Niekro got the ball in the top of the first inning and Marty Barrett dumped a base hit to left on the first pitch of the game. Bob Meacham threw a double play ball by Wade Boggs away to allow Wade to take second and Boggs moved to third on the warning track fly ball to center by Dwight Evans. Bill Buckner struck out swinging to end the inning. Lollar got the emergency start in the bottom of the first and Willie Randolph flied out to right to start. Don Mattingly walked on four pitches but Dave Winfield banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second although Mike Easler flied out to center to start. Jim Rice clobbered his 20th home run of the season to put Boston on top but Rich Gedman flied out to Billy Sample. Jackie Gutierrez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The Yankees answered in the bottom of the second as Don Baylor walked to start. Ken Griffey got a line drive base hit to left to put runners at the corners and Baylor scored on the grounder to third by Sample. Andre Robertson grounded out to short and Butch Wynegar grounded out to third to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Steve Lyons walked to start the top of the third but Barrett grounded into a double play. Boggs grounded out to second to end the inning. Meacham struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third but Randolph worked a walk. Mattingly forced Randolph at second and Winfield popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Evans grounded out to third to start. Buckner grounded out to first and Easler flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning. The Yankees struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Red Sox broadcaster Bob Montgomery said Roger Clemens "couldn't get it up today." Baylor walked but Griffey flied out to left and Sample grounded back to Lollar. Baylor moved to second on the play and scored on the base hit to center by Robertson. The fans cost the Yankees a run as Wynegar hit a ball past the diving Boggs that should have scored Robertson but a fan reached over and snatched the ball. It was ruled a ground rule double and Meacham popped up to Lyons to end the inning with the Yankees up 2-1.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the fifth as Rice walked to start. Gedman walked and Gutierrez dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Unfortunately Lyons struck out swinging and Barrett grounded out to short to end the inning. Randolph popped up to Evans to start the bottom of the fifth and Mattingly grounded out to second. Winfield struck out swinging to end the inning.
Boggs popped up to Griffey to start the top of the sixth before Buckner flied out to left. Easler struck out swinging to end the inning. Baylor flied out to left to start the bottom of the sixth before Griffey grounded out to first. Sample walked but Robertson struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the seventh as Mike Pagliarulo took over at third to begin. Rice and Gedman worked back to back walks but Gutierrez popped up a bunt to Wynegar. Lyons came through with a base hit to right to load the bases. Rich Bordi came in to pitch to Barrett and Sample made a great diving catch to rob Barrett of a bases clearing double. Yankees manager Billy Martin brought in Bob Shirley to pitch to Boggs but Wade got a base hit to shallow left. Rice scored easy but Gedman was foolishly sent home only to get thrown out at the plate to end the inning. That proved costly as the Sox only tied the game 2-2.
Things fell apart in the bottom of the seventh as the ball four pitch to Wynegar got away and Gedman panicked, throwing the ball completely out of Yankee Stadium to move Butch to second. Buckner fell down trying to catch a pop up from Meacham that dropped in for a "single" but Randolph flied out to center. Mattingly slapped a double down the right field line and both runs scored, Don taking third on the throw. That was it for Lollar who was let down by his defense but still allowed 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Bob Stanley came in to pitch and Winfield popped up to Boggs in foul territory. Baylor popped up to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 4-2.
Dave Righetti came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Evans struck out swinging to start. Buckner popped up to short but Easler lined a base hit to center. Old pal and Yankees pitching coach Bill Monbouquette came out to chat with Righetti and Rice struck out swinging to end the inning. Griffey grounded out to short to start the bottom of the eighth before Dan Pasqua pinch hit for Sample. Pasqua took strike three and Pagliarulo grounded out to first to end the inning.
Gedman popped up to center to start the top of the ninth inning and Gutierrez also flied out to center. Tony Armas pinch hit for Lyons and drilled a base hit up the middle. Ed Jurak pinch ran for Tony and Barrett drew a walk. Boggs walked to load the bases and chase Righetti. Brian Fisher came in to pitch to Evans and Dwight popped up to Winfield to end the game. The Yankees had won it 4-2.
Jackass of the Night is Tim Lollar. He allowed the go-ahead double by Mattingly to put the Yankees up for good in the seventh.
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The Good:
Jim Rice was 1 for 2 with a home run, 2 walks and 2 total runs scored.
Steve Lyons was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Tony Armas singled as a pinch hitter.
Bob Stanley tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Bill Buckner was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jackie Gutierrez was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Marty Barrett was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Dwight Evans was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Mike Easler was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 2 with an error but walked twice.
Honorable Mention:
Ed Jurak pinch ran for Armas in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Forget the loss, the true bad news is the injury to Clemens. Remember he was shut down at the end of last season with a bad shoulder and apparently it never healed. The Sox can't afford to lose a pitcher the caliber of Clemens with a month left in the season but shutting him down and getting proper surgery might be the right thing to do to keep him healthy for next year. Nothing has gone right this season for the Sox and today was a microcosm of that. The Sox couldn't field at all in the seventh inning which allowed the Yankees to take the lead and Gedman geting thrown out at the plate shouldn't have happened. Evans failing in the ninth inning just put a damper on what could have been a nice comeback. Lollar did the best he could on short notice but even he tired in the seventh. Want the ultimate kick in the pants? Mike Easler is hitting .263 so far this year while John Tudor is on pace to win 20 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. Why am I not surprised? The loss dropped the Sox to 57-58, good for 5th place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow afternoon against the Yankees when they send Bruce Hurst to the mound against Marty Bystrom of New York. The game begins at 1:00 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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