For eight innings it looked like the Boston Red Sox had the Detroit Tigers beat. Vicente Romo was knocked out in the 7th inning and Chuck Hartenstein (1-2, 5.74 ERA) coughed up the lead to tie the game at 4 apiece. Carl Yastrzemski belted his 30th home run of the year to put the Sox on top, but then came the ninth inning. Old pal Dalton Jones walked and then Dick McAuliffe belted a two run bomb to put the Tigers ahead. The Sox did get the tying run on against Tom Timmermann in the bottom of the ninth but Billy Conigliaro struck out to end the game. The Tigers had won the game 6-5 at Fenway Park.
Romo got the ball in the top of the first inning and Dick McAuliffe struck out swinging to start. Mickey Stanley grounded out to short and Al Kaline grounded out to third to end the inning. McLain got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Mike Andrews grounded out to third to start. Reggie Smith flied out to right but Carl Yastrzemski walked. Tony Conigliaro struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jim Northrup popped up to short to start the top of the second and Norm Cash took strike three. Bill Freehan popped up to first to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Rico Petrocelli singled to left to open. Billy Conigliaro got a base hit to center and John Kennedy doubled to left to score Petrocelli. Tom Satriano grounded out to first to score Billy C and move Kennedy to third. Romo hit a sac fly to right to score Kennedy but Andrews struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
The Tigers answered in the top of the third as Don Wert to right to start. Cesar Gutierrez grounded out to second to move Wert to third but McLain popped up to right. McAuliffe doubled to center to score Wert to cut the lead. Stanley walked but Kaline struck out swinging to end the inning with the Tigers down 3-1.
The Sox got the run back in the bottom of the third as Smith's bunt attempt was snuffed out by McLain. Yaz singled to left and Tony C singled to center to move Carl to third. Petrocelli beat out a double play ball to score Yaz but Billy C flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Northrup doubled to center to start the top of the fourth but Cash popped up to second. Freehan flied out to right and Wert struck out swinging to end the inning. Kennedy grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth but Satriano singled to right. Romo hit a bullet to Wert but his throw to double off Satriano went wide, putting Tom at second. Andrews walked but Smith popped up to third to end the inning.
The Tigers struck back in the top of the fifth as Gutierrez struck out swinging to start. McLain grounded out to short but McAuliffe walked. Stanley then hit a home run all the way to central Arkansas to cut the lead. Kaline flied out to right to end the inning with the Tigers down 4-3.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fifth as Yaz grounded out to short to start. Tony C's bunt attempt was snuffed out by McLain but Petrocelli got a base hit to center. Billy C also got a base hit to center but Kennedy popped up to third in foul territory to end the inning.
Northrup got a base hit to right to start the top of the sixth but Cash grounded into a double play. Freehan walked but Wert grounded out to short to end the inning. Satriano flied out to center to start the bottom of the sixth and Romo popped up to first. Andrews got a base hit to left but Smith grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Tigers struck again in the top of the seventh as old pal Dalton Jones pinch hit for Gutierrez to start. Jones grounded out to first and Gates Brown pinch hit for McLain. Brown walked and MacAuliffe doubled to right to chase Romo. Vicente got tagged for four runs in 6 2/3 innings, not the greatest. Chuck Hartenstein came in and Stanley grounded out to short to score Brown, tying the game. Kaline grounded out to third to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Daryl Patterson came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Yaz greeted him with his 30th home run of the season to put Boston back on top. Tony C grounded out to short and Petrocelli grounded out to third, but Billy C walked. Kennedy got a base hit to right but Satriano forced him at second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-4.
Northrup grounded out to first to start the top of the eighth but Cash doubled to right. Freehan flied out to center and Wert hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Sox manager Eddie Kasko foolishly allowed Hartenstein to hit to start the bottom of the eighth and he took strike three right down the middle. Andrews popped up to third and George Thomas pinch hit for Smith. Thomas popped up to third to end the inning.
Hartenstein returned to close out the top of the ninth and Jones walked to start. Russ Nagelson pinch hit for Patterson and took strike three. McAuliffe then hit a home run into the Charles River to put the Tigers on top. Eddie Kasko's decision to let Chuck hit backfired and he brought in Gary Wagner to pitch. Stanley flied out to center and Kaline took strike three to end the inning with the Tigers up 6-5.
Tom Timmermann came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Yaz grounded out to second to start. Tony C struck out swinging but Petrocelli got a base hit to right. Billy C struck out swinging to end the game. The Tigers had won it 6-5.
Jackass of The Night is Chuck Hartenstein. He allowed the tying run to score in the seventh and gave up the two run home run to lose the game.
The Good:
Carl Yastrzesmki was 2 for 4 with a walk, home run and 2 runs scored.
Rico Petrocelli was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Billy Conigliaro was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
John Kennedy was 2 for 4 with a rbi and a run scored.
Gary Wagner got the final two outs of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Reggie Smith was 0 for 4.
George Thomas was 0 for 1.
The Ugly:
Mike Andrews was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Tony Conigliaro was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Tom Satriano was just 1 for 4 with an rbi.
Vicente Romo was charged with 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings and was 0 for 2 at the plate, but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Another tough loss which has been a microcosm of the season. The starting pitching and offense has been good enough to compete but the relief pitching has been awful. Not that anyone's touching the Baltimore Orioles this season but how many games have they lost in the later innings this season? Eddie Kasko had Gary Wagner ready to go for the ninth but he stuck with Hartenstein. Having him hit might have cost them the game because a hit by a pinch hitter might have gotten them another run, plus Wagner might have saved the game. Instead, Hartenstein blows it and its another bad loss in a season full of them. Not even a healthy Jim Lonborg could have saved this season from disaster. Just too many bad games and a historic Orioles team in the way. Not much you can do but play out the string in the final two months and hope for the best next year. The loss dropped the Sox to 54-54, 14.5 games behind the O's for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow against the Tigers when Ray Culp (11-10) takes on Mickey Lolich of Detroit. The game begins at 2:00 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment