Sox Down Angels in Rained Shortened Game (4/23/84)

It was totally cheap but a win is a win. In front of just under 13,000 fans at Fenway, the Boston Red Sox battled the California Angels in a squall. Bob Ojeda (1-2, 3.97 ERA) held the Angels scoreless through six innings and the Sox managed to scratch out a couple of runs. Then the rains came and never let up. Rather than re-starting the game at midnight on a school night, the umpires said to hell with it and called the game. It was cheap but the Sox had won the game 2-0 in 6 innings at Fenway Park.

                                       Gene Kelly approves of the rain shortened win

Ojeda got the ball in the top of the first inning and Gary Pettis grounded out to second to start. Rod Carew struck out but Fred Lynn singled. Doug DeCinces walked and Reggie Jackson struck out to end the inning. Geoff Zahn got the start for California and Marty Barrett greeted him with a base hit. Dwight Evans walked and Wade Boggs flied out to left. Jim Rice flied out to center and Mike Easler flied out to right to end the inning.

Brian Downing began the top of the second with a pop up to first. Bobby Grich grounded out to short but Bob Boone singled. Dick Schofield Jr singled Boone to third but Pettis grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second although Tony Armas grounded out to second to start. Reid Nichols doubled and Jeff Newman singled him to third. Jackie Gutierrez flied out to right but Barrett singled home Nichols. Evans grounded into a force to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.

                                                             Barrett drives in a run

Carew grounded out to second to start the top of the third but Lynn walked. DeCinces and Jackson both struck out to end the inning. Boggs walked to start the bottom of the third but Rice banged into a double play. Easler singled but Armas struck out to end the inning,

Ojeda cruised in the top of the fourth as Downing flied out to center to start. Grich also flied out to center and Boone grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the third as Nichols grounded out to the mound to start. Newman grounded out to short and Gutierrez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Schofield Jr struck out to start the top of the fifth before Pettis grounded out to second. Carew also grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Barrett singled to start. Evans reached on a fielding error by Lynn and Boggs dropped down a bunt to move the runners into scoring position. Rice was intentionally walked to load the bases and Easler scored Barrett with a sac fly. Armas grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.

                                                         Herculean sac fly by Easler

Lynn walked to open the top of the sixth and Gutierrez booted a grounder by DeCinces for an error, but Jackson struck out. Downing hit into a double play to end the inning. Ojeda was technically credited with a complete game shutout as he tossed 6 innings and allowed just 3 hits.

                                                        Way to go Ojeda

The end came quickly in the bottom of the sixth. Nichols flied out to left and Newman singled when the downpour got too heavy. The umpires called for the tarp and that was it. A few hours later the umpires said the hell with it and the game was called. The Sox had won it 2-0 in 5 1/3 complete innings.

Hero of the Night is Bob Ojeda. Techincally he threw a complete game 3 hit shutout and even if the game continued, that would have been good enough to win anyway.

                                                         Bobby Hero


The Good:

Marty Barrett was 3 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.

Wade Boggs walked in 2 plate appearances.

Mike Easler was 1 for 2 with an rbi.

Reid Nichols was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Jeff Newman was 2 for 3.



The Bad:

Tony Armas was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Jackie Gutierrez was 0 for 2.



The Ugly:

Dwight Evans was 0 for 2 but walked.

Jim Rice was 0 for 2 but walked.




Final Thoughts:

That was a cheap ass win but the Sox will take it. They need every win they can after the horrid start they were on. They need to make up ground quick or else the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers will be too far ahead by June. It was only 6 innings but Ojeda looked great and Marty Barrett filled in for Jerry Remy pretty well. As usual the offense will be there, but the pitching is suspect. Hopefully the Sox can build momentum tomorrow when they send Oil Can Boyd to the mound up against Steve Brown of the Angels at 7:00 PM at Fenway Park.