Ron Darling was scheduled to start Game 7 before the rainout and he took the mound to start the game. Wade Boggs lined out to short to start and Marty Barrett flied out to right. Bill Buckner got a mock standing ovation by the Mets crowd but he shut them up real quick with a base hit to right. Jim Rice flied out to right to end the inning. Oil Can Boyd was scheduled to start Game 7 before the rainout but Sox manager John McNamara decided to start Bruce Hurst on 3 days rest. At first the gamble worked in the bottom of the first when Mookie Wilson grounded out to second on the first pitch. Tim Teufel popped up to second and Keith Hernandez lined out to center to end the inning.
The Red Sox took out their frustrations of Game 6 on Darling in the top of the second inning. Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman crushed back to home runs, the Gedman homer popping out of the glove of Strawberry in right field. Dave Henderson walked but Spike Owen popped up to short. Hurst bunted Henderson over to second and Dave scored on the roller up the middle hit by Boggs to increase the lead. Barrett caught Ray Knight asleep at third with a bunt single. With a chance to break the game open early....Buckner flied out to center to end the inning. Still, the Sox shook off the effects of Game 6 to take a 3-0 lead.
Hurst breezed through the bottom of the second as Gary Carter was snuffed out on a bunt single attempt to start. Darryl Strawberry popped up to left but Ray Knight singled. Kevin Mitchell grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox missed a chance to hit Darling hard in the top of the third when Rice singled off the left field wall but Mitchell gunned him down at second trying to stretch. Evans popped up to center and Gedman grounded out to first to end the inning. Hurst cruised in the bottom of the third as well, punching out Rafael Santana to start. Darling hit a ball hard to right but Evans snared it at the wall. Wilson flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox knocked out Darling in the top of the fourth as Henderson was plunked to start. Owen flied out to right and Hurst sacrifice bunted Henderson over to second, shades of the second inning. That was it for Darling as Mets manager Davey Johnson pulled him in favor of Sid Fernandez. Boggs walked to put two men on and with another chance to break it open....Barrett flied out to right to end the inning. Hurst remained perfect in the bottom of the fourth as Teufel whiffed, Hernandez flied out to a running Evans in right and Carter grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the fifth inning as Buckner flied out to right, Rice whiffed and Evans also swung and missed at strike three to end the inning. Hurst would not be denied in the bottom of the fifth as Strawberry flied out to center to begin. Knight grounded out to short and Mitchell whiffed to end the inning. At this point Hurst was working on a 1 hitter with 4 innings to go after already dominating his first two World Series starts. He could have been a legend in Boston if he could have gotten those last 12 outs.
Fernandez returned for the top of the sixth and froze Gedman to start. Henderson flied out to center and Owen watched strike three go by to end the inning. The wheels fell off for Hurst in the bottom of the sixth although Santana grounded out to short to start. Lee Mazzilli pinch hit for Fernandez and singled. Wilson singled and Teufel walked to load the bases. Sox manager John McNamara came out to chat with Bruce but to no avail as Hernandez dealt the crushing blow to Hurst with a base hit to center that scored Mazzilli and Wilson, moving Teufel to third. Wally Backman pinch ran for Teufel and he scored when Evans dove for a Carter flare and missed. Hernandez was tagged out at second but the game was tied. Strawberry flied out to left to end the inning but Hurst was done and the game was tied.
Shea Stadium was in a frenzy as Roger McDowell took over on the mound with Tony Armas pinch hitting for Hurst. Armas whiffed on 3 pitches. Boggs grounded out to third and Barrett grounded out to short to end the inning. For some inane reason, Sox manager John McNamara brought in Calvin Schiraldi to pitch the bottom of the seventh despite getting rocked and rolled in Game 6. The gamble failed miserably for the Sox as Knight blasted a leadoff home run to put the Mets just 6 outs away from victory. Lenny Dykstra pinch hit for Mitchell and singled before a wild pitch moved him up to second. Santana singled home Dykstra to increase the lead as the crowd got even louder. McDowell bunted Santana to second as Sox manager John McNamara finally realized his mistake and pulled Schiraldi out of there.
Lefty specialist Joe Sambito was brought in but the idiot McNamara decided to intentionally walk Wilson, which begs the question why would you bring in the lefty only to intentionally walk the lefty batter? That move also backfired because Sambito walked Backman to load the bases. Hernandez flied out to center but Santana scored to give the Mets what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. That was it for Sambito as Bob Stanley was brought in to mop up the mess. Stanley did manage to get Carter to ground out to end the inning but the Mets were up 6-3 and on the verge of the title.
With their backs to the wall, the Sox briefly sprang to life in the top of the eighth against McDowell. Buckner blooped a single to left to open the inning and Rice lined a base hit past Santana. Evans continued to torture Mets pitching by lining a double to center that scored both runners to cut the lead to 1. That meant if McNamara let Sambito pitch to Wilson, maybe the 6th run doesn't score and its now a tied game. Instead, Davey Johnson brought in lefty Jesse Orosco to face the lefties. Once again McNamara was asleep as Gedman didn't try to bunt Evans to third, instead he lined out to second, nearly getting Evans doubled off at second. There would be no magic for Henderson this time as he whiffed. Finally McNamara got his head out of his ass by pinch hitting the righty Don Baylor for Spike Owen to face Orosco. Unfortunatey Baylor grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox had gotten within a run 6-5.
Inexplicably McNamara pulled off a double switch, putting Ed Romero at short but bringing in Al Nipper of all people to relieve Stanley. Oil Can Boyd was nowhere to be found and once AGAIN the move backfired as Strawberry smashed a solo home run off Nipper to kill any momentum the Sox generated. Knight singled and moved to second on the groundout by Dykstra. Santana was intentionally walked and Davey Johnson was going to live or die with Orosco, so he left him in to bat. As if anything else could go wrong this season, Orosco who had just 3 at-bats all season faked a bunt and singled up the middle with the entire infield breaking to field a bunt. Santana scored to ice the game. McNamara then pulled Nipper for Steve Crawford which begs the question why he didn't have Crawford start the inning? Wilson was plunked to load the bases but Crawford recovered to get Knight at home on a force by Backman. Hernandez grounded out to end the inning but it was all over, 8-5 Mets.
The season came to an end in the top of the ninth inning. Romero hit one up the elevator shaft, caught by Hernandez for the first out. Boggs grounded out to second and Orosco punched out Barrett to put the Sox out of their misery. The Mets had won the game and the World Series by a score of 8-5.
Jackass of the Night should be John McNamara just like in Game 6 for all his idiotic decisions but unfortunately it has to be a player so its Calvin Schiraldi. He was charged with the loss, allowing 3 runs that ended up being the difference in the game in just 1/3 of an inning pitched.
The Good:
Bill Buckner was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Jim Rice was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Dwight Evans did all he could, going 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 total rbi's.
Dave Henderson walked, was hit with a pitch and scored a run in 4 plate appearances.
Bob Stanley retired the only man he faced.
Steve Crawford got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Spike Owen was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Tony Armas struck out as a pinch hitter.
Don Baylor was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Ed Romero was 0 for 1 in his plate appearance.
Al Nipper allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4 with a walk but drove in a run.
Marty Barrett was just 1 for 5.
Rich Gedman was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a solo home run.
Bruce Hurst fell apart in the 6th inning and was charged with 3 runs in his no-decision. Had he not fell apart, the Sox may have won the game.
Joe Sambito walked two and allowed an inherited runner to score in 1/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
Is this team cursed? It sure feels like it after one of the greatest seasons in history with so many high points crashed harder than a 747 jet. If Game 6 wasn't bad enough, this was just as bad. The Sox had a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning and it blew away. Then John McNamara brought in the wrong pitcher 3 times and it cost the Sox the game. He brought in Schiraldi who sucked, Sambito who walked 2 guys (albeit one intentionally) and Nipper who sucked. For all the heat Bill Buckner took about Game 6, most of which wasn't his fault to begin with, he deserves no blame for Game 7. McNamara made one bumbling decision after another and Schiraldi couldn't get it done twice. Its a shame such a promising season came to an end like this. In 1967 and 1975 you could say the better team won and no hard feelings, but the Sox had the Mets dead to rights twice and couldn't put them away. As it is, this is one of the all-time chokes that may never be equaled. How can the Sox come back from this? You come within a strike of winning it all in Game 6 and 12 outs in Game 7 and lose both games. I dread to think what 1987 will be like with the world series hangover they're going to have. Give the Mets the credit they deserve for coming back down 2-0 going to Fenway, coming back in Game 6 and then again in Game 7. They earned their World Series title, too bad the Sox couldn't put them away.
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