Indians Spoil Sox Home Opener (4/11/91)

The good news was the Boston Bruins defeated the Hartford Whalers in Game 5 in the first round of the NHL Playoffs, the bad news was the Cleveland Indians beat up the Boston Red Sox in the first home game of the season at Fenway. Big free agent acquisition Danny Darwin (0-1, 32.40 ERA) got hammered in his Red Sox debut. He allowed 6 runs and got knocked out in the second inning. Tom Bolton kept the Sox in the game in relief and the Sox rallied late, but it wasn't enough. In the end the Indians had beaten the Red Sox 6-4 at Fenway Park.

                                                    "How do you lose to Indians??"

Darwin got the ball in the top of the first and the Indians ambushed him. Alex Cole walked to start and Jerry Browne stroked a single. Carlos Baerga singled home Cole to give the Indians the lead. Albert Belle doubled past a diving Wade Boggs down the left field line to score Browne and Sandy Alomar was plunked to load the bases with nobody out. Red Sox pitching coach Bill Fischer trudged to the mound to tell Darwin that 1 plus 1 is 2. Danny was so excited to hear the news that he walked Brook Jacoby to score Baerga. Darwin recovered to freeze Chris James for strike three and get Felix Fermin to line out to right. Turner Ward flied out to center to end the inning with the Indians up 3-0.

                                                               Belle drives in a run

Indians starter Eric King cruised in the bottom of the first as Wade Boggs grounded out to second to start. Jody Reed flied out to left and Mike Greenwell grounded out to first to end the inning,.

The Indians knocked out Darwin in the top of the second as Cole singled off the Monster and stole second. Cole moved to third on the grounder by Browne and Baerga drew a walk. Belle popped up to first but Alomar singled to third to score Cole and chase Darwin. The big free agent signing lasted just 1 2/3 innings and would be charged with six runs. Tom Bolton relieved Darwin and Jacoby tripled home the runners to ice the game. James walked but Fermin flied out to center to end the inning with the Indians up 6-0.

                                                                    Not his best stuff

Jack Clark grounded out to third to start the bottom of the second and Ellis Burks flied out to center. Tom Brunansky flied out to left to end the inning.

Bolton cruised in the top of the third as Ward flied out to center to start. Cole grounded out to second and Browne popped up to right to end the inning. Carlos Quintana began the bottom of the third by flailing at strike three to start. Tony Pena popped up to first and Tim Naehring popped up to second to end the inning.

Baerga singled in the hole at short to start the top of the fourth but Belle went down hacking.  Alomar hit a roller into left for a base hit and both runners advanced on the Jacoby grounder. James grounded into a force to end the inning. Boggs lined out to right to start the bottom of the fourth and Reed watched strike three go by. Greenwell blooped a single to left but Clark grounded into a force to end the inning.

Bolton cruised in the top of the fifth as Fermin grounded out to short to start. Ward grounded back to the mound and Cole took strike three to end the inning. Burks tried to start a rally with a double off the Monster to start the bottom of the fifth. He was stranded as Brunansky popped up to second. Burks moved to third on the Quintana grounder but Pena grounded out to short to end the inning.

Bolton caught Browne and and Baerga looking at strike three to begin the top of the sixth but Belle singled in the hole at short. Alomar grounded out to short to end the inning. Naehring popped up to short to open the bottom of the sixth but Boggs singled to left. Reed popped up to short and Greenwell popped up to second to end the inning.

Bolton returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh as Jacoby grounded out to short to start. James singled to center but Fermin flied out to right. Ward singled to right but Cole grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox finally fought back in the bottom of the seventh as Clark singled to left to start. Burks took strike three and Brunansky lined out to left but Quintana singled to third. Pena doubled home both runners to put the Sox on the board and chase King. Steve Olin relieved King and Naehring singled home Pena to cut the lead in half. Boggs flied out to right to end the inning but the Sox were down 6-3.

                                                              Naehring drives in a run

Dana Kiecker came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Browne walked to start. Browne moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Baerga but Belle whiffed. Alomar took strike three to end the inning. The Sox blew a golden chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth with Mike Huff taking over for the slumping Belle. Reed flied out to left but Greenwell doubled off the Monster. Clark singled to center to bring the tying run to the plate but Burks only could beat out a double play ball to score Greenwell. Burks then got caught stealing second to end the inning with the Sox down 6-4.

                                                            Greenwell scores a run

Kiecker returned for the top of the ninth and Jacoby grounded out to third to start. James grounded back to the mound and Fermin popped up to right in foul territory to end the inning. Doug Jones came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Brunansky grounded out to second to start. Quintana grounded out to first but Pena singled to short. Pena took second on defensive indifference and Naehring grounded out to third to end the game. The Indians had spoiled the home opener 6-4.

Jackass of the Night is Danny Darwin. He lasted just 1 2/3 innings and put the Sox in a 6 run hole they couldn't get out of.

                                                               Jackass Darwin

The Good:

Mike Greenwell was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Jack Clark was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Tony Pena was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.

Tom Bolton tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the Sox in the game.

Dana Kiecker tossed 2 scoreless innings.

The Bad:

Jody Reed was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Tom Brunansky was 0 for 4.

The Ugly:

Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4.

Ellis Burks was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.

Carlos Quintana was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Tim Naehring was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.

Final Thoughts:

Well that sucked. Danny Darwin was signed to offset the loss of Larry Andersen and that was NOT a good debut. He was batting practice for two innings but hats off to Tom Bolton and Dana Kiecker for keeping the Indians off the board for the rest of the game. The Sox offense was asleep for most of the game and it woke up too late. Not the best home opener, that's for sure. It should also be noted Sox manager Joe Morgan let Naehring bat in the ninth. If the Sox didnt let Dwight Evans walk, they could have had him or Brunansky pinch hit instead. Its only 4 games into the season but that's a bad sign. Still there's a long way to go in the season so no sense panicking after 4 games. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Roger Clemens (1-0) takes the hill opposite Greg Swindell of the Indians. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.