Andre Dawson grounded out to second to start the top of the second before Mo Vaughn struck out swinging. John Valentin hit a triple to center and Dave Valle drew a walk.....but Bob Zupcic struck out swinging to end the inning. Eric Anthony singled in the hole at short to begin the bottom of the second but got picked off. Tino Martinez walked and Torey Lovullo doubled to right before Mike Blowers walked to load the bases. Dan Wilson grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Lee Tinsley struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Fletcher lined out back to Johnson. Hatcher grounded out to second to end the inning. Things fell apart in the bottom of the third as Amaral singled to right and promptly stole second. Jefferson walked and Griffey beat out a roller to third to load the bases. Buhner popped up to second and Anthony hit a roller to Clemens who....spiked the ball like a football and did the funky chicken for an error to score Amaral. Martinez hit a squibber in front of the plate fielded by Valle who....also spiked it like a football and did a boogie woogie for an error to score Jefferson. Lovullo grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox down 2-0.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fourth as Naehring struck out swinging to start. Dawson clobbered his fourth home run of the season to cut the lead but Vaughn grounded back to the mound. Valentin lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Blowers hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the fourth before Wilson took strike three. Amaral grounded out to first to end the inning.
Valle flied out to center to start the top of the fifth and Zupcic lined out to center. Tinsley took strike three to end the inning. The Mariners struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Jefferson flied out to left. Griffey Jr then hit a home run through the roof of the Kingdome to ice the game. Buhner and Anthony both struck out swinging to end the inning with the Mariners up 3-1.
Somehow Fletcher of all people hit his first home run of the season off Johnson to cut the lead to begin the top of the sixth. Hatcher popped up to second but Amaral threw a grounder by Naehring away for an error. Dawson grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
Martinez flied out to center to start the bottom of the sixth and Lovullo struck out swinging. Blowers took strike three to end the inning.
Vaughn grounded out to first to start the top of the seventh before Valentin was retired on a squibber in front of the plate. Valle flied out to right to end the inning. Clemens returned for one final inning in the bottom of the seventh as Wilson popped up to first to start. Amaral grounded out to short and Jefferson took strike three to end the inning. Clemens pitched 7 innings but allowed 3 runs, one of them due to an error on himself.
Zupcic grounded out to second to start the top of the eighth and Rich Rowland pinch hit for Tinsley. Rowland struck out swinging and Fletcher singled to right. Hatcher grounded out to short to end the inning. Tony Fossas came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Griffey Jr struck out swinging to begin. Buhner doubled to center but Anthony struck out swinging. Martinez ripped a double to left to score Buhner and Lovullo was intentionally walked. Sox manager Butch Hobson ran out of the dugout screaming and chased Fossas into the bullpen while Scot Bankhead took his place on the mound. Darren Bragg pinch hit for Blowers but a wild pitch moved the runners over. Bragg was also intentionally walked and Wilson forced him at second to end the inning with the Mariners up 4-2.
Johnson came back to complete the game in the top of the ninth with Felix Fermin now at short. Naehring earned the hat trick by striking out swinging before Dawson flied out to left. Vaughn grounded out to second to end the game. The Mariners had won it 4-2.
Jackass Fossas
Jackass of The Night is Tony Fossas. He turned a one run game into a two run game by allowing a run in the eighth inning.
The Good:
Scott Fletcher was 2 for 4 with a home run.
John Valentin was 1 for 3.
Scott Bankhead got the final out of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Tim Naehring was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Bob Zupcic was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Lee Tinsley was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Rich Rowland struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Billy Hatcher was just 1 for 4.
Andre Dawson was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
Dave Valle was 0 for 2 with an error but walked.
Roger Clemens took the loss but went 7 strong innings allowing 3 runs off 6 hits and 3 walks. His error led to two runs scoring but struck out six.
Honorable Mention:
Otis Nixon played center in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
I know the conventional thinking is to put as many right handed hitters you can against a lefty but this was ridiculous. The lineup Butch Hobson had for the past few weeks had been tearing the cover off the ball and tonight he benches Mike Greenwell, Scott Cooper and Otis Nixon. If it wasn't for the heroics of Scott Fletcher, this game might have gotten even worse. Clemens got beat by Johnson and that's a bad sign of things to come. Its been a bad sign his whole career of never being able to outpitch great pitchers, especially in October. Tony Fossas didn't get the job done although they had all sorts of lefties coming up. Still, the Sox have had an incredible month so far so hopefully this was just a minor hiccup. Hopefully Hobson learns from this and just goes with his normal guns the next time he has to face Johnson or another lefty ace. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Joe Hesketh of the Sox takes on Chris Bosio of the Mariners. The Sox are looking to avenge last year's no-hitter at 10:00 PM Eastern time at the Kingdome.
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