Indians starter Tom Candiotti cruised in the top of the first inning as Spike Owen lined back to the mound to start. Marty Barrett flied out to center and Dwight Evans popped up to third to end the inning. Boddicker got the Indians to beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the first inning. Terry Francona and Andy Allanson both grounded out to second and Dave Clark grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jim Rice flied out to center to start the top of the second inning and Todd Benzinger grounded out to first and Ellis Burks flied out to center to end the inning. Luis Medina singled to center to start the top of the second and took second on a wild pitch. Mel Hall popped up to short, Brook Jacoby lined out to short and Ron Washington took strike three to end the inning. That was it for Boddicker who's now set to start Game 3 on Saturday.
It was the Sox turn to beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the third inning as Rich Gedman grounded out to second to start. Ed Romero grounded out to short and Kutcher grounded out to first to end the inning. Dennis Lamp came in for the bottom of the third inning as Paul Zuvella grounded out to second to start. Scott Jordan flied out to right and Francona grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth inning as Owen grounded out to first to start. Barrett singled to left but Evans flied out to center. Rice then crushed his 15th and final home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Benzinger grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Indians wasted no time taking command in the bottom of the fourth with Kevin Romine taking over for Evans in right. Allanson doubled to left and Clark singled him to third, but Medina went down swinging. Hall tripled home both runners and Jacoby singled him home to give the Indians the lead. Washington grounded out to first and Zuvella went down swinging to end the inning with the Indians up 3-2.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Burks flied out to center to start. Gedman popped up to Candiotti and Romero whiffed to end the inning. Sox manager Joe Morgan sent Bruce Hurst to the mound to get some work in before his Wednesday night start in the bottom of the fifth. Jordan took strike three as Rod Allen pinch hit for Francona, doubling to center. Allanson singled Allen to third and Allen scored on the Clark sac fly. Medina lined out to third to end the inning but the Indians were ahead 4-2.
The Sox fought back in the top of the sixth as Kutcher doubled to center to start. Kutcher moved to third on the Owen grounder and Randy scored on the Barrett base hit to right. Evans whiffed and Rice grounded back to the mound to end the inning but the Sox trailed 4-3.
The Sox emptied their bench in the bottom of the sixth with Tom Bolton now on the mound, Rick Cerone behind the plate, Larry Parrish at first in Barrett's spot, Romero at second, Kutcher at third and Benzinger in left. Reggie Williams pinch hit for Hall and singled to start before scoring on the Jacoby double. Eddie Williams pinch ran for Jacoby but Washington grounded out to third. Zuvella took strike three but Jordan singled home Williams. Allen flied out to right to end the inning but the Indians were up 6-3.
The Sox fought back in the top of the seventh as Benzinger singled to left to begin. Burks doubled Todd to third but Cerone whiffed. Romero scored Benzinger with a sac fly but Kutcher took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 6-4.
Bob Stanley came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Allanson flied out to center to start. Clark grounded out to second and Medina popped up to second to end the inning.
Bud Black came in for the top of the eighth and Owen whiffed to start. Parrish and Romine both flied out to right to end the inning. Lee Smith came in for the bottom of the eighth and Reggie Williams struck out swinging to start. Eddie Williams grounded out to third but Washington hit a ground rule double into the third base grandstand. Joe Carter pinch hit for Zuvella and flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox tried to rally in the top of the ninth with Jay Bell now at short. Rice singled to right but the ball went under Clark's glove, Rice motoring around to third. Benzinger grounded out to second but Rice scored to cut the lead. Burks whiffed but Cerone got a base hit to left. Carlos Quintana pinch ran for Cerone but Romero grounded out to second to end the game. The Indians had won the season finale 6-5.
Jackass of the Night is Tom Bolton. His two runs allowed ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
Marty Barrett was 2 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Jim Rice was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run and two total runs scored.
Rick Cerone was 1 for 2 at the plate.
Randy Kutcher was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Mike Boddicker pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Bob Stanley pitched a scoreless inning.
Lee Smith pitched a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Spike Owen was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Larry Parrish was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Dwight Evans was 0 for 2.
Kevin Romine was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 2.
Dennis Lamp took the loss with 3 runs allowed in 2 innings.
Bruce Hurst allowed a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Todd Benzinger was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Ellis Burks was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ed Romero was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Honorable Mention:
Carlos Quintana pinch ran for Cerone in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
What a season this was. What started with Wade Boggs' shenanigans, the fight on the bus and John McNamara getting fired ended with Morgan Magic. Winning 12 in a row and 19 out of 20 improved team morale and jump started their run to the AL East crown. Trading Brady Anderson and the kid in AAA for Mike Boddicker worked tremendously and everything seemed to go right this year. Winning 8 out of 10 from September 4 to 14 was arguably the best baseball they played all season and its been fun to watch. The Sox are going to need all their guns if they want to go back to the World Series Standing in their way of a possible rematch with the New York Mets are the Oakland A's. They're going to need shut down pitching if they have any hope of winning that series. With any luck the Sox and Mets win their respective series so they can have a rematch. With Boddicker on the Sox, the advantage would shift to Boston this time around. That's all in the future but for now the Sox are AL East champs and play the Oakland A's this Wednesday night in the American League Championship Series. Bruce Hurst goes for the Sox up against Dave Stewart at 8 PM at Fenway Park.
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