Seaver took the mound in the top of the first inning and Tony Fernandez greeted him with a double to the left field corner. Rance Mulliniks swung and missed for strike three but Lloyd Moseby singled home Fernandez to give the Jays the lead. George Bell grounded out to third but Moseby moved to second base. Jesse Barfield walked but Cliff Johnson grounded out to second to end the inning with Toronto in front 1-0.
The Sox wasted no time pouncing on Jays starter Doyle Alexander in the bottom of the first inning. Marty Barrett flied out to right but Wade Boggs walked. Bill Buckner popped up to short but Jim Rice sliced an opposite field single to right. Don Baylor was plunked to load the bases before last night's hero Dwight Evans cleared the bases with a double off the Monster. Rich Gedman followed with a double of his own to left that scored Evans with another run. Kevin Romine waived at a pitch in the dirt to end the inning but the Sox took the lead 4-1.
Seaver settled down in the top of the second inning as Willie Upshaw popped up to third to begin. Ernie "Nit" Whitt smacked a single to right-center but was erased on the Damaso Garcia grounder to third. Fernandez lined out to third to end the inning. Garth Iorg took over for Mulliniks in the bottom of the second after Mulliniks fouled a ball off his foot the previous inning. Alexander settled down in the bottom of the second as Ed Romero grounded out to short to start. Barrett lined one off the glove of Alexander but right to second for the ground out. Boggs doubled off the Monster but Buckner grounded out to second to end the inning.
Seaver got Iorg to pop up to center to start the top of the third before Moseby caught Seaver asleep with a bunt single. Bell flied out to right and Barfield whiffed on a breaking ball to end the inning. The Sox pounded Alexander in the bottom of the third as Rice doubled into the gap to start. Baylor flied out to center and Rice took off for third The throw beat him but it got away and Rice was safe. Evans flied out to right but Gedman beat out a bobbled laser to Garcia to score Rice. Romine doubled into the left field corner for his first rbi of the year to score Gedman before Romero drew a walk. Barrett singled to center to score Romine and send Romero to third to chase Alexander. Dennis Lamp came in and Boggs flied out to left to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 7-1.
The Jays fought back in the top of the fourth as Johnson singled to center to begin. Upshaw popped up to short but Whitt singled to left. Garcia walked to load the bases and Fernandez singled home Johnson and Whitt. Garcia took third on a fly ball by Iorg but Moseby grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-3.
The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the fourth although Buckner struck out to start. Rice and Baylor struck back to back base hits but Evans hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Jays struck again in the top of the fifth although Bell hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Barfield tripled into the right field corner and scored on the Johnson grounder. Barrett booted a ball by Upshaw but Whitt flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-4.
The Sox took advantage of terrible defense by the Jays to add to the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Upshaw booted a grounder by Gedman to start and managed to throw the ball away to boot which allowed Rich to take second on the two errors. Romine dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Gedman to third and Romero hit a routine grounder to Upshaw...who booted that as well to score Gedman. Barrett flied out to center and Boggs was foolishly intentionally walked to load the bases. Buckner made the Jays pay with a base hit to center to score Gedman. Rice grounded into a force to end the inning but it was 9-4 Sox.
Seaver cruised in the top of the sixth as Garcia flied out to center to start. Fernandez grounded out tio second and Iorg grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox looked to break it open in the bottom of the sixth as Baylor singled to left to start. Evans doubled to center and Gedman was intentionally walked to set up the double play. This time the gamble worked as Romine took strike three and Romero banged into a double play to end the inning.
Seaver came back for one final inning in the top of the seventh as Moseby grounded out to third to start. Bell flied out to center but Barfield was hit with a pitch. Johnson singled to left but Upshaw flied out to center to end the inning. It wasn't pretty but Seaver hung tough to toss 7 innings of 4 run ball and put the Sox 9 outs away from victory.
Bill Caudill replaced Lamp for the bottom of the seventh and Barrett singled to left to start. Boggs and Buckner both struck out before Rice flied out to right to end the inning.
Steve Crawford replaced Seaver and the Jays pounced on him in the top of the eighth. Whitt popped up to short but Garcia and Fernandez stroked back to back singles. Rick Leach pinch hit for Iorg and singled home Garcia. That was it for Crawford as Joe Sambito came in and Moseby beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Bell singled home Fernandez to bring the tying run to the plate. Sambito struck out Barfield to end the inning but the Jays inched closer 9-6.
Kelly Gruber took for for Leach at third with Mark Eichhorn now on the mound for the bottom of the eighth. Baylor popped up to first, Evans grounded out to third and Gedman flied out to right to end the inning.
Sambito returned to close out the top of the ninth but the Jays rallied. Johnson grounded back to the mound but Upshaw singled to center. Buck Martinez pinch hit for Whitt and singled to left. Garcia singled to left to score Upshaw and put the tying run at first. Sambito somehow got Fernandez to pop up to right and Gruber to fly out to the right field wall to end the game. The Sox survived to beat the Jays 9-7.
Hero of the Night is Dwight Evans. He put the Sox up for good with a 3 run double in the bottom of the first.
The Good:
Marty Barrett was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Wade Boggs was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Jim Rice was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Don Baylor was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Rich Gedman was 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Kevin Romine was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
The Bad:
Steve Crawford was charged with 2 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Bill Buckner was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Ed Romero was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Tom Seaver went 7 innings and allowed 4 runs in his Sox debut. The Jays got 9 hits and 2 walks off of him but he still left with the lead.
Joe Sambito allowed an inherited runner to score and 1 of his own in 1 2/3 innings but earned his 7th save of the season.
Final Thoughts:
With the Sox reeling from injuries, Seaver will be a shot in the arm for this team for sure. He looked a little off in tonight's game but its a hell of a lot better than Jeff Sellers, Mike Brown and Rob Woodward. The offense beat around the Jays for the second game in a row and its encouraging to see Dwight Evans get hot. Hopefully the Sox can ride this momentum into the All-Star break in a few weeks as they're in first place and don't seem to be relinquishing it any time soon. Good to see Kevin Romine get his first rbi of the season as well. The win improved the Sox to 50-25, 8 games in front of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it three in a row against the Jays when they send the undefeated Roger Clemens (13-0) up against Jimmy Key of the Jays at 7:30 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment