It was a great day for Boston sports. First the Boston Bruins eliminated the Buffalo Sabres in Game 4 of their first round NHL playoff series and the Boston Red Sox shut out the Baltimore Orioles. John Tudor (1-0, 0.00 ERA) made his season debut by tossing a complete game 6 hit shutout against the dirty birds. The Sox bats got 5 runs off O's starter Mike Flanagan with Carney Lansford driving in four total runs. Carl Yastrzemski knocked in 2 runs as well as the Sox shutout the Orioles 6-0 at Memorial Stadium.
The Sox struck first against Flanagan in the top of the first as Dwight Evans singled in the hole at short to start. Glenn Hoffman singled to left and Jim Rice walked to load the bases with nobody out. Carl Yastrzemski beat out a double play ball to score Evans and Carney Lansford hit a routine grounder to Cal Ripken Jr...booted for an error to score Hoffman. Both runners moved over on the Dave Stapleton grounder to first but Tony Perez lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Tudor got the ball in the bottom of the first and Al Bumbry grounded out to short to start. Rich Dauer flied out to center and Ken Singleton grounded out to short to end the inning.
Gary Allenson grounded out to third to start the top of the second and Rick Miller lined out to first. Evans singled to center but Hoffman lined out to center to end the inning. Eddie Murray singled to left to start the bottom of the second and Dan Ford was hit by a pitch. Gary Roenicke dropped down a bunt to move both runners over but Ripken Jr struck out swinging. Rick Dempsey walked to load the bases but Lenn Sakata lined out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Rice and Yaz drew back to back walks to start. Lansford singled to center to score Rice to add to the lead and both runners moved over on the grounder to second by Stapleton. Perez was intentionally walked to load the bases and the gamble by O's manager Earl Weaver worked as Allenson banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Tudor got the O's to beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the third as Bumbry grounded back to the mound to start. Dauer grounded out to short and Singleton grounded out to third to end the inning.
Miller struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Evans walked. Hoffman forced Evans at second but Rice singled in the hole at short. Yaz struck out swinging to end the inning. Murray singled to center to start the bottom of the fourth and Ford hit a routine grounder to Hoffman. Hoffman threw his glove at the ball and did a disco dance for an error but Roenicke flied out to left. Ripken Jr forced Murray at third and Dempsey flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the fifth as Lansford lined out to left to start. Stapleton grounded out to short and Perez also grounded out to short to end the inning. Tudor cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Sakata flied out to center to start. Bumbry grounded back to the mound and Dauer struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox iced the game in the top of the sixth as Allenson popped up to short to start. Miller singled to center and Evans doubled to left, but Hoffman popped up to second. O's manager Earl Weaver intentionally walked Rice to set up a force play but this time Yaz walked to score Miller and chase Flanagan. Dan Stanhouse took over for Flanagan and Lansford walked home Evans to increase the lead. Stapleton flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Singleton singled to right to start the bottom of the sixth but Murray hit into a double play. Ford singled to center but Roenicke grounded into a force to end the inning.
Perez singled to center to open the top of the seventh but Allenson flied out to center. Miller forced Perez at second and Evans grounded out to short to end the inning. Tudor got Ripken to ground out to short to begin the bottom of the seventh and Dempsey also grounded out to short. Sakata singled to left but Bumbry struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the eighth with Tippy Martinez now on the mound. Hoffman beat out an infield single to third and Rice singled him to third. Yaz struck out swinging but Lansford hit a sac fly to score Hoffman. Stapleton forced Rice at second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
Dauer flied out to left to begin the bottom of the eighth and Singleton struck out swinging. Murray doubled to left but Ford grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the ninth as Perez grounded out to short to start. Allenson also grounded out to short and Miller grounded out to first to end the inning. Tudor came back to finish the job in the bottom of the ninth as Roenicke grounded out to third to start. Ripken Jr grounded out to short and Dempsey popped up to first to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-0.
Hero of the Night is John Tudor. He tossed a complete game 6 hit shutout with one walk and 4 strikeouts.
The Good:
Dwight Evans was 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Glenn Hoffman was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Jim Rice was 2 for 2 with 3 walks and a run scored.
Carney Lansford was 1 for 3 with a walk and 4 rbis.
The Bad:
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 5.
Gary Allenson was 0 for 5.
The Ugly:
Carl Yastrzemski was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked twice and scored 2 runs.
Tony Perez was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Rick Miller was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Just like Dennis Eckersley yesterday, John Tudor pitching a shutout was a great way to make his season debut. Tudor kept the O's off balance all game and the Sox needed a game like that after Bob Ojeda got knocked out in the nightcap. The offense was pretty much Carney Lansford driving anyone in who was on base and some days that'll be good enough to win. The Sox came within an eyelash of winning the AL East last September and hopefully Tudor can take the next step to get the Sox back in the race this season. Evans is doing well so far out of the leadoff spot and hopefully that can continue as well. It'll be interesting to see how much Yaz and Perez have left in the tank but so far Yaz looks normal. All in all it was a good win and its better to be 2-1 than 1-2. The Sox now come home to play their season opener tomorrow afternoon against the Chicago White Sox. Mike Torrez makes his season debut for the Red Sox against Richard Dotson of the White Sox. The game begins at 2:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment