Mike Boddicker (1-0) made his season debut in the top of the first inning by getting Tony Phillips to ground out to short to start. Alan Trammell flied out to center and Lou Whitaker froze on strike three to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the first against Kevin Ritz although Wade Boggs grounded out to short after the ball was deflected by Ritz. Marty Barrett and Mike Greenwell stroked back to back singles but Ellis Burks flied out to left. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position but Dwight Evans watched strike three go by to end the inning.
The Tigers threatened in the top of the second inning although Cecil Fielder flied out to right to start. Lloyd Moseby singled but Matt Nokes flied out to right as well. Larry Sheets doubled Moseby to third but Boddicker punched out Chet Lemon to end the inning. Billy Jo Robidoux walked to lead off the bottom of the second and Tony Pena singled. Jody Reed dropped down a sac bunt to move both runners into scoring position but Kevin Romine lined out back to the mound. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson wisely intentionally walked Boggs to load the bases and Barrett failed to make them pay by grounding out to first to end the inning. That's 5 men left on base in the first two innings.
Boddicker remained tough in the top of the third inning as Dave Bergman flied out to center to start. Phillips grounded out to second and Trammell struck out to end the inning. The Sox exploded in the bottom of the third although Greenwell grounded out to second to start. Burks singled and stole second before advancing to third on the Evans single. Robidoux walked to load the bases and Pena lined a base hit to score Burks and Evans to put the Sox on top. Reed doubled home Robidoux to chase Ritz from the game. Dan Petry came in and got Romine to ground out, but Pena scored to increase the lead and moved Reed to third. Boggs was once again intentionally walked and Barrett walked the traditional way to re-load the bases. Greenwell started the inning with a ground out and he ended it with one. Even though the Sox had now left 8 men on base, they had a commanding 4-0 lead.
Boddicker did his part to keep the Tigers off the board in the top of the fourth inning. Whitaker singled in the hole at short to start but Boddicker whiffed fielder. Moseby flied out to center and Nokes grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox finally went quietly in the bottom of the fourth inning. Burks popped up to third, Evans grounded out to third and Robidoux struck out to end the inning.
The Tigers roared back in the top of the fifth inning. Sheets singled and Lemon was hit with a pitch to start. Bergman grounded out and both runners advanced into scoring position, where Sheets scored on the ground-out by Phillips. Trammell singled in the hole at short to score Lemon but Whitaker popped up to short to end the inning. The Tigers cut the lead in half 4-2. That was it for Boddicker who labored through 5 innings to leave with a 4-2 lead. Sox manager Joe Morgan wants to keep the starters fresh for better days. Sparky Anderson approves of the quick hook.
The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the fifth inning although Pena doubled to start. Reed whiffed and Romine grounded out while Boggs was intentionally walked again. Barrett popped up to left to end the inning. That's 10 men left on by the way.
Dennis Lamp took over for the top of the sixth and got Fielder to fly out to start. Moseby hit a comebacker to the mound and Nokes flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox once again failed with men in base in the bottom of the sixth inning. Greenwell grounded out to first but both Burks and Evans singled. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position and Sparky Anderson made the decision to walk Robidoux to load the bases but set up the double play. Right on cue guess what Pena did....ground into a double play to end the inning. 12 men left on but that is why Sparky is a future hall of fame manager.
Lamp returned for the top of the seventh but Sheets greeted him with a single. Sheets was erased on the force by Lemon but Bergman singled to chase Lamp. Rob Murphy made a mad dash from the bullpen and got both Phillips and Trammell to fly out to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Reed flied out to center, Romine grounded back to the mound and Boggs grounded out to second to end the inning.
Murphy sprinted to the mound for the top of the eighth and got Whitaker to ground out to first to start. Murphy whiffed both Fielder and Moseby to end the inning before running as fast as he could off the mound, jumping into the dug-out and sprinting to the clubhouse.
Mike Henneman took the mound in the bottom of the eighth and Barrett flied out to right. Greenwell walked but Burks banged into a double play to end the inning.
Sox closer Lee Smith got the call to close it out in the top of the ninth. Nokes walked and was replaced by Johnny Parades. Smith struck out Sheets and got Lemon to fly out. With the tying run at the plate, Smith got Bergman to hit one up the elevator shaft to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-2.
Hero of the night is a tough one but I gotta go with Tony Pena. His 2 run single started the rally in the bottom of the third inning.
The Good:
Wade Boggs walked 3 times in 5 plate appearances.
Ellis Burks was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Dwight Evans was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Billy Jo Robidoux walked 3 times in 4 plate appearances and scored a run.
Jody Reed was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Mike Boddicker earned the win with 5 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 4.
Dennis Lamp tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings
Rob Murphy threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Lee Smith got his second save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Marty Barrett was just 1 for 4 with a walk.
Mike Greenwell was also just 1 for 4 with a walk.
Kevin Romine was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
A win is a win even if the starter didn't last long and the Sox left a parade on base. Still, the bullpen was lights out and the offense produced when it had to. The Sox did enough to win but they're gonna have to do better than that if they have any hope of beating Toronto out for the division title this year. They need a spark on offense wherever that may come by. Boddicker and Clemens both picked up victories and now it gets interesting with the rest of the rotation now having to step up. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 PM John Dopson makes his season debut opposite Jeff Robinson as the Sox look to win again at Fenway Park.
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