Darwin did manage to cruise in the top of the first inning as Joey Cora flied out to left to start. Lance Johnson lined out to center before Frank Thomas popped up to second to end the inning. ChiSox starter Jack McDowell got the ball in the bottom of the first and Scott Fletcher flied out to right to begin. Billy Hatcher drew a walk but Mike Greenwell popped up to short. Mo Vaughn grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Chisox struck first in the top of the second inning although George Bell lined out to left to start. Robin Ventura grounded out to first and old friend Ellis Burks made the Sox pay for getting rid of him by crushing a 59,000 foot home run to give Chicago the lead. Dan Pasqua singled but was thrown out trying to steal by the alert Tony Pena to end the inning with the ChiSox ahead 1-0.
The BoSox surged ahead in the bottom of the second inning after Carlos Quintana worked a lead off walk. Scott Cooper swatted his first home run of the year to give the Sox the lead. Ivan Calderon grounded out to short before Tony Pena whiffed. Luis Rivera flied out to left to end the inning with Boston ahead 2-1.
The Chisox tied the game in the top of the third as Ron Karlovice smashed a 890 foot home run to start. Ozzie Guillen grounded out to short before Cora doubled to left. Cora went to third on the grounder by Johnson but Thomas flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The BoSox retook the lead in the bottom of the third as Fletcher was plunked to start. Hatcher beat out an infield single to short and Greenwell doubled Fletcher home. The rally ended after Vaughn grounded out to second but Hatcher scored on the play. Quintana whiffed but Cooper was intentionally walked to get to the slumping Calderon. Naturally Ivan grounded into a force to end the inning but it was 4-2 Red Sox.
The ChiSox tied it instantly in the top of the fourth as Bell singled to start and Ventura crushed a 30,000,000 foot home run into the Baltic Sea to tie the game. Burks flied out to left, Pasqua flied out to center and Karkovice lined out to center to end the inning but the game was tied 4-4.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Pena lined out to center to start. Rivera walked but Fletcher lined out to left. Hatcher grounded out to third to end the inning.
Darwin came back for the top of the fifth but was instantly chased. Guillen singled and Cora doubled and that was it for Darwin. The incompetent Darwin would be eventually charged with 6 runs in 4 innings, woof!
Greg Harris was warming in the bullpen but Sox manager Butch Hobson stumbled out of the dugout and tried to take the ball from Tony Pena before being directed to the mound. Instead of bringing in Harris, for whatever reason Hobson brought in Scott Bankhead ice cold out of the bullpen. Naturally Johnson doubled home both runners to give the ChiSox the lead and Thomas doubled home Johnson for the insurance run. Bell popped up to second but Ventura was intentionally walked. Burks whiffed and Pasqua flied out to center to end the inning but Chicago was up for good 7-4.
The BoSox tried to fight back when Greenwell singled to open the bottom of the fifth but Vaughn flied out to center. Quintana walked but Cooper flied out to left. Calderon grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Bankhead returned for the top of the sixth and the ChiSox got another run. Karkovice hit a routine grounder to Cooper who picked up the ball, spiked it like a football and did a dance for an error. Bankhead tried to pick him off but ended up throwing the ball completely out of Fenway Park to advance the runner to second. Guillen dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance Karkovice to third and he scored on the Cora infield single. Johnson flied out to left and Thomas grounded out to short to end the inning but it was now 8-4 Chicago.
The BoSox threatened in the bottom of the sixth although Pena popped up to third to start. Rivera ripped a double to center and Fletcher hit a squibber to third that he beat out for a base hit. Hatcher grounded out to third and both runners advanced....but Greenwell grounded out to first to end the inning.
Hobson woke up from his nap and finally brought in Greg Harris in the top of the seventh and the first thing he did was plunk Bell. Ventura banged into a double play and Burks whiffed to end the inning. Mike Huff came in to play left in the bottom of the seventh and McDowell continued to get himself out of jams. Vaughn grounded out to third to start but Quintana singled to left. Cooper hit a routine grounder to first but Thomas threw the ball past the pitcher for an error. The BoSox failed to capitalize as the rally killer Calderon lined out to right and Pena flied out to left to end the inning.
Harris returned for the top of the eighth inning and Huff lined out to right to begin. Karkovice whiffed but Guillen singled to right. Cora whiffed to end the inning. Ernie Riles pinch hit for Rivera and Terry Leach came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Riles popped up to second, Fletcher lined out to first and Hatcher popped up to third to end the inning.
Harris got tagged one final time in the top of the ninth although Johnson flied out to left to begin. Thomas and Bell stroked back to back singles and Steve Sax pinch ran for Bell. Ventura walked to load the bases and Thomas scored on the sac fly by Burks. Huff walked and Hobson had seen enough of Harris, bring in Ken Ryan to finish off the disaster. Ryan got Karkovice to fly out to center to end the inning but the ChiSox wrapped up the scoring by leading 9-4.
Scott Radinsky finished off the BoSox in the bottom of the ninth as Greenwell grounded out to short to start. Vaughn took strike three and Quintana lined out to center to end the game. The White Sox had beaten the Red Sox 9-4.
Jackass of the Night is Danny Darwin. He was hammered for 6 runs in just 4 innings of work.
The Good:
Mike Greenwell was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Carlos Quintana was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Scott Cooper was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2 run home run.
Luis Rivera was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Ken Ryan retired the only man he faced.
The Bad:
Ivan Calderon was 0 for 4.
Tony Pena was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ernie Riles was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Scott Bankhead allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work including committing a throwing error.
The Ugly:
Scott Fletcher was just 1 for 4 with a hit by pitch.
Billy Hatcher was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 5 but drove in a run.
Greg Harris allowed a run in 2 2/3 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
That was an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. The White Sox had 14 total hits and took advantage of 2 errors by the Red Sox. Darwin once again looked lousy and if he can't get his act together, this season is going to go south in a hurry. Roger Clemens and Frank Viola can't do it by themselves and they're going to need some help. The offense stopped getting clutch hits after Chicago took the lead and it felt that if Calderon wasn't in a slump, the outcome of this game would have been different. As it was, the White Sox took the game. The BoSox look for revenge tomorrow afternoon when they send Joe Hesketh (1-0) to the mound up against Kirk McCaskill at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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