Welch cruised in the top of the first inning as Billy Hatcher popped up to second to start. Carlos Quintana grounded out to short and Mike Greenwell grounded out to first to end the inning. Rickey Henderson flied out to left to open the bottom of the first before Lance Blankenship flied out to right. Ruben Sierra drew a walk but Kevin Seitzer grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning although Andre Dawson flied out to left to start. Mo Vaughn cracked his fourth home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Bob Melvin and Scott Cooper stroked back to back singles but the struggling John Valentin banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Viola struck out Mark McGwire to open the bottom of the second before Dave Henderson whiffed. Terry Steinbach walked but Mike Bordick popped up to third to end the inning.
Luis Rivera popped up to first to begin the top of the third before Hatcher grounded out to third. Quintana flied out to center to end the inning. Eric Fox walked to begin the bottom of the third but Rickey Henderson took strike three. Blankenship was rung up for strike three and the alert Melvin gunned down Fox trying to steal to end the inning.
Welch cruised in the top of the fourth inning as Greenwell grounded out to third to start. Dawson grounded out to short and Vaughn flied out to left to end the inning. Sierra grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth before Seitzer popped up to second. McGwire popped up to second as well to end the inning.
Melvin grounded out to second to begin the top of the fifth but Cooper and Valentin stroked back to back singles. Rivera hit into a double play to end the inning. Dave Henderson flied out to right to begin the bottom of the fifth before Steinbach grounded out to third. Bordick doubled to left to break up the no-hitter but Fox lined out to left to end the inning.
The Sox threatened in the top of the sixth inning as Hatcher grounded out to second to start. Quintana and Greenwell stroked back to back base hits and Dawson was plunked to load the bases. The rally ended as Vaughn whiffed and Melvin grounded into a force to end the inning. Viola kept up the pace in the bottom of the sixth inning as Rickey Henderson flied out to left to start. Blankenship flied out to center but Sierra singled to left. Seitzer walked but McGwire lined out to third to end the inning.
Welch cruised in the top of the seventh inning as Cooper watched strike three go by to begin. Valentin grounded out to short and Rivera flied out to center to end the inning. Viola got the A's to air mail everything in the bottom of the seventh. Dave Henderson flied out to right, Steinbach flied out to center and Bordick flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox iced the game in the top of the eighth as Hatcher got a base hit to left to start. Quintana singled Hatcher to third and Bob Zupcic pinch ran for Quintana. Greenwell beat out a double play ball to score Hatcher with another run. Dawson flied out to right but Vaughn drew a walk. Melvin knocked in a big run with a base hit to left to score Greenwell. That was it for Welch as Mike Mohler came in to strike out Cooper to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
It was the A's turn to come back in the bottom of the eighth although Fox flied out to center to begin. Rickey Henderson singled to right and all of a sudden Sox manager Butch Hobson sprinted out of the dugout to take out Viola. Frank outpitched Bob Welch by going 7 1/3 innings while being charged with a run. Even though Jeff Russell was warming up, Hobson brought in Greg Harris out of nowhere to face pinch hitter Dale Sveum (for Blankenship). Naturally Sveum singled Henderson to third and Hobson tripped coming out of the dugout to finally bring in Russell. Sierra scored Henderson with a sac fly to break up the shutout but Seitzer grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
Ed Nunez came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Valentin popped up to second to start. Rivera drew a walk but was thrown out trying to steal second. Hatcher flied out to center to end the inning. Russell came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and McGwire popped up to first to start. Dave Henderon lined out to second and Steinbach whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-1.
Hero of the Night is Frank Viola. He earned his 4th win of the month by tossing 7 1/3 innings of 1 run ball. He walked 4 but allowed just three hits.
The Good:
Carlos Quintana was 2 for 4.
Mo Vaughn was 1 for 3 with a walk including a solo home run.
Bob Melvin was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Scott Cooper was 2 for 4.
Jeff Russell earned his 4th save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Greg Harris gave up a hit to the only guy he faced.
The Ugly:
Billy Hatcher was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Andre Dawson was 0 for 3 but was hit with a pitch.
John Valentin was just 1 for 4.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Bob Zupcic pinch ran for Quintana and played right the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
Big win by the Sox who historically couldn't match the A's pitching when they were at their best. Even in the last few years its been tough to beat the A's in pitchers duels but Viola stepped up big time. If Viola can keep up this pace, he could be up there with Roger Clemens in terms of wins this season. Viola didn't pitch bad last year and all the Sox need are a few bats in key spots. Valentin is going to be a stud someday, he just needs time to figure it out. The guy the Sox are missing the most is Phil Plantier, they could have kept him instead of signing Ivan Calderon or Andre Dawson. Tony Pena appears heading to the end of the line and the Sox would be wise to draft and develop a catcher. Still, this is all future stuff and for now the Sox were able to outpitch the Oakland A's. After another off day, the Sox are back in action Friday night at home against the California Angels. John Dopson (1-1) looks to recapture the magic he had on Patriots day when he takes on John Farrell at 7:40 PM at Fenway Park.
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