Billy C at second and Moses grounded out to short to end the inning. The Senators finished off Peters in the bottom of the seventh although Cullen flied out to right to start. Cox struck out but Brinkman singled. Comer walked and Howard singled home Brinkman to give the Senators the lead. That was it for Peters as he left trailing after giving up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings. Chuck Hartenstein came in and got Rodriguez to fly out to center to end the inning with the Senators up 3-2.
Dick Schofield pinch hit for Hartenstein and reached on an error by Epstein to start the top of the eighth. Andrews singled Schofield to third to put runners on the corners with nobody out. For some reason Schofield didn't come home on the force at second by Smith. Darold Knowles came in for Cox and struck out both Yaz and Tony C to end the inning. The last gasp by the Sox failed miserably.
Sparky Lyle came in to pour gas on the fire in the bottom of the eighth. Casanova grounded out to short to start but Epstein singled to right. Grieve then crushed a home run into the Potomac River to ice the game. Cullen grounded out to third and Knowles popped up to first to end the inning but the Senators had iced it 5-2.
Del Unser took over in right as Knowles closed out the top of the ninth. Petrocelli grounded out to short, Billy C took strike three and Kennedy flied out to center to end the game. The Senators had sent the Sox to their fourth straight loss in this 5-2 defeat.
Jackass of the Night is Sparky Lyle. He turned a 3-2 deficit into 5-2 by giving up the bomb to Grieve.
The Good:
Mike Andrews was 2 for 4 with a solo home run.
Jerry Moses was 1 for 3.
Chuck Hartenstein retired the only man he faced.
The Bad:
Reggie Smith was 0 for 4.
Billy Conigliaro was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Dick Schofield was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 4 and a strikeout.
Tony Conigliaro was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 3 but walked.
John Kennedy was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Gary Peters took the loss by giving up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings. 4 times out of 5 that should be enough to win. He was 0 for 2 at the plate as well.
Final Thoughts:
Gadzooks what happened to the offense? They've scored just 7 runs in the last 4 games and that's not going to cut it as the season winds down to the final two months. Peters pitched well but didn't get any run support. Lyle giving up that home run was the backbreaker and took the wind out of their sails. Still, the Sox only had 3 hits after the third inning and you're not gonna win too many games with that kind of a drought. The Sox need to get their act in gear if they have any hope of catching the Baltimore Orioles in the last 2 months of the season. The less said of this nonsense, the better. The loss drops the Sox back to .500 at 53-53 on the season, 14.5 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox are back in action when they send Cal Koonce (0-5) to the mound to take on Jim Hannan at 7:00 PM at RFK Stadium.
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