Its one thing for the Boston Red Sox to be mediocre this season, its another thing to get their brains beaten in by the rival New York Yankees. The Yankees are on pace to win 100 games and the Sox would be lucky to win 89 by season's end. Ron Guidry mastered the Sox for 7 innings, surrendering just 3 hits while striking out nine batters. Goose Gossage came in to slam the door afterwards. John Tudor (7-5, 3.00 ERA) failed to make it out of the first inning as he was charged with 3 runs. Bill Campbell and Mike Torrez managed to shut the Yankees down the rest of the way but the damage was done. The Yankees continued their march toward October by blanking the Sox 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Guidry took the ball in the top of the first and Rick Burleson struck out to start. Dave Stapleton popped up to short and Carlton Fisk hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The Yankees jumped on Tudor in the bottom of the first as Willie Randolph walked to start. Bucky Dent walked and Randolph swiped third before Bob Watson doubled home Willie put the Yankees up for good three batters into the game. Reggie Jackson scored Dent with a sac fly and Watson moved to third on a grounder by Lou Piniella. Rick Cerone singled home Watson and Sox manager Don Zimmer stormed out of the dugout and charged Tudor. Zimmer threw a roundhouse right that Tudor ducked under and ran for the dugout. Bill Campbell was brought in and Eric Soderholm flied out to left to end the inning with the Yankees up 3-0.
Jim Rice started the top of the second by striking out to begin. Tony Perez struck out but Dwight Evans tripled to right. Chico Walker flied out to left to end the inning. Aurelio Rodriguez lined out to second to start the bottom of the second before Bobby Brown grounded out to second. Randolph grounded out to short to end the inning.
Glenn Hoffman popped up to second to start the top of the third and rookie Reid Nichols grounded back to the mound. Burleson walked but Stapleton flied out to center to end the inning. Dent walked to start the bottom of the third but was thrown out by Fisk trying to steal second. Watson singled to left but Jackson banged into a double play to end the inning.
Fisk popped up to third to open the top of the fourth before Rice singled to center. Perez and Evans both struck out to end the inning. Piniella singled to right to start the bottom of the fourth before Cerone flied out to right. Soderholm and Rodriguez both whiffed to end the inning.
Guidry cruised in the top of the fifth as Walker grounded out to second to start. Hoffman took strike three and Nichols swung and missed at strike three to end the inning. Campbell kept pace in the bottom of the fifth as Brown took strike three to start. Randolph singled to center and Rice made a great diving catch to rob Dent of extra bases, but Randolph took second. Watson flied out to center to end the inning. Campbell put in a yeoman's effort with 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball.
Burleson grounded out to short to start the top of the sixth but Stapleton drew a walk. Dave was doubled off of first on a line drive by Fisk to end the inning. Mike Torrez took over for the bottom of the sixth and Jackson singled to right to begin. Piniella flied out to center, Cerone flied out to left and Soderholm grounded out to second to end the inning.
Rice grounded out to short to start the top of the seventh before Perez took strike three for his third strikeout of the game. Evans singled to center and Walker watched strike three go by to end the inning. Torrez got Rodriguez to ground out to short to start the bottom of the seventh and Brown popped up to second. Randolph flied out to center to end the inning.
Goose Gossage came on for the six out save in the top of the eighth and Dave Rader pinch hit for Hoffman only to take strike three. Garry Hancock pinch hit for Nichols and grounded back to the mound before Burleson took strike three to end the inning. Larry Wolfe took over at third for the bottom of the eighth and Dent lined out to short to start. Watson flied out to right but Jackson singled to left. Joe Lefebvre pinch ran for Jackson as Piniella singled to left. Cerone flied out to center to end the inning. The much maligned Torrez tossed 3 scoreless innings, good stuff.
Stapleton tried to start a rally with a base hit to right to open the top of the ninth and moved to second on the grounder by Fisk. The rally ended as Gossage froze Rice for strike three and blew away Perez to end the game. The Yankees had won it 3-0.
Jackass of the Night is John Tudor. Not that the Sox were gonna score off Guidry but getting knocked out in the first inning spelled the Sox doom.
The Good:
Dave Stapleton was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Dwight Evans was 2 for 3.
Bill Campbell tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
Mike Torrez tossed 3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Carlton Fisk was 0 for 4.
Tony Perez was 0 for 4 with the golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts.
Chico Walker was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Dave Rader struck out as a pinch hitter.
Reid Nichols was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Garry Hancock was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Rick Burleson was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Jim Rice was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Honorable Mention:
Larry Wolfe played third base in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
As the season comes to a close, there are rumblings that Don Zimmer may not make it to the end of the season. At this point it would be the right move to make to tell him that his services are no longer needed. When he took over in 1976, he whined to Tom and Jean Yawkey that Bill Lee's crew was hampering his managerial style. Well Lee and his crew have been gone for years now and Zimmer still hasn't been able to get the most out of who's there. Taking out Tudor after 2/3 of an inning forced the bullpen to essentially toss 8 innings. The move worked, Torrez and Campbell did a hell of a job, but the principle of it stinks. The offense took the day off against Guidry and Gossage, never really posing a threat. Looking at the difference between the Sox and Yankees is frightening. Maybe someday the Sox will have the pitching to match the Yankees....maybe. The less said of this disaster, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 78-68, 15.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to play spoilers when they start a set with the second place Baltimore Orioles. Dick Drago (6-5) goes for the Sox against Scott McGregor, looking for his 20th win of the season. The game begins at 7:30 PM at Memorial Stadium.
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