Farrell got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jody Reed led the game off by grounding out to first to start. Spike Owen doubled into the right field corner before Dwight Evans moved him to third with a grounder. Mike Greenwell popped up to first to end the inning. Sellers got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Ron Washington chased a nasty slider for strike three to start. Andy Allanson whiffed before Joe Carter popped up to short to end the inning.
Todd Benzinger dumped a single into right to begin the top of the second but Kevin Romine flied out to right. Rick Cerone struck out on a swinging on a changeup before Ed Romero swung and missed for strike three to end the inning after a fan got a standing O for pulling a foul ball out of the fence. Corey Snyder grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second inning before Sellers punched out Dave Clark. Luis Medina went down swinging to end the inning, good start for Sellers.
Rookie Carlos Quintana whiffed to begin the top of the third inning before Reed popped up to left. Owen grounded out to first to end the inning. Rod Allen grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third as the NBC announcers brought up the last time the Red Sox won in Oakland happened to be a Jeff Sellers start. Eddie Williams went down swinging as did Jay Bell to end the inning. That's 6 K's for Jeff in 3 innings.
Evans drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth inning before Greenwell beat out a double play ball. Randy Kutcher pinch ran for Greenwell but he was erased on the Benzinger force. Romine popped up to center to end the inning. Sellers kept up the pace in the bottom of the fourth as Washington whiffed on a nasty slider to begin. Allanson went down swinging as well before Carter grounded out to short to end the inning.
Cerone grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth before Romero grounded out to third. Two yahoos actually got married in the stands and Farrell was so distracted that Quintana drew a walk. Reed flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning.
Sellers remained perfect in the bottom of the fifth as Snyder lined out to center to start. Clark went down swinging and Medina lined out to left to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the sixth as Owen popped up to left. Evans grounded out to short and Kutcher grounded out to third to end the inning. Sellers got Allen to line out to second to begin the bottom of the sixth before Williams was out on a bang bang grounder to short. Bell broke up the perfect game by drawing a walk but Sellers kept up the no-hitter by striking out Washington to end the inning, that's 10 strikeouts as well.
The Sox failed to get Sellers any runs in the top of the seventh as Benzinger grounded out to first to start. Romine whiffed and Evans popped up to center to end the inning. Allanson hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the seventh before Carter popped up to right. Snyder lined out to center to end the inning. Sellers had tossed 7 no-hit innings while striking out 10, outstanding.
Too bad John Farrell was just as tough as Sellers in the top of the eighth with Scott Jordan now in center. Romero grounded out to third, Quintana whiffed and Reed grounded out to third to end the inning. Sellers returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Clark to pop up to short. 5 outs from a no-hitter, Medina crushed a 90,000 foot home run to break up the no-hitter and send Sellers to the showers. On any other day, this would have been just an annoyance but the home run was the difference in the game. Mike Smithson came in and got Allen to pop up to first but Williams caught the Sox asleep with a bunt single to third. Bell swung and missed and fell on himself to end the inning with the Indians up 1-0.
The Sox did try to rally against Farrell in the top of the ninth as Owen dumped a single to right to start. Evans walked to chase Farrell. Closer Doug Jones was brought in to face pinch hitter Larry Parrish (for Kutcher). The worst thing happened as Parrish banged into a double play to kill the rally. Benzinger lined out to first to end the game. The Indians had just 2 hits and one run all game but it was enough to win the game 1-0.
Jackass of the Night is Larry Parrish. Normally its unfair to bring in someone ice cold off the bench and have him hit, but the double play proved to be the difference in the game with Farrell on the ropes.
The Good:
Spike Owen was 2 for 4.
Dwight Evans walked twice in 4 plate appearances.
Jeff Sellers took the loss but pitched incredibly well. He allowed 1 run on just 1 hit while striking out 10 in 7 1/3 innings.
Mike Smithson got the final two outs of the 8th inning.
The Bad:
Jody Reed was 0 for 4.
Mike Greenwell was 0 for 2.
Randy Kutcher was 0 for 1.
Kevin Romine was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Rick Cerone was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ed Romero was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Todd Benzinger was just 1 for 4.
Carlos Quintana was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Good thing this game means nothing because if the Sox lost a meaningful game on a solo home run and as double play in the ninth, this would have really hurt. Sellers pitched the game of his life but the JV offense failed to score a run. If Ellis Burks, Wade Boggs, Marty Barrett or Jim Rice played I'm sure they could have at least pushed across one run. As it is, its just an annoyance as the real goal is to stay healthy for the Oakland A's. The Sox already have their rotation set with Bruce Hurst going in Game 1 at Fenway, Roger Clemens in Game 2 and Mike Boddicker in Game 3 in Oakland. As for the regular season, tomorrow is the finale with Mike Boddicker (3.39 ERA) going for the Sox up against Tom Candiotti at 2:30 PM Eastern time at Cleveland Stadium.
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