Dopson began his masterful outing in the top of the first inning as Joey Cora grounded out to first to begin. Lance Johnson grounded out to short and Frank Thomas looked at strike three to end the inning. Chicago starter Alex Fernandez got no help from his defense as Scott Fletcher took first on an Ozzie Guillen error. Billy Hatcher lined out to right before Mike Greenwell popped up to short. Fletcher took second on a wild pitch but Andre Dawson grounded out to short to end the inning.
Disaster struck in the top of the second inning as Scott Fletcher pulled up lame on a fly ball to the outfield. Carlos Quintana made the play in right but Fletcher got hauled off on a gurney headed to Mass General's ICU as Jeff Richardson took his place. Robin Ventura grounded out to second before Ellis Burks singled to left. Dan Pasqua whiffed to end the inning. Mo Vaughn and Quintana led off the bottom of the second with back to back singles but Scott Cooper whiffed. Tony Pena banged into a double play to end the inning.
Ron Karkovice whiffed to start the top of the third before Guillen grounded out to second. Cora struck out swinging to end the inning. The BoSox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Luis Rivera popped up to second to start. Richardson whiffed before Hatcher grounded out to first to end the inning.
The White Sox mounded one of their only threats in the top of the fourth inning as Johnson singled to right to start. Johnson stole second but Thomas stranded him with a grounder. Johnson moved to third on the grounder by Bell but Ventura walked. Burks grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Greenwell hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Dawson flied out to right and Vaughn grounded out to short to end the inning.
Dopson froze Pasqua for strike three to lead off the fifth inning before Karkovice swung and missed for strike three. Guillen lined out to left to end the inning. Fernandez kept pace in the bottom of the fifth as Quintana whiffed to start. Cooper swung at air for strike three before Pena lined out to left to end the inning.
Cora grounded out to first to start the top of the sixth before Johnson grounded back to the mound. Thomas walked and Bell singled to left but Ventura flied out to center to end the inning. The BoSox exploded in the bottom of the sixth although Rivera grounded back to the mound to start. Richardson walked and Hatcher singled Jeff to third. Greenwell singled home Richardson, sent Hatcher to third and gave the BoSox the lead. Dawson singled home Richardson to increase the lead and chase Fernandez. Chuck Cary came in and poured gas on the fire as Vaughn doubled home Greenwell. Quintana squibbed a seeing eye single to score Dawson and send Vaughn to third. A wild pitch scored Vaughn and sent Quintana to second, who scored on the Cooper base hit to ice the game. That was it for Cary as Bobby Thigpen came in to pitch to Pena. Pena doubled Cooper to third and that was it for Bobby. Donn Pall came in to get Rivera to fly out to right and Richardson to ground out to short to end the inning. Boston cracked 7 hits and scored 6 runs to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
More than enough cushion for Dopson as he cruised in the top of the seventh. Burks flied out to right, Pasqua whiffed and Karkovice popped up to second to end the inning. Hatcher popped up to third to start the bottom of the seventh before Greenwell lined out to center. Dawson got plunked and Ernie Riles pinch ran for him to give Andre's knees a break. Vaughn doubled off the Monster but Riles was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Dopson returned for the top of the eighth and got Guillen to ground out to second to start. Cora grounded out to first and Johnson grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Roberto Hernandez took over for the bottom of the eighth and Quintana lined back to the mound to start. Cooper whiffed and Pena grounded out to short to end the inning.
Dopson returned to finish the job in the top of the ninth and got Thomas to pop up to left to start. Bell walked but Ventura froze for strike three. Burks grounded into a force to end the game. The BoSox held the White Sox to just 1 run the last three games and took this one 6-0.
Hero of the Night is John Dopson. He tossed a complete game, 3 hit shutout to earn his first win of the season.
The Good:
Andre Dawson was 1 for 3, driving in a run and scoring once.
Mo Vaughn was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Carlos Quintana was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
The Bad:
Scott Fletcher was 0 for 1 before leaving with injury.
Ernie Riles was thrown out at home as a pinch runner.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Jeff Richardson was 0 for 2 but walked and scored.
Billy Hatcher was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Scott Cooper was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Tony Pena was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Don't look now but the Red Sox are hot. They've won 10 for their first 13 games and they've done it with offense as well as pitching. John Dopson was outstanding this morning, hopefully he can keep up this momentum going forward. Mo Vaughn looks vastly improved compared to last year and Dawson has been an rbi machine so far. Billy Hatcher and Scott Fletcher have provided speed...if only they had Jeff Bagwell. Hopefully Fletcher is okay since they just got Hatcher back. All in all it was a good win and this season has started well so far. The good news keeps coming as the Sox travel to Seattle for a set with the Mariners. "Rocket" Roger Clemens (2-0) goes for the Sox up against John Cummings at 10:05 PM Eastern time at the Kingdome.
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