Now that's more like it, Danny Darwin (1-1, 7.71 ERA). After his disasterous debut against the Cleveland Indians, Darwin rebounded to beat the Kansas City Royals. Danny tossed 7 shutout innings before running out of gas in the eighth inning. Tony Fossas and Jeff Reardon saved the day for the Sox to preserve the win. The Sox got a trio of home runs from Wade Boggs, Mike Marshall and Tom Brunansky to pace the offense in this one. The Sox got back on the winning track with a 5-2 victory over the Royals at Fenway Park.
Darwin got the ball in the top of the first and Brian McRae grounded out to short to start. Kevin Seitzer grounded out to third but George Brett and Danny Tartabull stroked back to back singles to right. Kirk Gibson flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Royals starter Kevin Appier in the bottom of the first as Wade Boggs flied out to right to start. Jody Reed lined out to right but Mike Greenwell singled into right. Mike Marshall hit a routine grounder to Kurt Stillwell who threw the ball away for an error. Ellis Burks singled home Greenwell to put the Sox on the board and Tom Brunansky singled home Marshall to increase the lead. Carlos Quintana lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Jim Eisenreich flied out to left to start the top of the second and Mike Macfarlane flied out to right. Stillwell walked but Terry Shumpert took strike three to end the inning. Tony Pena singled to right to start the bottom of the second then moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Tim Naehring. Boggs walked but Reed lined out to center. Greenwell flied out to left to end the inning.
Darwin cruised in the top of the third as McRae popped up to third to start. Seitzer grounded out to second and Brett took strike three to end the inning. The Sox got a run in the bottom of the third although Marshall took strike three to start. Burks whiffed but Brunansky cracked his first home run of the season to increase the lead. Quintana flied out to center to end the inning but it was 3-0 Sox.
Tartabull grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth before Gibson also grounded out to second. Eisenreich whiffed to end the inning. The Sox tagged Appier again in the bottom of the fourth although Pena grounded out to second to start. Naehring struck out swinging but Boggs hit his first home run of the season to increase the lead. Reed lined out to center to end the inning with Boston ahead 4-0.
Macfarlane flied out to left to begin the top of the fifth and Stillwell took strike three. Shumpert flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox got another run in the bottom of the fifth as Greenwell flied out to center to start. Marshall belted his first home run of the season to increase the lead but Burks went down hacking. Brunansky grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Darwin cruised in the top of the sixth as McRae lined out to right to begin. Seitzer grounded out to second and Brett lined out to left to end the inning. Tom Gordon took over for Appier in the bottom of the sixth and Quintana singled past second base to start. Pena flied out to right, Naehring took strike three and Boggs grounded into a force to end the inning.
Tartabull struck out swinging to open the top of the seventh and Gibson went down hacking as well. Eisenreich flied out to left to end the inning. Reed took strike three to start the bottom of the seventh and Greenwell grounded out to first. Marshall swung at air for strike three to end the inning.
Darwin ran out of gas in the top of the eighth as Macfarlane singled to left and Stillwell hit a home run all the way to Venus to cut the lead. Warren Cromartie pinch hit for Shumpert and lined out to left and McRae whiffed, but Seitzer singled to right to chase Darwin. He was much improved over his first start, tossing 7 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. Tony Fossas came in and got Brett to ground out to first to end the inning with the Royals down 5-2.
Dave Howard took McRae's spot in the batting order with old friend Steve Crawford now on the mound for the bottom of the eighth. Burks grounded out to third, Brunansky flied out to left and Quintana took strike three to end the inning.
Jeff Reardon came in to close out the top of the ninth and Tartabull flied out to left to start. Gibson singled over the first base bag but Eisenreich lined out to left. Macfarlane struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2.
Hero of the Night is Danny Darwin. He tossed 7 2/3 innings of 2 run ball to lead the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Wade Boggs was 1 for 3 with a walk including a solo home run.
Tom Brunansky was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 total rbis.
Tony Pena was 1 for 3.
Tony Fossas retired the only man he faced.
Jeff Reardon earned his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jody Reed was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Tim Naehring was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 but the hit was a home run and scored two total runs.
Ellis Burks was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Carlos Quintana was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
THIS is the Darwin the Sox were expecting when they signed him to replace Larry Andersen. He was great through 7 innings even if he did run out of gas in the eighth inning. The offense finally woke up with some desperately needed longballs. The Sox kept Marshall over Dwight Evans so its about time he does something to justify that. As a whole, only Ellis Burks is hitting above .275 but hopefully that changes as April goes on. All in all it was a good win and hopefully the Sox can go on a nice winning streak. The Sox are back in action tomorrow against the Royals with Tom Bolton making his first start of the season opposite Storm Davis of the Royals. The game begins at 2:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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