For eight innings it looked like the Boston Red Sox were headed for their seventh victory in nine games and a three game sweep of the Kansas City Royals. Aaron Sele had tossed a seven inning gem allowing no runs while an Andre Dawson sac fly scored Mike Greenwell. The Sox blew a chance for another run in the top of the ninth and then came the fateful bottom of the ninth. Jeff Russell (0-1, 10.80 ERA) got the first out but John Valentin threw a grounder by Dave Henderson away and Bob Hamelin hit a backbreaking two run home run to win the game. The Royals stole one 2-1 at Kauffman Stadium.
Tom Gordon got the start for Kansas City in the top of the first and Otis Nixon grounded out to short to start. Billy Hatcher grounded out to short and Mike Greenwell flied out to left to end the inning. Sele got the ball in the bottom of the first and Vince Coleman grounded out to second to start. Brian McRae grounded out to third and Wally Joyner singled to center. Dave Henderson forced Joyner at second to end the inning.
Mo Vaughn grounded out to first to start the top of the second but Andre Dawson drew a walk. Tim Naehring flied out to right but Dawson stole second. Scott Cooper took strike three to end the inning. Bob Hamelin grounded out to first to start the bottom of the second before Cooper threw a ball by Gary Gaetti away for an error. Brent Mayne grounded into a double play to end the inning.
John Valentin struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Dave Valle grounded out to third. Nixon singled to left but was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning. Jose Lind grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third before David Howard caught Vaughn asleep with a bunt single. Coleman forced Howard at second but McRae grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth as Hatcher grounded out to second to start. Greenwell doubled to center then Vaughn swung and missed for strike three....only for the ball to get away, allowing Mo to reach first. Greenwell took third on the passed ball and scored on the Dawson sac fly to put the Sox on top. Naehring flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Joyner walked to begin the bottom of the fourth before Henderson flied out to right. Joyner was thrown out trying to steal second and Hamelin grounded out to second to end the inning.
Cooper took strike three to start the top of the fifth before Valentin lined out to short. Valle grounded out to third to end the inning. Gaetti struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth but Mayne singled to left. Lind forced Mayne at second and Howard flied out to center to end the inning.
Nixon grounded back to the mound to begin the top of the sixth before Hatcher walked. Greenwell took strike three but Hatcher stole second. Vaughn struck out swinging to end the inning. Coleman grounded out to short to begin the bottom of the sixth but McRae walked. Joyner flied out to right and Henderson popped up to second to end the inning.
Dawson flied out to left to start the top of the seventh but Naehring singled to center. Naehring moved to second on a grounder to first by Cooper and Valentin grounded out to third to end the inning. Hamelin walked to start the bottom of the seventh but Gaetti grounded into a double play. Mayne struck out swinging to end the inning.
Valle walked to open the top of the eighth but Nixon struck out swinging. Hatcher forced Valle at second and that was it for Gordon. Billy Brewer came in to face Greenwell and Mike grounded out to second to end the inning. Hubie Brooks pinch hit for Lind to start the bottom of the eighth and struck out swinging to start. Mike Macfarlane pinch hit for Howard and got a base hit to left. Greg Gagne pinch ran for Macfarlane and that was it for Sele. He pitched a gem, allowing no runs in 7 1/3 innings. Greg Harris came in to pitch and Coleman popped up to second. McRae struck out swinging to end the inning.
Terry Shumpert took over at second for the top of the ninth and Vaughn walked to start. Dawson flied out to right and two straight wild pitches moved Vaughn to third. With a chance for an insurance run....Naehring lined out to short and Cooper grounded out to second to end the inning. Sox manager Butch Hobson started the bottom of the ninth with lefty Tony Fossas in to face Joyner. Wally grounded out to second and Hobson then went to the closer Jeff Russell. Henderson hit a routine grounder to Valentin....who threw the ball away for an error. Naturally Hamelin hit a home run all the way to Neptune to win the game. The Royals had walked off the Sox 2-1.
Royals win
Jackass Russell
Jackass of the Night is Jeff Russell. The error didn't help but Jeff allowed the two run home run to lose the game.
The Good:
Aaron Sele pitched great, tossing 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball allowing four hits and 3 walks while striking out three.
Greg Harris got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
Tony Fossas got the first out of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Scott Cooper was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error.
John Valentin was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error.
The Ugly:
Otis Nixon was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Billy Hatcher was 0 for 3 but walked and stole a base.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Andre Dawson was 0 for 2 but walked, stole a base and drove in a run.
Tim Naehring was just 1 for 4.
Dave Valle was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Hopefully by the end of the season this game doesn't come back to haunt the Red Sox. They have been playing well to start the season and were two outs away from a sweep of Kansas City and then this happens. Valentin's error was big but Russell can't give up a big fly in that situation. Still, the problem all game was the offense failing to score runs apart from the one they scratched out against Gordon. Cooper and Valentin had bad games but they'll bounce back another day, its a shame things ended the way they did. Hats off to Aaron Sele who pitched a gem, just deserved a win for his effort. Harris and Fossas did his job but Russell didn't. Oh well, hopefully the Sox can shake this one off and not turn it into a losing streak. After an off day, the Sox now come home to take on the Chicago White Sox with Roger Clemens looking for his first win of the season. Roger is set to take on Alex Fernandez of the White Sox on Friday night at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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