Stottlemyre got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Harper walked to start. Luis Aparicio dropped down a bunt to sacrifice Tommy to second but Carl Yastrzemski grounded out to second. Harper went to third on the grounder but Reggie Smith popped up to right to end the inning. Curtis got the ball in the bottom of the first and Horace Clarke flied out to center to begin. Roy White grounded back to the mound and Thurman Munson grounded out to second to end the inning.
Rico Petrocelli flied out to center to start the top of the second and Carlton Fisk grounded out to short. Ben Oglivie popped up to short to end the inning. Bobby Murcer grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second before Graig Nettles took strike three. Felipe Alou grounded out to short to end the inning.
Doug Griffin grounded out to third to start the top of the third before Dwight Evans struck out swinging. Harper grounded out to third to end the inning. Celerino Sanchez grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Ron Swoboda grounded out to third. Gene Michael singled to right but Clarke forced him at second to end the inning.
Stottlemyre cruised in the top of the fourth as Aparicio popped up to second to begin. Yaz flied out to center and Smith flied out to right to end the inning. The Yankees exploded in the bottom of the fourth although White struck out swinging to start. The game turned when Munson hit a routine grounder to Griffin who threw himself on the ball and curled up like it was a grenade for an error. The Yankees capitalized as Murcer singled to center and Nettles doubled to right to score Munson. Alou was intentionally walked to load the bases but Sanchez beat out a double play ball to score Murcer with another run. Swoboda walked to reload the bases and Michael walked home Nettles. Clarke singled to center to score Sanchez and Swoboda to ice the game. That was it for Curtis who would be charged with 6 runs but only 1 of them would be earned due to the error. Roger Moret came in and a passed ball scored Michael with another run. White grounded out to third to end the inning but the Yankees were up 6-0/
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fifth as Petrocelli singled to center to start. Fisk banged into a double play and Oglivie grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Munson singled to center to start the bottom of the fifth and a wild pitch moved Thurman to second but Murcer struck out swinging. Nettles and Alou both struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the sixth as Griffin walked to start. Evans struck out swinging but Harper and Aparicio both walked to load the bases. All Yaz could do was score Griffin with a sac fly to put the Sox on the board. Smith singled to left to score Harper but Petrocelli popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox down 6-2.
Sanchez doubled to left to start the bottom of the sixth but Swoboda took strike three. Michael popped up to right and Clarke lined out to second to end the inning.
Fisk singled to left to start the top of the seventh but Oglivie banged into a double play. Griffin flied out to center to end the inning. Moret cruised in the bottom of the seventh as White grounded out to third to start. Munson grounded out to third and Murcer took strike three to end the inning.
Evans struck out swinging to begin the top of the eighth but Harper singled to left. Aparicio banged into a double play to end the inning. Nettles grounded out to first to begin the bottom of the eighth before Alou flied out to left. Sanchez struck out swinging to end the inning. Good work by Moret to keep the Yankees off the board after Curtis left.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the ninth as Yaz grounded back to the mound to start. Smith flied out to left and Petrocelli grounded out to third to end the game. The Yankees had won it 6-2.
Jackass of the Night is John Curtis. Doug Griffin's error didn't help but he still allowed 3 hits and 3 walks after to take the loss.
The Good:
Tommy Harper was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Roger Moret tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the Sox in the game.
The Bad:
Ben Oglivie was 0 for 3.
Dwight Evans was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Luis Aparicio was 0 for 2 but walked.
Carl Yastrzemski was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Reggie Smith was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Rico Petrocelli was just 1 for 4.
Carlton Fisk was 1 for 3 but allowed a passed ball which led to the sixth run to score.
Doug Griffin was 0 for 2 with a crucial error but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
After winning the first four games of the season in between all the bad weather, losing this one actually hurts. Can't really blame Doug Griffin for Curtis falling apart as bad as he did after the error. All he had to do was get a few key outs and maybe the Sox get out of it with no damage done. As it was, they only scored 2 runs off Mel Stottlemyre and he cruised after the sixth inning. Its only one game but starting the season off 5-0 and heading to Detroit undefeated would have been nice. Oh well, can't win them all. Moret did the best he could to keep the Sox in the game, its a shame the bats couldn't bop their way back. Tomorrow the Sox come home to play the Detroit Tigers on Patriots Day in an early season rematch of last year's divisional race. The Sox should look to send a message that last year was last year. Marty Pattin (1-0) gets the start for the Sox against Detroit's ace Mickey Lolich. The game begins at 11:05 AM at Fenway Park.
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