The Sox wasted no time getting to Oakland A's starter Bill Krueger in the top of the first inning although Jerry Remy flied out to right to start. Dwight Evans motored around for a triple into the right field corner and scored on the Jim Rice ground out. Tony Armas struck out to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.
Rickey Henderson greeted Hurst in the bottom of the first with a base hit to left but Mike Davis flied out to left. Carney Lansford and Dwayne Murphy both flied out to right to end the inning.
Wade Boggs grounded out to second to open the top of the second before Dave Stapleton flied out to right. Reid Nichols singled to left and swiped second but Gary Allenson struck out to end the inning. Jeff Burroughs grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the second before Davey Lopes flied out to right. Kelvin Moore walked before Bob Kearney struck out to end the inning.
Glenn Hoffman grounded back to the mound to start the top of the third before Remy grounded out to short. Evans flied out to right to end the inning. Tony Phillips flied out to center to start the bottom of the third before Henderson struck out. Davis grounded out to first to end the inning.
Krueger cruised in the top of the fourth as Rice flied out to center to start. Armas grounded out to short and Boggs struck out to end the inning. The A's struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Lansford singled and Murphy doubled him home to tie the game. Burroughs grounded out to third to advance Murphy to third before Lopes walked to put runners at the corners. The Sox got a big out when Murphy was thrown out at home on a grounder by Moore. and Kearney popped up to first to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Stapleton singled and took second on a passed ball to open the top of the fifth but Nichols popped up to second. Allenson flied out to left and Hoffman flied out to right to end the inning. All of a sudden Jerry Remy keeled over in the dugout and had to be carried out on a stretcher headed to the local ICU. Julio Valdez took over for Remy as Phillips flied out to left to begin the bottom of the fifth. Henderson flied out to center and Davis grounded out to first to end the inning.
Valdez grounded out to second to begin the top of the sixth before Evans struck out. Rice grounded out to short to end the inning. Hurst cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Lansford popped up to first to start. Murphy and Burroughs both struck out to end the inning.
Armas flied out to right to open the top of the seventh but Boggs walked. Boggs was thrown out trying to steal and Stapleton hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Lopes flied out to center to start the bottom of the seventh before Moore flied out to right. Kearney walked before Phillips popped up to third to end the inning.
Krueger cruised in the top of the eighth as Nichols flied out to center to start. Allenson grounded out to short and Hoffman struck out to end the inning. Hurst finished strong in the bottom of the eighth as Henderson grounded out to short to start. Davis grounded out to short but Lansford singled to center. Murphy flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the top of the ninth as Ed Jurak pinch hit for Valdez to start. Jurak struck out but Evans drew a walk to chase Krueger. Dave Beard came in and Rice greeted him by pounding a 2 run bomb to give the Sox the lead. Armas struck out and Boggs grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were 3 outs from victory with a 3-1 lead.
Hurst was allowed to at least attempt to complete the game but Burroughs singled to chase him. Hurst was outstanding, tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball while allowing just 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4.
Bob Stanley came in to put out the fire with Mitchell Page running for Burroughs. Page got to second on the grounder by Lopes and Wayne Gross pinch hit for Moore, only for Stanley to strike him out. Kearney flied out to center to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-1.
The Co-Heroes of the Night are easy to figure out. Hero 1 is Bruce Hurst tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball to earn his second win of the year.
The second Hero was Jim Rice. He knocked in all 3 runs by himself including the dagger 2 run home run in the ninth.
The Good:
Dwight Evans was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Dave Stapleton was 1 for 3.
Reid Nichols was 1 for 3 with a stolen base.
Bob Stanley earned his 3rd save with a perfect ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jerry Remy was 0 for 2 before leaving the game.
Julio Valdez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Ed Jurak struck out as a pinch hitter.
Tony Armas was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Gary Allenson was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Have the Sox finally found their ace of the future? Hurst was projected to be a star and he's delivered in back to back good starts. The reason the Sox couldn't beat the Milwaukee Brewers last year was a lack of pitching and maybe Hurst is ready to step up. It would be nice if John Tudor and Mike Brown would join him. Dennis Eckersley hasn't had a great season in 5 years so its time for someone else to step up. As for the offense, thank goodness for Jim Rice because nobody else did much today. Not only could the Sox not match the Brewers pitching, they can't match offensively either. The bottom of the order is a black hole and they're gonna need some help if they hope to compete. Still, a win is a win and they all count. Speaking of Tudor, he goes tomorrow for the Sox up against Mike Norris at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Oakland Coliseum.
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