The good news was the Boston Celtics evened their East Finals series with the Philadelphia Sixers at one game apiece after their Game 2 victory. The bad news was the Texas Rangers gave a devastating beating to the Boston Red Sox. After the Red Sox pitched back to back complete games, Dennis Eckersley (1-1, 7.11 ERA) didn't even make out of the first inning, getting charged with 7 runs before the Sox could even come to bat. Chuck Rainey made his season debut getting pounded for 6 runs of his own and the Rangers never let up. When the carnage was over the Rangers pounded out 18 hits and 16 runs to annihilate the Red Sox 16-8 at Fenway Park.
The Rangers ambushed Eckersley immediately in the top of the first inning as Bump Wills pounded a ground rule double to start. Mickey Rivers struck out swinging but Al Oliver singled home Wills to give the Rangers the lead. Buddy Bell singled and Johnny Grubb walked to load the bases and Pat Putnam cleared them with a double. Jim Sundberg walked and Billy Sample hit a perfect double play ball to Glenn Hoffman...UNDER HIS GLOVE! The error scored Putnam and kept the inning going. Both runners moved over on the grounder by Mario Mendoza but Wills singled home Sundberg and Sample to make it a touchdown. Sox manager Ralph Houk had seen enough and pulled the ineffective Eckersley after just 2/3 of an inning. Chuck Rainey made his season debut to get Rivers to line out to right to end the inning with the Rangers ahead 7-0.
Rangers starter Danny Darwin got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jerry Remy walked to start. Dwight Evans and Carl Yastrzemski both flied out to left and Jim Rice grounded out to third to end the inning.
It was Rainey's turn to take a beating in the top of the second as Oliver doubled to right to begin. Bell grounded back to the mound but Grubb singled Oliver to third. Putnam hit a sac fly to score Oliver with another run and Sundberg hit a routine grounder to Hoffman....OFF HIS GLOVE! Another error kept the inning alive and Sample doubled home Sundberg. Mendoza singled home Sample but Wills took strike three to end the inning. Hoffman's errors loomed large as the Rangers now led 11-0.
It was the Sox turn to rally in the bottom of the second as Tony Perez singled to right to start. Carney Lansford doubled Tony to third but Gary Allenson struck out swinging. Hoffman popped up to first but Rick Miller walked to load the bases. Remy singled home Perez and Lansford to put the Sox on the board. Evans doubled home Miller and Yaz drove in both runners with a single to cut the lead. Rice grounded out to second to end the inning but at least the Sox showed some fight to trail 11-5.
Rainey recovered in the top of the third as Rivers grounded out to first to start. Oliver grounded out to second and Bell grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Perez grounded out to short to start. Lansford flied out to left and Allenson grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Rangers settled matters in the top of the fourth as Grubb and Putnam stroked back to back singles to open. Sundberg doubled home Grubb to increase the lead but Sample lined out to third. Mendoza scored Putnam with a sac fly to put the game out of reach. Wills hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Rangers up 13-5.
The Sox did get a run back in the bottom of the fourth although Hoffman and Miller both grounded out to short to start. Remy walked and Evans tripled into the centerfield triangle to cut the lead. Yaz flied out to left to end the inning but it was 13-6 Texas.
Rainey got Rivers to ground out to first to start the top of the fifth and Oliver flied out to center. Bell grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Rice grounded out to second to start. Perez flied out to center but Lansford walked. Allenson flied out to center to end the inning.
Mark Clear came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Grubb grounded out to second to start. Putnam popped up to second but Sundberg singled to left. Sample doubled Sundberg to third but Mendoza grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox had some more fight left in them in the bottom of the sixth against Bob Babcock coming into pitch. Hoffman singled to right but Miller flied out to left. Remy walked and Evans singled him to third, scoring Hoffman with another run. Yaz beat out a double play ball to score Remy and Rice beat out an infield single to third. Perez flied out to right to end the inning but it was 13-8 Rangers.
The Rangers wrapped up the scoring in the top of the seventh as Wills walked to start. Rivers singled him to third but Oliver popped up to third. Bell then hit a home run all the way to Denton, Texas to add to the lead. Grubb was plunked and Putnam singled to left, but Sundberg took strike three. Sample struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rangers up 16-8.
Lansford tried to start a rally with a walk to begin the bottom of the seventh but Allenson flied out to left. Hoffman forced Lansford at second and Miller flied out to left to end the inning.
Mendoza singled to left to start the top of the eighth but Wills banged into a double play. Rivers walked but Oliver flied out to center to end the inning. Jim Kern came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Remy walked to start. Evans singled to left and both runners moved over on the grounder by Yaz. Rice took strike three and Perez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Bill Campbell made his season debut in the top of the ninth and struck out Bell swinging to start. Grubb flied out to left and Putnam grounded out to first to end the inning. Lansford grounded out to second to start the bottom of the ninth and Allenson took strike three. Hoffman walked but Miller took strike three to end the game. The Rangers had won it 16-8.
Jackass of the Night is Dennis Eckersley. He didn't even make it out of the first inning and got plastered for 7 runs to put the game out of reach early.
The Good:
Jerry Remy was 1 for 1 with 4 walks, 2 rbis and 3 runs scored.
Dwight Evans was 4 for 5 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
Carney Lansford was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Bill Campbell pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Gary Allenson was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Chuck Rainey allowed 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Mark Clear allowed 3 runs in 3 innings.
The Ugly:
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 5 but drove in 3 runs.
Jim Rice was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Tony Perez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Glenn Hoffman was just 1 for 4 with 2 errors but walked and scored a run.
Rick Miller was 0 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Gadzooks that was bad. It wouldn't be fair to expect Eckersley to continue the string of success Sox starters had the past few days but that was the complete opposite. The Rangers had a week's worth of offense in one day as they beat around every Sox pitcher they threw out there. The sad part was the Sox offense came to play by getting 10 hits and 8 runs of their own. Lansford and Evans were the driving force behind today's game and pretty much all April. Rice is going to catch fire eventually and it'll be glorious when he does. The only thing the Sox can do is forget about today and move on to the next game. The Sox are back in action Friday night when they visit the Baltimore Orioles. Frank Tanana (0-1) takes on Mike Flanagan of the Orioles. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Memorial Stadium.
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