Ojeda got the ball in the top of the first and the A's tagged him. Ricky Henderson singled to right and stole second as Davey Lopes took strike three. Henderson swiped third and scored on the Cliff Johnson bloop single. Joe Rudi walked as Bob Stanley began warming in the bullpen. Jeff Newman grounded out to short but both runners moved into scoring position. Both men scored on the ground rule double by Mike Heath. Sox manager Ralph Houk had seen enough and removed Ojeda before it could get any worse. He lasted just 2/3 of an inning and had given up 3 runs. Bob Stanley came in and got Jimmy Sexton to ground into a force to end the inning with the A's ahead 3-0.
Bo McLaughlin got his first start in 3 years for the A's and Jerry Remy led off the bottom of the first by grounding out to second to start. Dwight Evans and Jim Rice drew back to back walks. Carl Yastrzemski flied out to right but Evans took third. Carney Lansford walked to load the bases but Dave Stapleton hit a soft line drive to second to end the inning,
Stanley got Rick Bosetti to ground out to third to start he top of the second inning. Fred Stanley singled up the middle before Henderson hit a double play ball to second. Remy flipped to Hoffman who fell down laughing for no reason for an error. Lopes beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners but Johnson grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox exploded in the bottom of the third due to some A's miscues. Rich Gedman hit a seeing eye single to right before Glenn Hoffman hit a routine grounder to Jeff Newman but instead of throwing to first, he panicked and threw the ball into left field for an error. Rick Miller blooped a single to center to load the bases before Remy hit a double play ball to second. Lopes flipped to Stanley WHO DROPPED IT! Gedman scored and everyone was safe on the error. Evans walked home Hoffman before Rice singled home Miller to tie the game. Yaz banged into a double play but Remy scored to give the Sox the lead. Lansford lined out to left but the Sox came back to lead 4-3.
The A's tied it in the top of the third inning as Rudi walked to begin. Rudi moved to second on the grounder by Newman and scored on the double to left by Heath. The A's made a boo-boo when Heath tried to steal third but was doubled off second when Sexton lined out to second to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the third as Stapleton grounded out to third to start. Gedman grounded out to second and Hoffman popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox got two radically different defensive plays in the top of the fourth inning. Hoffman booted a ground ball by Bosetti for an error but Bob Stanley fielded a bunt from Fred Stanley and somehow turned a double play. Henderson grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth inning as Miller lined out to center to start. Remy flied out to left but Evans lashed a single to left. Rice and McLaughlin suddenly had words and had to be separated by the benches. Then Billy Martin went out to talk to McLaughlin which prompted a pissed off Ralph Houk to run out of the dugout and demanded Billy be ejected. Rice then got into it with Heath before things calmed down. When play resumed Rice struck out to end the inning.
Stanley got Lopes to ground out to second to begin the top of the fifth before Johnson whiffed. Rudi singled to left before Newman grounded out to short to end the inning. Yaz led off the bottom of the fifth by flying out to left before Lansford popped up to first. Stapleton grounded out to short to end the inning.
Stanley returned for the top of the sixth and struck out Heath to start. Wayne Gross pinch hit for Sexton as NBC analyst Bob Costas told the story of how Ralph Houk was the third string catcher for the Yankees in the late 40's and 50's and Roger LaFrancois was the current Red Sox third string catcher. LaFrancois hadn't had an at-bat yet this season while Houk had 29 at-bat in the years he was 3rd string. Houk told Costas that LaFrancois is his own Ralph Houk. Not only that, in 1947 Houk hit a ball off the foul pole that landed in the foul territory stands. The rule at the time was if it bounced foul it was a ground rule double, denying Houk his only home run of his career. The very next year the rule changed to anyone striking the pole is a home run regardless of where it lands. Officially the foul pole rule is the "Ralph Houk rule". After the yarns were spun, Gross walked but Bosetti grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Gedman grounded out to second to start. Hoffman flied out to center and Miller hit a bullet to first to end the inning.
Danny Goodwin pinch hit for Stanley to start the top of the seventh and struck out. Henderson grounded out to second and Lopes grounded out to short to end the inning. Tony Phillips took over for the bottom of the seventh and Remy whiffed to start. Evans flied out to right before Rice lined out t center to end the inning.
Stanley made the A's beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the eighth inning as Johnson grounded out to short to start. Rudi hit a roller to Lansford who threw wide of first but Stapleton grabbed it and tagged Joe out. Newman grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox rallied to take command in the bottom of the eighth and Yaz got the rally started with a line drive into the right field corner. Yaz caught Rudi asleep and stretched the hit into a double. Reid Nichols pinch ran for Yaz and made it to third on the fly ball by Lansford. Stapleton blooped a single to right to score Nichols with the go-ahead run. Gedman doubled off the Monster and Stapleton made a mad dash home for the insurance run. Hoffman lined out to left but Miller doubled into the right field corner to score Gedman to ice the game. Gross made a hell of a diving catch to rob Remy of a bloop single to end the inning but the Sox put the game away and led 7-4.
Stanley came back to finish the job in the top of the ninth and Heath hit a 379 foot out to dead center to start. Gross took Evans to the wall but Dwight snared the out before Dan Meyer pinch hit for Bosetti. Meyer grounded out to second to end the inning. A hell of an effort by Stanley and the Sox rally in the 8th secured the 7-4 win.
Hero of the Night is Bob Stanley. He came in for Ojeda in the first inning and went the distance, allowing just 1 run in 8 1/3 innings.
The Good:
Dwight Evans was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Jim Rice was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Reid Nichols scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.
Rich Gedman was 2 for 4 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Rick Miller was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
The Bad:
Bob Ojeda was tagged for 3 runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Jerry Remy was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 4 but the one hit started the game winning rally.
Carney Lansford was 0 for 3 but walked.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 4 with an error but scored a run.
Dave Stapleton was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and cored.
Final Thoughts:
That was a hell of an effort by Stanley and a great rally by the Red Sox offense. They needed to pick up Ojeda after he faltered and they did. Not only that, they saved Mark Clear and Luis Aponte for tomorrow if needed. Yaz is having an amazing season at his age and its unlikely he can keep it up all year so the Sox have to ride him while he's hot. Hoffman is on a cold streak but he should bounce of that soon. The Sox are in first place and it feels good to be in the driver's seat for once. The win improved the Sox to 27-13, 1 game in front of the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox look for the series sweep when they send Dennis Eckersley (4-3) to the mound to take on Mike Norris. The game begins at 2 PM at Fenway Park.
