Don Sutton got the ball in the top of the first inning and Wade Boggs grounded out to first to start. Marty Barrett grounded out to short and Bill Buckner flied out to center to end the inning. Clemens got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Ruppert Jones led off by striking out swinging to start. Clemens blew away Bobby Grich before Brian Downing grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the second as Jim Rice grounded out to second to start. Don Baylor whiffed before Dwight Evans popped up to third to end the inning. Clemens cruised in the bottom of the second as Reggie Jackson whiffed to start. Doug DeCinces lined a base hit to right before George Hendrick advanced Doug to second with a grounder to third. Dick Schofield whiffed to end the inning.
Rich Gedman led off the top of the third inning by flying out to right as Al Michaels on commentary mentioned Sutton had allowed one run against the Sox all year to this point. Tony Armas watched strike three go by before Spike Owen grounded out to short to end the inning. Bob Boone took strike three to start the bottom of the third but Gary Pettis lined a broken bat single to left. Pettis was thrown out by the alert Gedman trying to steal but Jones drew a walk. Grich whiffed to end the inning.
Bob Uecker joined the broadcast booth briefly as Boggs doubled to the right field wall to start the top of the fourth. Barrett dropped down a bunt to advance Boggs to third but he couldn't score on Buckner's fly out to right. Rice lined out to short to end the inning, what a waste. Clemens walked Downing to start the bottom of the fourth but Jackson flied out to the centerfield warning track. DeCinces hit a routine grounder to Owen who tried to hook shot the ball like a basketball and the throw went over Barrett's head for an error. Hendrick banged into a double play to end the inning.
Sutton cruised in the top of the fifth as Baylor flied out to deep center to start. Evans popped up to first and Gedman popped up to third to end the inning. Schofield was rung up for strike three to start the bottom of the fifth before Boone popped up to right. Pettis smacked a single to left and Jones walked, but Grich grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the sixth when Armas broke his cold streak by dumping a single to center to begin. Owen dropped down a bunt to advance Tony to second and Armas went to third on the grounder by Boggs. Barrett walked and Buckner doubled into the right field corner to score Armas to put the Sox on top. Rice grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox leading 1-0.
Clemens cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Downing popped up to third to start. Owen made a great stab to rob Jackson of a hit before DeCinces flied out to deep center to end the inning.
Baylor doubled down the left field line to begin the top of the seventh before taking third on the fly out by Evans. That was it for Sutton as Gary Lucas came in to strike out Gedman. Vern Ruhle replaced Lucas and got Armas to fly out to center to end the inning. Dave Henderson took over for Armas and Clemens got Hendrick to ground out to short to start the bottom of the seventh. Schofield also grounded out to short but Boone singled to right. Pettis was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the eighth as Owen singled to right to start. Boggs moved Owen to second on a grounder and a wild pitch moved Spike to third. Barrett whacked a base hit to center to score Owen and chase Ruhle. Charles Finley came in and a passed ball moved Barrett to second before Buckner hit a routine grounder to second. The ball went under Grich's glove and Barrett scored with Buckner moving to second. Doug Corbett came in and Rice hit a routine grounder to DeCinces and THAT ball went under his glove for another error. Baylor whiffed but Evans walked to load the bases. With a chance to break the game open....Gedman grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox led 3-0 but one more hit would have most likely ended it.
Clemens kept up the good work in the bottom of the eighth inning although Jones smacked a ground rule double into the right field stands. Grich flied out to center and Downing whiffed after a fan caused Buckner to drop a pop up in foul territory. Jackson grounded out to second to end the inning. If Clemens was done, he would have been credited with an absolute gem of 8 innings of shutout ball.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the ninth as Henderson popped up to center to start. Owen grounded out to second and Boggs lined out to short to end the inning. For whatever reason, Sox manager John McNamara decided to send Clemens out to finish the game. The move backfired as DiCences belted a solo home run just over the wall to put the Angels on the board. Boggs made a great throw to nail Hendrick at first to put the Sox two outs away from a tied series. It didn't come as Schofield lashed a base hit to left and Boone stuck his bat out to poke a single to left to chase Clemens. McNamara left him in too long and it cost him the game as Clemens went 8 1/3 and was charged with 3 runs. Calvin Schiraldi came in as Devon White ran for Boone at first. Pettis lined a ball to left but Rice completely misjudged it and the ball went over his head. Schofield scored and the others moved into scoring position. Jones was intentionally walked to set up a double play and Schiraldi froze Grich for strike three. One strike away from victory, Schiraldi actually hit Downing to tie the game. Unbelievable....Jackson grounded out to second to end the inning but the Angels tied it 3-3.
The Sox were deflated in the top of the tenth with Jerry Narron now behind the plate. Barrett lined out to center to begin before Buckner grounded back to the mound. Rice grounded out to short to end the inning. Schiraldi came back for the bottom of the tenth and DiCences flied out to the right field wall to start. Hendrick whiffed and Schofield popped up to right to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the eleventh as Baylor grounded out to third to start. Evans also grounded out to third and Gedman grounded out to second to end the inning. The Angels put the Sox out of their misery in the bottom of the eleventh with Schiraldi still on the mound. Narron lined a base hit to right and a sacrifice bunt by Pettis moved him to second. Jones was intentionally walked to set up a double play but Grich lined a base hit to the left field corner. Narron came all the way around to score the winning run to put the Angels up 3 games to 1 with their come from behind 4-3 win in 11.
Jackass of the Night is Calvin Schiraldi. He allowed the tying runs to score in the ninth and the winning run to score in the 11th.
The Good:
Marty Barrett was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and run scored.
Tony Armas was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Spike Owen was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Roger Clemens almost went the distance, allowing 3 runs in 8 1/3 innings. He struck out 9 batters.
The Bad:
Jim Rice was 0 for 5.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 5.
Dave Henderson was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 5.
Bill Buckner was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Don Baylor was just 1 for 5.
Dwight Evans was 0 for 4 but drew a walk.
Final Thoughts:
Looks like it just isn't the Sox year. Frankly if it wasn't for the Angels throwing up on themselves in Game 2 this would have been a four game sweep. They got shut down by Mike Witt in Game 1 and looked lost against John Candelaria in Game 3. Now they have to go up against Witt again in Game 5 and it doesn't look good. It seems like the Angels are a team of destiny because every break has gone their way when it mattered. The Sox had this one in the bag if McNamara brought in Bob Stanley or Schiraldi in for the bottom of the ninth but he left Clemens in too long. Then how the hell does Schiraldi HIT Downing on a 1-2 count? The offense hasn't been great in this series at all and they're one loss away from winter. The Sox still have at least one game left and they play it at high noon tomorrow with Bruce Hurst as the season's last hope against Witt at Anaheim Stadium.
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