The good news was the Boston Celtics stayed alive in their Eastern Finals series with the Philadelphia Sixers with their Game 5 win. The bad news was the Boston Red Sox were blanked by the Texas Rangers for the third straight game. This time it was Danny Darwin who tossed a complete game, 1 hit shutout against the Sox. John Tudor (1-1, 4.50 ERA) was game but got absolutely no run support. The Rangers thoroughly dominated the Sox the last three games scoring 24 runs (40 counting last week at Fenway) while not allowing a single run. The Rangers will be sad to see the Sox go as they enjoyed a 5-0 series sweeping win at Arlington Stadium. For the third game in a row how many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Jim Rice struck out swinging to start the top of the second then Carl Yastrzemski grounded out to first. Carney Lansford flied out to right to end the inning. Larry Cox grounded out to short to begin the bottom of the second but Mario Mendoza singled to center. Wills banged into a double play to end the inning.
Gary Allenson flied out to center to start the top of the third before Glenn Hoffman did the same. Rick Miller walked but Remy grounded into a force to end the inning. Rivers flied out to right to begin the bottom of the third and Oliver grounded out to short. Bell grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Stapleton grounded back to the mound to begin the top of the fourth but Evans drew a walk. Rice struckout swinging and Yaz flied out to left to end the inning. Sample flied out to left to open the bottom of the fourth and Grubb grounded out to first. Putnam grounded out to short to end the inning.
Lansford grounded out to third to begin the top of the fifth and Allenson popped up to second. Hoffman took strike three to end the inning. Tudor got Cox to go down hacking to begin the bottom of the fifth before Mendoza grounded out to second. Wills flied out to right to end the inning.
Miller tried to start a rally with a base hit to left to begin the top of the sixth but Remy watched strike three go by. Stapleton banged into a double play to end the inning. Rivers grounded out to second to start the bottom of the sixth and Oliver grounded back to the mound. Bell singled to left but Sample flied out to right to end the inning.
Evans walked to start the top of the seventh and moved to second on the grounder by Rice. Yaz lined out to first and Lansford grounded out to third to end the inning. Grubb walked to start the bottom of the seventh and Putnam struck out swinging. Cox singled to center and Mendoza beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Wills popped up to second to end the inning.
Allenson walked to start the top of the eighth but Hoffman flied out to right and Miller banged into a double play to end the inning. Tudor ran out of gas in the bottom of the eighth as Rivers beat out an infield single to short to start. Oliver clobbered a home run to Mount Saint Helens to increase the lead. Bell walked and that was it for Tudor. He never should have started the inning but he left after allowing 5 runs in 7 innings. Bill Campbell came in and Sample doubled to left. Grubb hit a fly ball to right and Bell tried for home. Evans gunned him down at home for the double play and Putnam popped up to second to end the inning with the Rangers up 5-0.
Remy walked to start the top of the ninth and Stapleton forced him at second. Evans forced Stapleton at second and Rice whiffed to end the game. Darwin had tossed a complete game 1 hit shutout and the Rangers swept the Sox with a 5-0 win.
Jackass of the Night is John Tudor. Not much you can do if your offense gets just one hit but he put them in an early hole and ended up surrendering 5 runs in 7 innings.
The Good:
Dwight Evans walked twice in four plate appearances.
Rick Miller was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Bill Campbell pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 4.
Jim Rice was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Carl Yastrzemski was 0 for 3.
Carney Lansford was 0 for 3.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Jerry Remy was 0 for 3 but walked.
Gary Allenson was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
This month can't end fast enough the way things spiraled out of control. Even when things were going good you can see the signs of impending failure as the middle of the order has been all but useless so far this season. Getting one hit by Danny Darwin was the icing on the cake but the fact of the matter is apart from Dwight Evans, nobody from 1-5 hit well at all. Lansford was doing well until this past week and the bottom of the order crashed back to earth big time. Can't really complain about the pitching too much if you get shut out in three straight games. Losing Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk hurt but it shouldn't hurt THIS much. There is a belief the offense will pick up eventually but the Sox can't afford to fall too far behind the New York Yankees. The Sox thankfully are getting out of Texas and are coming home to play the Minnesota Twins. Frank Tanana (0-2) gets the start for the Sox against Roger Erickson of the Twins. The game begins tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM at Fenway Park.
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