The A's didn't wait around to get to Tiant in the top of the first as Bert Campaneris got a base hit up the middle to start. Joe Rudi caught the Sox asleep with a bunt single to move Bert all the way to third and Campaneris scored on the grounder to short by Reggie Jackson. Don Mincher took strike three and protested the call but Bill Voss walked. Sal Bando grounded out to short to end the inning with the A's ahead 1-0.
Hunter got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tommy Harper singled in the hole at short to start. Doug Griffin dropped down a bunt to move Harper to second but Tommy could only move to third on the fly out to right by Carl Yastrzemski. Reggie Smith popped up to first to end the inning.
Dave Duncan popped up to left to start the top of the second and Ted Kubiak popped up to right. Hunter grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second as Rico Petrocelli grounded out to short to start. Danny Cater smashed his 7th home run of the season to tie the game but John Kennedy struck out swinging. Bob Montgomery grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Campaneris walked to start the top of the third but Rudi popped up to short. Jackson popped up to second and Mincher struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Tiant struck out swinging to start. Harper got a base hit to left and stole second, but Griffin took strike three. Yaz and Smith both walked to load the bases but Petrocelli popped up to center to end the inning.
Tiant cruised in the top of the fourth as Voss popped up to Petrocelli to start. Former Sox player and manager Johnny Pesky visited the NBC broadcast booth saying the Sox have improved in the second half as Bando was called out on strikes. Bando gave home plate umpire Larry McCoy an earful but Duncan popped up to Kennedy to end the inning.
Hunter dominated the bottom of the fourth as Cater grounded out to third to start. Kennedy tripled off the Monster but Montgomery popped up to short right. Tiant popped up to short to end the inning.
The A's struck again in the top of the fifth as Kubiak blooped a base hit to center to start. Hunter dropped down a bunt to move Kubiak to second and Ted made it to third on the Campaneris bloop single to left. Bert moved to second on the throw to third and Kubiak scored on the sac fly to center by Rudi to give the A's the lead. Jackson was rung up for strike three and looked to have thrown his bat at McCoy. McCoy gave Reggie the heave-ho and Dick Williams threw his hands up and gave McCoy the business. Still, the A's led 2-1 even with Reggie gone.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth with George Hendrick now in right field. Harper struck out swinging and Griffin grounded out to short, but Yaz somehow hit his first home run of the season to tie the game. Smith grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The A's struck back in the top of the sixth as Mincher dropped a base hit to right to start. Voss walked and Red Sox pitching coach Lee Strange sprinted to the mound to tell Tiant that The Brady Bunch was on in the dugout. Bando dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over and Duncan grounded out to second to score Mincher to give the A's the lead back. Voss moved to third on the play and Kubiak walked to put runners at the corners. Hunter popped up to Cater in foul territory to end the inning with the A's up 3-2.
Petrocelli took strike three to start the bottom of the sixth and Cater was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double on a base hit to left. That proved costly as Kennedy doubled off the Monster only for Montgomery to ground out to third to end the inning.
Tiant came back for one last inning in the top of the seventh as Campaneris singled to right to begin. Rudi dropped down a bunt to move Bert to second and Campaneris stole third on the swinging strikeout by Hendrick. Mincher popped up to short to end the inning and that was it for Tiant. He threw 7 innings and allowed just 3 runs to keep the Sox in the game.
Bob Burda pinch hit for Tiant to start the bottom of the seventh and struck out swinging to begin. Harper and Griffin stroked back to back base hits to chase Hunter. Darold Knowles came in and Yaz hit a sac fly to score Harper to tie the game. Smith flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Gary Peters came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Angel Mangual pinch hit for Voss to start. Mangual walked but Bando banged into a double play. Duncan hit a pop up to Griffin...DROPPED FOR AN ERROR! Kubiak walked and Gene Tenace pinch hit for Knowles. One strike away from ending the inning....Tenace ended up hitting a triple down the right field line to clear the bases. Campaneris grounded out to second to end the inning with the A's up 5-3.
Rollie Fingers came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Petrocelli popped up to right to begin. Cater flied out to right and Kennedy struck out swinging to end the inning.
Rudi flied out to center to start the top of the ninth before Hendrick reached on an error by Petrocelli. Mincher banged into a double play to end the inning. Mike Hegan took over at first base to start the bottom of the ninth with Ben Oglivie pinch hitting for Montgomery. Oglivie got a base hit to left to bring the tying run to the plate but for some reason Peters was allowed to hit away. Peters struck out swinging and Harper banged into a double play to end the game. The A's had taken Game 1 by a score of 5-3.
Jackass of the Night is Gary Peters. Yes Griffin's error prolonged the inning but Peters had two chances to get the third out anyway and failed both times to take the loss. He also struck out in the ninth inning representing the tying run.
The Good:
Tommy Harper was 3 for 5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Carl Yastrzemski was 1 for 2 with a walk, a home run and 2 total rbis.
Danny Cater was 2 for 4 with a home run.
John Kennedy was 2 for 4.
Ben Oglivie singled as a pinch hitter.
Luis Tiant held the A's to 3 runs in 7 innings of work. He allowed 6 hits, 5 walks and struck out 5.
The Bad:
Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 4 with an error and a strikeout.
Bob Montgomery was 0 for 3.
Bob Burda struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Doug Griffin was 1 for 3 but struck out and made a crucial error.
Reggie Smith was 0 for 3 but walked.
Reggie Smith was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Winning four in a row against the A's was apparently too much to ask. The sad part was the Sox could have won it if it wasn't for Griffin's error in the eighth. Fingers is tough but the Sox may have played some small ball in a tie game or at the very least pinch hit for Peters. I don't know why Kasko let Peters hit but it cost the Sox big. When the Sox are barely hanging on by a thread in the AL East race, every win counts and the Sox needed to make a statement against the A's in this doubleheader. There's still another game to play but losing Game 1 always puts a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Maybe they'll win Game 2 and all will be right in the world again. FINALLY Yaz got his first home run and if he had his normal offense, maybe the Sox wouldn't be bordering on .500 right now. The Sox have no time to dwell on the loss because they have Game 2 to play in a few minutes. Sonny Siebert (8-5) takes on Joe Horlen of the A's at Fenway Park.