Clemens got the ball in the top of the first inning and Devon White walked to start. Roberto Alomar struck out swinging but White swiped second. Joe Carter struck out swinging and Dave Winfield popped up to first to end the inning. Wells got the ball in the bottom of the first and Boggs grounded out to second to start. Jody Reed popped up to short but Phil Plantier singled to left. Ellis Burks flied out to center to end the inning.
Clemens got in a jam in the top of the second as Kelly Gruber blooped a base hit to right to begin. Jon Olerud hit a routine grounder to Tom Brunansky at first who went OLE! for an error to put runners at the corners. Roger got a big out when Candy Maldonado popped up to second but Pat Borders walked to load the bases. Manuel Lee took strike three and White forced Borders at second to end the inning. Apparently in the dugout Sox manager Butch Hobson screamed at Bruno for the error and Bruno told him to pleasure himself. Meanwhile Jack Clark flied out to center to start the bottom of the second but Mike Greenwell singled to right. Hobson tried to attack Brunansky but had to be held back by his players and he sent Mo Vaughn to pinch hit for him. Vaughn popped up to short and Tony Pena grounded out to first to end the inning.
Clemens turned up the heat in the top of the third inning as Alomar went down hacking to start. Carter also went down swinging and Winfield took strike three to end the inning. Luis Rivera watched strike three go by to start the bottom of the third and Boggs grounded back to the mound. Reed lined out to center to end the inning.
Gruber went down swinging to start the top of the fourth and Olerud grounded out to third. Maldonado took strike three to end the inning. The Sox got to Wells in the bottom of the fourth although Plantier struck out swinging to start. Burks walked and Clark doubled him to third before Greenwell hit a roller to third....that Clark beat out to score Burks with the first run. Vaughn struck out swinging and Pena popped up to third in foul territory to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
After an hour rain delay the game continued with Clemens back for the top of the fifth. Borders singled to right and Lee dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Pat to second. White took strike three and Alomar flied out to right to end the inning. Wells was gone after the delay and Pat Hentgen took his place for the bottom of the fifth. Rivera struck out swinging, Boggs flied out to left and Reed popped up to second to begin and end the inning.
Things got hairy in the top of the sixth when Carter doubled to left to start. Clemens recovered to blow away Winfield but Gruber grounded back to the mound to move Carter to third. Olerud took strike three to end the inning. Boston tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth when Plantier singled to right to begin. Burks struck out swinging, Clark flied out to center and Greenwell grounded out to short to end the inning.
Maldonado grounded out to short to start the top of the seventh before Borders popped up to second. Lee flied out to center to end the inning. That was it for Clemens who had to endure 3 1/2 hours of rain delay time only to pitch a 7 inning shutout while striking out 11.
Vaughn popped up to third in foul territory to start the bottom of the seventh before Pena struck out swinging. Rivera walked and Bob MacDonald was brought in to face Boggs. Wade struck out swinging to end the inning.
Greg Harris got the ball in the top of the eighth inning and White walked to start. Alomar lined out to left and Carter hit a routine grounder to Boggs....who threw himself on the ball and wrestled with it for an error. Rob Ducey pinch ran for Carter but Harris recovered to strike out both Winfield and Gruber swinging to end the inning. Reed flied out to left to start the bottom of the eighth and Plantier struck out swinging, but Burks drew a walk. Duane Ward was brought in to pitch to Clark and Jack grounded into a force to end the inning.
Apparently Hobson got in Boggs' face for the error and Wade shoved him backwards and another scrum took place. Boggs said to hell with it and left the dugout so Scott Cooper came in to play third with Tony Fossas now on the mound for the top of the ninth. Olerud flied out to left and Hobson stumbled out of the dugout to bring in Jeff Reardon to finish the game. Maldonado and Borders both struck out swinging to end the game. Boston pitchers had struck out 15 Jays and the Sox won the game 1-0.
The Good:
Phil Plantier was 2 for 4.
Mike Greenwell was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Greg Harris pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Tony Fossas retired the only batter he faced in the ninth inning.
Jeff Reardon earned his second save of the season.
The Bad:
Wade Boggs was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jody Reed was 0 for 4.
Tom Brunansky made an error before being pulled from the game.
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Tony Pena was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
The Ugly:
Ellis Burks was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but walked twice and scored a run.
Jack Clark was just 1 for 4.
Honorable Mention:
Scott Cooper played third base in the top of the ninth
Final Thoughts:
Why does it always rain over us? The bad weather that postponed last night's game almost cancelled tonight's as well. The good news was at least the Red Sox won. Clemens was spectacular and no matter how bad the Sox bats are, he always gives them a chance to win. The problem is he can't pitch every day so sooner or later the bats are going to have to wake up. So far only Mo Vaughn and Luis Rivera are hitting above .250 but that's going to change. Boggs, Greenwell and Reed aren't usually this bad so they should come around. The bullpen was good tonight and the problem certainly hasn't been with them so far. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox have another game with the Blue Jays and its Frank Viola's (0-1) to go up against Todd Stottlemyre of Toronto. The game begins at 2:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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