Jim Clancy got the ball for the Jays to start the top of the first and the Sox wasted no time scoring. Jerry Remy led off with a walk but Dwight Evans popped up to second. Jim Rice walked and Carl Yastrzemski singled to center to score Remy to put Boston on top. Carney Lansford banged into a double play to end the inning but the Sox led 1-0.
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Tudor got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Damaso Garcia grounded out to third to start. Garth Iorg singled to right but Barry Bonnell popped up to second. Wayne Nordhagen grounded out to first to end the inning.
Dave Stapleton flied out to right to open the top of the second and Rich Gedman grounded out to first and Glenn Hoffman lined out to second to end the inning. Otto Velez flied out to center to begin the top of the third and Jesse Barfield struck out swinging. Buck Martinez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Rick Miller singled to left to start the top of the third but Remy forces him at second. Evans forced Miller at second and Rice flied out to right to end the inning. Willie Upshaw walked to begin the bottom of the third and Alfredo Griffin dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Garcia whiffed and Iorg watched strike three go by to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth although Yaz struck out swinging to begin. Lansford cracked his first home run of the season to increase the lead but Stapleton grounded out to short. Gedman took strike three to end the winning with the Sox up 2-0.
Bonnell hit a routine grounder to Hoffman who threw himself on the ball and wrestled with it for an error to begin the bottom of the fourth. Nordhagen singled to center but Velez flied out to center. Both runners moved over on the grounder to first by Barfield but Martinez flied out to center to end the inning.
Hoffman struck out swinging to begin the top of the fifth but Miller got a base hit to right. Remy grounded into a double play to end the inning. Tudor got Upshaw to freeze for strike three to start the bottom of the fifth but Griffin beat out a roller to the mound. Garcia hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox got another run in the top of the sixth as Evans tripled to left to start. Rice got a base hit to right to score Evans with another run but Yaz struck out swinging. Lansford walked but Stapleton forced him at second to put runners at the corners. Gedman grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox led 3-0.
Iorg flied out to center to open the bottom of the sixth before Bonnell flied out to right. Nordhagen struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the seventh as Hoffman flied out to right to start. Miller grounded out to second and Remy flied out to right to end the inning. Tudor got Velez to ground out to first to start the bottom of the seventh and Barfield popped up to short. Martinez doubled to left but Upshaw flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox scored again in the top of the eighth as Evans singled to center to start. Rice belted his first home run of the season to chase Clancy from the game. Joey McLaughlin came in to pitch and Yaz singled to right. Lansford ripped a base hit to right but Stapleton banged into a double play. Gedman popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
The wheels almost fell off in the bottom of the eighth as Griffin doubled to left to start. Garcia singled to left to move Griffin to third and that was it for Tudor. He'd be charged with 2 runs in 7 plus innings of work. Luis Aponte came in and Rance Mulliniks pinch hit for Iorg. Mulliniks forced Garcia at second and Al Woods pinch hit for Bonnell. Woods singled to right to score Griffin and Hosken Powell pinch hit for Nordhagen. Powell doubled home both runners and that was it for Aponte. Tom Burgmeier came in and John Mayberry pinch hit for Velez. Mayberry flied out to right and Barfield popped up to Burgmeier to end the inning with the Jays down 5-3.
Hoffman grounded out to short to start the top of the ninth but Miller got a base hit in the hoke at second. Remy then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Burgmeier came back to close out the bottom of the ninth but Martinez singled to left to start. Tony Johnson pinch ran for Martinez but Upshaw took strike three. Griffin singled to right to chase Burgmeier and Mark Clear came in to close out the game. Garcia blooped a base hit to right to load the bases but Mulliniks struck out swinging. Woods dropped a base hit to right and Johnson scored easily but Griffin came around third. Evans came up throwing and...YERRR OUT! Griffin was out to end the game the Sox had survived to win 5-4
Evans the Hero
Hero of the Night is Dwight Evans. He gunned down Griffin at the plate to preserve the victory.
The Good:
Jim Rice was 2 for 3 with a walk, a 2 run home run and 3 total rbis.
Carl Yastrzemski was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Carney Lansford was 2 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
Rick Miller was 3 for 4.
John Tudor was charged with 2 runs in 7 innings to earn the win. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 5.
The Bad:
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 4.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Luis Aponte allowed a run in 1/3 of an inning.
Tom Burgmeier was charged with a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Jerry Remy was 0 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Mark Clear earned his second save but allowed 2 hits and had to be bailed out by Evans.
Final Thoughts:
That was too close for comfort but a win is a win. Tudor was cruising through six innings and the game looked over when Rice hit the home run. Just goes to show you can never measure heart and the Jays refused to give up. It took a tremendous throw from Dwight Evans to prevent the Jays tying the game in the ninth so kudos to Toronto for fighting back. The Sox once again did enough to win offensively with big hits from the heart of their order. The bottom of the order stepped it up the last few games and this time it was Rice, Yaz and Lansford that delivered the goods. Tudor once again looked sharp and the Sox may have FINALLY found their stopper behind Dennis Eckersley they've lacked since Mike Torrez aged before our eyes and Luis Tiant shuffled off to New York. Maybe it would be unfair to expect Tudor to win 20 games this season but that could be what the Sox need to win their first division title since 1975. The bullpen fell apart after being solid for most of the season but they won anyway. That was the Sox third straight win and they look to make it four in a row tomorrow afternoon against the Jays. Speaking of Torrez (0-1), he starts tomorrow against Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Exhibition Stadium.
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