McClain got the ball to start the top of the first and Luis Aparicio lined out to second to start. Reggie Smith lashed a single to right but Carl Yastrzemski flied out to center. Rico Petrocelli flied out to center to end the inning. Siebert took the mound in the bottom of the first and Del Unser took strike three to start. Tim Cullen singled to right but Frank Howard banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as George Scott singled to center to start. Duane Josephson cracked his first home run of the season to put Boston on top. Billy Conigliaro popped up to second, Doug Griffin grounded out to third and Siebert struck out looking to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Siebert cruised in the bottom of the second as Mike Epstein grounded out to first to start. Joe Foy flied out to center and Richie Scheinblum grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third although Aparicio struck out looking to start. Smith lined out to second but Yaz smashed his first home run of the year to increase the lead. Petrocelli took strike three to end the inning but it was 3-0 Boston.
The Sox defense played hot potato in the bottom of the third as Aparicio booted a grounder by Toby Harrah to start. Paul Casanova doubled Harrah home to put Washington on the board and McClain dropped down a bunt to move Paul over. A passed ball scored Casanova and Petrocelli booted a grounder by Unser for an error. Cullen singled to right but Howard banged into a double play to end the inning. 2 errors and a passed ball had the Senators back in the game 3-2.
The Sox atoned for their bad defense by getting another run in the top of the fourth as Scott beat out an infield single to short. Josephson doubled George to third and Scott scored on the sac fly by Billy C. Griffin popped up to second and Siebert grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Siebert settled down in the bottom of the fourth as Epstein popped up to Yaz in foul territory to start. Foy flied out to right and Scheinblum grounded out to second to end the inning.
This time it was Washington's turn for bad defense in the top of the fifth as Aparicio singled to center to start. Harrah booted a grounder by Smith but Yaz banged into a double play. McClain balked home Smith to increase the lead and Petrocelli grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Harrah grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fifth before Casanova flied out to right. Bernie Allen pinch hit for McClain and grounded out to second to end the inning.
Casey Cox came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Scott was plunked to start. Josephson banged into a double play and Billy C struck out to end the inning. Unser doubled to center to start the bottom of the sixth but Cullen struck out. Unser moved to second on the Howard grounder but Epstein struck out to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the seventh as Griffin grounded back to the mound to start. Siebert and Aparicio both grounded out to short to end the inning. Siebert cruised in the bottom of the seventh as Foy popped up to short to start. Scheinblum flied out to right and Harrah grounded out to third to end the inning.
Smith doubled to right to start the top of the eighth and that was it for Cox. Joe Grzenda came in to pitch with Tom Ragland coming in to play second and Cullen moving to short to get Harrah out of the game. Smith moved to third on the fly ball by Yaz and Horacio Pina came in for Grzenda. Petrocelli was intentionally walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Scott banged into a double play to end the inning. Casanova flied out to center to start the bottom of the eighth before Ragland flied out to left. Unser flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the ninth as Billy C grounded out to short to start. Griffin grounded back to the mound and Siebert took strike three to end the inning. For some reason Siebert was sent back to finish the game and at first the gamble worked when Cullen flied out to center to start the bottom of the ninth. Howard walked and Curt Flood pinch ran for him. Epstein hit a routine grounder to Griffin who kicked the ball over to first for an error. Foy singled to center to score Flood and finally the plug was pulled by Kasko. Sparky Lyle came in and got Scheinblum to bang into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Sonny Siebert. He nearly went the distance, going 8 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
The Good:
Reggie Smith was 2 for 4.
George Scott was 2 for 2 with a walk, a hit by pitch and scored 2 runs.
Duane Josephson was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run.
Sparky Lyle got the final 2 outs to earn the save.
The Bad:
Doug Griffin was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Luis Aparicio was just 1 for 4 with an error but scored a run.
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 3 with an error but walked.
Billy Conigliaro was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
This team has a lot of holes but if Siebert or Culp are pitching, they at least have a chance to win the game. The bottom of the order is a black hole if Conigliaro and Griffin aren't hitting, and that's going to be a problem all season. If Sox brass dumped Tony Conigliaro because he didn't get along with Yaz, they could have at least gotten someone competent to replace him. Going from a 30 home run hitter to a slap hitter like Griffin isn't exactly an upgrade. Still, a win is a win and Siebert pitched well. Kasko needs to learn how to trust Lyle and Ken Tatum to start the ninth inning. He's not doing the team ERA any good by leaving Culp and Siebert out too long. Still, its a long season and hopefully things will work itself out. The Sox look to sweep the Senators tomorrow night when Mike Nagy makes his season debut up against Jim Shellenback at 7:00 PM at RFK Stadium.
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