Retired New York Yankees and Mets manager Casey Stengal once said "I've been in this game a hundred years but I've seen new ways to lose I never knew existed before." The Boston Red Sox right now are coming up with those new ways to lose. In their latest debacle, the Sox took a 4-3 lead over the Texas Rangers going into the bottom of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Luis Aparicio booted a grounder by Toby Harrah AND threw it away to clear the bases and give the Rangers the lead. The Sox tied it in the top of the ninth only for Ken Suarez to smash a walkoff base hit in the bottom of the ninth to give Ted Williams' team a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox at Arlington Stadium.
Bill Gogolewski got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Harper grounded out to third to start. Luis Aparicio was retired on a squibber in front of the plate but Carl Yastrzemski singled to center. Rico Petrocelli forced Yaz at second to end the inning. Luis Tiant got the start for the Sox and Lenny Randle struck out swinging to start. Dave Nelson walked but was thrown out trying to steal by the alert Fisk. Don Mincher and Hal King both walked but Frank Howard took strike three to end the inning.
Ben Oglivie lined out to second to start the top of the second before Danny Cater flied out to center. Doug Griffin grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Tiant got Larry Bittner to line out to second to begin the bottom of the second before Elliott Maddox drew a walk. Toby Harrah struck out swinging and Fisk threw out Maddox trying to steal to end the inning.
Gogolewski turned up the heat by striking out Carlton Fisk, Tiant and Harper all swinging to begin and end the top of the third. Tiant responded by striking out Gogolewski and Randle swinging to start the bottom of the third. Nelson popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth although Aparicio grounded back to the mound to start. Yaz ripped a base hit to left but Petrocelli struck out swinging. Oglivie walked and Cater singled home Yaz to give the Sox the lead. Griffin grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Tiant got Mincher to fly out to center to start the bottom of the fourth but King walked. Howard banged into a double play to end the inning.
Fisk flied out to center to begin the top of the fifth before Tiant struck out swinging. Harper singled to center and Aparicio reached on an error by Nelson. Yaz flied out to center to end the inning. Bittner singled to center to begin the bottom of the fifth but Maddox flied out to center. Harrah flied out to center and Jim Driscoll pinch hit for Gogolewski only to line out to center to end the inning.
Jim Panther came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Petrocelli grounded back to the mound to start. Oglivie tripled to right and Cater drove him home with a sac fly. Griffin grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Rangers struck back in the bottom of the sixth as Randle flied out to left to begin. Nelson singled to center and Mincher walked to chase Tiant from the game after 5 1/3 innings and 2 eventual runs charged. Ken Tatum came in and struck out King swinging but naturally Howard smashed a 3 run home run to put the Rangers on top. Bittner walked, Maddox was hit with a pitch and Harrah walked to load the bases. Panther grounded out to short to end the inning but it was now 3-2.
The Sox fought back in the top of the seventh as Fisk walked to start. Bob Burda pinch hit for Tatum and popped up to third but Fisk took off for second. The throw got away and Fisk took third on the error. Harper walked and Aparicio blooped a single to center to score Fisk with the tying run while Tommy took third. Paul Lindblad came in to pitch to Yaz and Carl scored Harper with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Petrocelli grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 4-3.
Roger Moret came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Randle walked to start. Randle was thrown out trying to steal by Fisk and Nelson took strike three. Mincher also took strike three to end the inning.
Dick Billings took over behind the plate to start the top of the eighth and Oglivie flied out to right to start. Cater walked and Rangers manager Ted Williams brought in Horacio Pina in to pitch but batting third. Tom Grieve came in to play left and bat ninth while Howard moved to first. Griffin was hit with a pitch but Fisk and Moret both struck out swinging to end the inning. The Rangers rallied again in the bottom of the eighth as Billings and Howard stroked back to back singles to begin. Joe Lovitto ran for Howard and Ted Ford pinch hit for Bittner. Bobby Bolin came in to face Ford and struck him out swinging. Maddox walked to load the bases but Harrah hit a routine grounder to Aparicio. Instead of turning two to end the inning, Luis kicked the ball like a soccer ball, picked it up and threw it all the way out of Arlington Stadium for two errors that cleared the bases. Instead of being out of the inning the Rangers had taken the lead. Grieve and Randle both struck out swinging to end the inning but the Rangers now led 6-4.
Ken Suarez came in to catch the top of the ninth and the Sox rallied. Harper got a base hit to center and Aparicio atoned for his errors with a base hit to right. Mike Paul came in to pitch and Ted Kubiak came in to play first on the double switch as Yaz flied out to center. Petrocelli singled to center to score Harper and rookie Rick Miller came in to run for Rico. Phil Gagliano pinch hit for Oglivie and Casey Cox came in to pitch to him. Gagliano ripped a base hit to left to score Aparicio to tie the game but Cater flied out to right. Griffin lined out to second to end the inning but the game was tied 6-6.
Bolin returned for the bottom of the ninth and Nelson singled to center to start. Nelson swiped second and third before Kubiak walked. Gary Peters was brought in to pitch and Billings was intentionally walked to load the bases. Suarez singled to left to score Nelson to win the game. The Rangers had stunned the Sox 7-6.
The Good:
Tommy Harper was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Carl Yastrzemski was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Ben Oglivie was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Phil Gagliano got a base hit and an rbi as a pinch hitter.
Danny Cater was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 rbis.
The Bad:
Bob Burda was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Ken Tatum served up the three run home run to Frank Howard.
Roger Moret was charged with 2 runs in an inning of work.
Gary Peters allowed the game winning hit.
The Ugly:
Luis Aparicio was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored but committing 2 errors on the same play put the Rangers ahead in the eighth.
Rico Petrocelli was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Doug Griffin was 0 for 4 but was hit with a pitch.
Carlton Fisk was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked, stole a base and scored a run.
Luis Tiant lasted just 5 1/3 innings and allowed 2 runs. He was 0 for 2 at the plate as well.
Honorable Mention:
Rick Miller pinch ran for Petrocelli and played right field.
Final Thoughts:
There aren't many words left to describe the ineptitude of the Red Sox. When their pitching is good, the bats don't show. When the bats show, the pitching fails. The defense has been atrocious and you think the Sox miss Sparky Lyle yet out of the bullpen? Watching Bolin, Tatum and Peters trying to hold a lead is like playing roulette. At least Cater, Harper and Yaz stepped it up today but Aparicio's double error cost the Sox big time. As I said already, there's plenty of time to turn things around and Baltimore hasn't gotten off to a blazing start. Hopefully the month of May will be a lot better for the Sox. The Sox look to avoid a five game losing streak tomorrow when they finish their set with the Rangers. Lew Krausse gets the ball for Boston against Jim Shellenback of Texas. The game begins at 3:05 PM Eastern time at Arlington Stadium.
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