The Rangers wasted no time scoring off Eckersley when Billy Sample lined the first pitch of the game into the bleachers for a solo home run. A pissed off Eckersley dominated the rest of his day as Mike Richardt popped up to short. Buddy Bell grounded out to short and Dave Hostetler struck out to end the inning with the Sox down 1-0.
The Sox instantly took the lead in the bottom of the first against John Matlack. Jerry Remy made his season debut by popping up to third to start. Dwight Evans singled to right before Jim Rice crushed his second home run of the year to give the Sox the lead. Tony Armas grounded out to short and Reid Nichols hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Pete O'Brien began the top of the second with a bunt and Jerry Remy decided to dive on the ball and sing to it for an error. Eckersley shook his head and got Larry Parrish to fly out to left before Jim Sundberg flied out to center. George Wright flied out to center to end the inning. Boggs hit a routine grounder to short and Bucky Dent threw the ball away to allow Wade to reach second. Dave Stapleton hit a fly ball to right that moved Boggs to third, but Wade was stranded when Glenn Hoffman grounded out to third. Jeff Newman struck out to end the inning.
Dent walked to start the top of the third before Eck struck out Sample. Richardt flied out to center before Bell grounded out to short to end the inning. Remy struck out to begin the bottom of the third before Evans flied out to right. Rice struck a base hit to left before Armas popped up to first to end the inning.
Hostetler singled to open the top of the fourth but O'Brien flied out to left. Parrish flied out to center and Sundberg popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Nichols singled to start. Boggs hit a routine grounder to third but Bell threw the ball way to put runners on second and third. Stapleton beat out a double play ball to score Nichols to increase the lead. Hoffman walked to load the base but Newman popped up to first. Remy hit a routine grounder to Dent who muffed the ball, allowing Boggs to score. Evans walked to reload the bases but Rice popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1. Thank you Bucky Dent....never thought THAT would be said.
Wright grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth but Dent got a base hit. Dent was forced at second by Sample but Richardt singled. Bell flied out to center to end the inning. Wayne Tolleson took over for Dent in the bottom of the fifth as Armas grounded out to third to begin. Nichols looked at strike three before Boggs grounded out short.
Hostetler flied out to right to open the top of the sixth before O'Brien lined out to second. Parrish grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Stapleton flied out to left to start. Hoffman flied out to center and Newman grounded out to short to end the inning.
Eckersley returned for one final inning in the top of the seventh as Sundberg popped up to first to begin. Wright singled to center but Tolleson popped up to left. Sample lined a double to left and Wright tried for home. Rice gunned it to Hoffman who gunned it home...YER OUTTA THERE!!! Wright was out, Eck was fired up and the Sox kept their 4-1 lead. After the leadoff home run, Eckersley was outstanding, tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball.
Remy grounded out to third to open the bottom of the seventh before Evans hit one up the elevator shaft. Rice pounded a double off the Monster but Armas popped up to first to end the inning.
Bob Stanley took over for the top of the eighth and Richardt greeted him with a base hit. Bell hit one up the elevator shaft before Hostetler flied out to right. O'Brien singled to center but Parrish grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the eighth as Nichols popped up to first to start. Boggs lined out to short and Stapleton lined out to left to end the inning.
Stanley came back to finish the job in the top of the ninth and Mickey Rivers pinch hit for Sundberg...only to ground out to short to start. Wright drew a walk but Larry Biittner pinch hit for Tolleson only to force Wright at second. Sample popped up to first to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-1.
Hero of the night is Jim Rice. He went 3 for 4 and knocked in more runs than the Rangers did combined.
The Good:
Dwight Evans was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Wade Boggs was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Dennis Eckersley earned the win with 7 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 2.
Bob Stanley earned his second save of the year with 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jerry Remy was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.
Tony Armas was 0 for 4.
Jeff Newman was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Reid Nichols was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Look at that, the Sox won 2 in a row. Dennis Eckersley was due for a good game and this was it. He was masterful in this one and Sox manager Ralph Houk pulled the trigger to bring in Stanley at the right time. The Sox do have a problem with the bottom of the order, they aren't going to scare too many teams out there, especially compared to Harvey's Wallbangers in Milwaukee. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox look to break even on the season when Bruce Hurst (0-1) looks to win his first game of the year against Danny Darwin of the Rangers at 2:00 PM at Fenway Park.
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