The O's wasted no time getting to Dopson in the top of the first inning as old pal Brady Anderson lined out to right to start. Phil Bradley hit a home run all the way to Aruba to put Baltimore on top but Joe Orsulak grounded out to second. Cal Ripken Jr walked but Larry Sheets struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's ahead 1-0.
Schmidt cruised in the top of the first as Wade Boggs led off with a lineout to right. Marty Barrett grounded out to short and Ellis Burks flied out to center to end the inning.
Dopson cruised in the top of the second as Mickey Tettleton struck out swinging to start. Jim Traber grounded back to the mound and Craig Worthington struck out swinging to end the inning. Mike Greenwell flied out to right to start the bottom of the second but Jim Rice took first on a throwing error by Worthington. Dwight Evans lined out to left and Nick Esasky flied out to center to end the inning.
Rene Gonzales took strike three to begin the top of the third before Anderson grounded out to first. Bradley flied out to center to end the inning. Rich Gedman grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Jody Reed flied out to left. Boggs walked but Barrett forced him at second to end the inning.
Orsulak took strike three to start the top of the fourth before Ripken Jr grounded out to third. Sheets grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Burks beat a roller to third to start. Greenwell blooped a single to center but Rice popped up to shallow center. Evans hit a grounder in the hole at short to score Burks and Dwight was credited with a "double". Esasky grounded out to short to score Greenwell but Gedman popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
The O's fought back in the top of the fifth as Tettleton popped up to third to start. Traber walked and Worthington doubled him home to tie the game. Gonzales popped up to shallow left and Anderson struck out swinging to end the inning. Reed popped up to third to begin the bottom of the fifth but Boggs doubled to left. Barrett and Burks both flied out to left to end the inning.
Bradley struck out swinging to begin the top of the sixth before Orsulak grounded out to second. Ripken Jr walked but Sheets took strike three to end the inning. The Sox broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth as Greenwell and Rice stroked back to back base hits to start. Evans singled home Greenwell and took second on the Esasky grounder to the mound. Gedman scored Rice with a sac fly and Reed walked to chase Schmidt. Mark Thurmond came in and got Boggs to ground out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Dopson cruised in the top of the seventh as Tettleton flied out to right to begin. Traber struck out swinging and Worthington flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the seventh as Barrett and Burks both singled to right to start. Greenwell singled to center to score Barrett and Rice singled to right to score Burks although Jim got thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Evans ripped a base hit to right to score Greenwell but Esasky grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-2.
Mike Devereaux pinch hit for Gonzales to start the top of the eighth and grounded out to third to start. Anderson grounded out to second but the wheels fell off for Dopson. Bradley walked, Orsulak hit a ground rule double to right and Bradley scored on a passed ball by Gedman. Ripken Jr hit a routine grounder to first and Esasky did a cannonball on the ball for an error to score Orsulak. That was it for Dopson as Bob Stanley came in to pitch. Sheets grounded out to second to end the inning. Dopson was victimized by bad defense but went 7 2/3 gutty innings, allowing 4 runs.
Dopson gets it done
Billy Ripken took over for Devereaux to begin the bottom of the eighth and Gedman popped up to third in foul territory to start. Reed and Boggs both flied out to center to end the inning. Stanley came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and Tettleton grounded out to first to start. Traber lined out to left and Worthington grounded out to third to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-4.
The Good:
Ellis Burks was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Mike Greenwell was 3 for 4 with an rbi and 3 runs scored.
Jim Rice was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
John Dopson earned the win by allowing 2 earned runs (4 total) in 7 2/3 innings.
Bob Stanley earned the save with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Marty Barrett was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Nick Esasky was 0 for 4 with an error but drove in a run.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Jody Reed was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
It would be unfair to expect Dopson to be as good as Bruce Hurst was but the Sox are going to need him to be if they hope to repeat as AL East champions. The Sox offense was bolstered with Nick Esasky in the off-season but they need Dopson big time with Hurst gone. The offense was rolling today and hopefully they can ride this momentum to have a good month. The Sox stumbled out of the gate but hopefully a win like this could be the start of something good. Stanley slammed the door in tonight's game and the addition of Rob Murphy can only help Stanley as he turns 35 this coming November. All in all it was a good win and the Sox will look for another one tomorrow afternoon against Baltimore. Mike Boddicker (1-0) takes on Jeff Ballard of the O's at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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