If nothing else, Ray Culp (17-14, 3.04 ERA) had a good season all things considering. If he had gotten a little bit of run support, maybe he could have won 20 games this season. As it was, he won his 17th and final game of the season by beating the Washington Senators tonight in front of a paltry crowd of 5,354 people. Culp no-hit the Senators for 6 innings but ended up going the distance, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Rico Petrocelli and George Scott both drove in 2 runs apiece to pace the offense as Culp mowed down Washington to earn the victory. The Sox are hopelessly out of playoff contention but at least they can hang their hat on beating Washington 5-1 at RFK Stadium.
Jim Shellenback got the start for Washimngton in the top of the first inning and Mike Andrews flied out to left to start. Reggie Smith grounded out to short but Carl Yastrzemski walked. Tony Conigliaro flied out to right to end the inning. Culp got Ed Stroud to begin the bottom of the first to ground out to third. Del Unser popped up a bunt to Culp and Frank Howard popped up to second to end the inning.
Rico Petrocelli popped up to first in foul territory to start the top of the second but George Scott singled to right. Billy Conigliaro singled to right but Bob Montgomery grounded out to short to end the inning. Mike Epstein flied out to center to start the bottom of the second before Aurelio Rodriguez flied out to left. Ed Brinkman grounded out to short to end the inning.
Culp grounded out to short to start the top of the third but Andrews singled to left. Smith banged into a double play to end the inning. Dick Billings grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third before Dave Nelson popped up to third. Shellenback flied out to right to end the inning.
Yaz grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth but Tony C popped up to second. Petrocelli dropped a pop up in shallow left for a double but Scott flied out to center to end the inning. Stroud grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fourth but Unser walked. Howard banged into a double play to end the inning.
Billy C grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth before Montgomery grounded back to the mound. Culp took strike three to end the inning. Epstein flied out to center to start the bottom of the fifth before Rodriguez popped up to short. Brinkman grounded out to short to end the inning, that's 5 no-hit innings for Culp.
The Sox struck first in the top of the sixth as Andrews doubled to left to begin. Smith took strike three but Yaz singled Andrews to third. Tony C walked to load the bases and Petrocelli singled home Andrews and Yaz to give the Sox the lead. Casey Cox came in to pitch and a passed ball moved both runners over. Scott lashed a base hit to center to score Tony C and Petrocelli to increase the lead. Billy C popped up to left and Scott foolishly tried to tag up and go to second, getting thrown out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Billings popped up to left to begin the bottom of the sixth before Nelson grounded out to short. Bernie Allen pinch hit for Cox and flied out to center to end the inning. Culp was 9 outs from a no-hitter.
Jackie Brown came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Montgomery singled to right to start. Bob moved to second on a passed ball but was thrown out at third. Culp struck out and Andrews popped up to short to end the inning. The Senators struck back in the bottom of the seventh as Stroud broke up the no-no with a base hit to second. Unser singled Ed to third and he scored on the grounder by Howard. Epstein walked but Rodriguez struck out. Brinkman singled to second to load the bases but Billings struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Denny Riddleberger came in for the top of the eighth and the Sox added an insurance run. Smith popped up to short but Yaz doubled to right, taking third on an error. Tony C scored Yaz with a sac fly before Petrocelli walked. Scott lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Nelson lined out to second to start the bottom of the eighth as Tom Grieve pinch hit for Riddleberger just to hit one up the elevator shaft. Stroud singled to first but Unser grounded into a force to end the inning.
Cisco Carlos came in for the top of the ninth and Billy C lined out to third to start. Montgomery grounded out to short and Culp struck out to end the inning. Culp returned to finish the job in the bottom of the ninth and Howard grounded back to the mound to start. Epstein struck out and Rodriguez flied out to center to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-1.
The Good:
Mike Andrews was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Carl Yastrzemski was 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Rico Petrocelli was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 rbis and a run scored.
George Scott was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.
The Bad:
Reggie Smith was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Tony Conigliaro was 0 for 2 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Billy Conigliaro was just 1 for 4.
Bob Montgomery was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
As the season winds to a close, the Sox suddenly got hot to finish the season respectably. Where was this a month ago? Still, Culp winning 17 games makes up for the fact Jim Lonborg hasn't been the same in 3 years. If only the Sox had the same Lonborg from 1967, they'd be able to match the Baltimore Orioles rather than be a mile behind them. Culp no-hit the Senators through 6 then held on to win the game. Good on the offense to give him some run support for once. The win improved the Sox to 84-74, nowhere near the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to beat the Senators again when they send Sonny Siebert (14-8) to the mound up against Bill Gogolewski of the Senators. The game begins at 7:05 PM at RFK Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment