Mark Gubicza got the start for Kansas City and the Sox immediately pulverized him. Scott Fletcher walked and Carlos Quintana singled. Mike Greenwell doubled home both runners to put the Sox on top. Andre Dawson grounded out to third and Mo Vaughn grounded out to short, but Bob Zupcic singled home Greenwell to increase the lead. Zupcic swiped second and scored on the Scott Cooper single. Bob Melvin singled but Luis Rivera flied out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Joe Hesketh got the start for the Sox and had an easier bottom of the first inning. Brian McRae grounded out to first, Greg Gagne lined out to right and George Brett grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox poured it on in the top of the second inning. Fletcher singled but both Quintana and Greenwell grounded out. Dawson and Vaughn stroked back to back singles to score Fletcher and chase Gubicza from the game. Hipolito Pichardo came on in relief and Zupcic doubled home Dawson, advancing Vaughn to third. Cooper singled both runners home but Melvin struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-0.
Unfortunately Hesketh got rocked and rolled in the bottom of the second. Felix Jose struck out but Wally Joyner doubled. Harold McReynolds walked and Hesketh balked them both into scoring position. Mike MacFarlane walked to load the bases and Paul Hiatt singled two runs in. Lind doubled in MacFarlane and Sox manager Butch Hobson had seen enough. Hesketh was pulled after 1 1/3 ineffective innings.
Scott Bankhead replaced Hesketh and got McRae to ground out, but Hiatt scored. Gagne grounded out as well but it was now 8-4.
Pichardo shut the door in the top of the third inning as Rivera flied to center to begin. Fletcher grounded to short but Quintana singled. Greenwell grounded out to second to end the inning. Bankhead returned for the bottom of the third inning and got Brett to fly out to center to start. Jose and Joyner both struck out to end the inning.
The Sox got to Pichardo in the top of the fourth inning. Dawson grounded out to second and Vaughn grounded out to first, but Zupcic singled and scored on the double by Cooper. Melvin grounded out to end the inning but it was now 9-4 Red Sox.
Bankhead cruised in the bottom of the fourth inning as McReynolds flied out to center to start. Brett grounded to third and Hiatt popped up to short to end the inning.
Frank Dipino came in to pitch the top of the fifth inning and Rivera greeted him with a walk. Fletcher lined to center and Quintana banged into a double play to end the inning. Bankhead returned for one final inning in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lind grounded out to second and McRae struck out. Gagne grounded to short to end the inning. Good job by Bankhead to slam the door after Hesketh faltered.
Dipino returned for the top of the sixth inning and Greenwell grounded out to third to start. Dawson grounded out to short but Vaughn singled. Zupcic grounded out to end the inning. Tony Fossas got the ball in the bottom of the sixth inning and Brett flied out to left. Jose struck out and Joyner flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the seventh as Cooper flied out to left to begin. Melvin walked but Rivera flied out to left. Fletcher grounded out to second to end the inning. Paul Quantrill was summoned to pitch the bottom of the seventh and McReynolds flied out to right to start. MacFarlane singled but Hiatt grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Billy Brewer came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and Quintana greeted him with a single. Greenwell lined to right and Dawson popped up to short. Ivan Calderon pinch hit for Vaughn.....and popped up to end the inning. Quantrill returned for the bottom of the eighth as Lind grounded out to second to start. McRae flied to center and Gagne grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jeff Montgomery pitched the top of the ninth as Zupcic popped up to third to begin. Cooper hit a comebacker to Montgomery and Melvin whiffed to end the inning. Ken Ryan made his season debut by pitching the bottom of the ninth. Brett grounded out to short and Jose grounded out to second in short order. Joyner and McReynolds drew back to back walks but MacFarlane grounded out to end the game. The Red Sox had swept the Royals with a 9-4 victory.
Hero of The Night is Bob Zupcic. He was 3 for 5 with 2 rbi's and 3 runs scored.
The Good:
Carlos Quinana was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Mo Vaughn was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Scott Cooper was 3 for 5 with 4 rbi's.
Scott Bankhead earned the win with 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
Tony Fossas pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Paul Quantrill pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Ken Ryan pitched a scoreless 9th.
The Bad:
Joe Hesketh got knocked out in the second inning after already allowing 4 runs.
Ivan Calderon was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Scott Fletcher was just 1 for 4, but walked and scored 2 runs.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Andre Dawson was 1 for 5 with a run scored.
Bob Melvin was 1 for 4 with a walk.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Billy Hatcher played right field in the final 2 innings.
Final Thoughts:
3 straight wins to start the year is pretty damn good. I don't know what Hesketh's problem was but good for Bankhead, Fossas, Quantrill and Ryan to slam the door without any further damage. Its nice to see the offense put the game away early rather than it come down to the wire like the previous two games. Still, hopefully it was just first game jitters for Hesketh because they need him to match his 1991 performance because you can't trust Danny Darwin to stay healthy anymore and John Dopson isn't exactly Curt Schilling. If the season comes down to Clemens, Viola and pray for rain...its going to get ugly real quick. Speaking of Dopson, he has the unenviable task to match the ageless Nolan Ryan tomorrow night as the Sox start a series with the Texas Rangers at Arlington Park. The game will be at 7:30 PM.
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