Anderson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Otis Nixon grounded out to first to start. Billy Hatcher flied out to left and Mike Greenwell also flied out to left to end the inning. Hesketh got the ball in the bottom of the first and Damion Easley struck out swinging on a high slider to start. Chad Curtis blooped a base hit to right but Tim Salmon was rung up for strike three by first base umpire Larry Young. Curtis stole second but Chili Davis struck out swinging on a nasty slider to end the inning.
Andre Dawson struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Mo Vaughn grounded a base hit up the middle. Tim Naehring got a base hit to right on a hit and run to move Vaughn to third. Scott Cooper hit a sac fly to right to score Vaughn and Dave Valle blooped a base hit just over the head over Gary DiSarcina. Scott Fletcher struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Apparently Nixon got hurt running to first in the first inning so Lee Tinsley took his place in center for the bottom of the second. Bo Jackson struck out swinging on another slider but Eduardo Perez got a seeing eye single up the middle. Chris Turner forced Perez at second but Rex Hudler also got a base hit to center. ESPN analyst Jon Miller claimed Billerica native Gary DiSarcina took the number 33 in honor of Larry Bird and he struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the third as Tinsley hit a 404 foot double off the wall in center to start. Lee took third on a passed ball and scored on the Hatcher base hit to left. Greenwell got a base hit to center and Hatcher moved to third on the Dawson fly ball to left. Vaughn was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Naehring drilled a base hit to center to score Hatcher but nobody else advanced for some reason. Cooper hit a double play ball to Perez who flipped to DiSarcina, but Gary threw the ball away for an error to score Greenwell and Vaughn. Valle walked and Fletcher dumped a base hit to left to score Cooper. That was it for Brian Anderson as Scott Lewis came in to pitch to Tinsley. Lee got a broken bat single in the hole at short to load the bases and Hatcher got a base hit to center. Valle and Fletcher scored on the hit but Greenwell grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-0.
What a massacre
Easley flied out to center to start the bottom of the third and Jon Miller started singing "Woomp, down and in! Woomp, down and in!" Tinsley made a sliding catch to rob Curtis of a hit and Salmon flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox got another one in the top of the fourth as Dawson flied out to center to start. Vaughn doubled down the left field line and Naehring drilled a double to the right field wall to score Mo. Cooper got a base hit to right but Tim stopped at third. Valle grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-0.
Davis got a broken bat base hit to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Tinsley made another sliding catch to rob Jackson of a base hit. Perez grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Fletcher grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth before Tinsley flied out to left. Hatcher flied out to center to end the inning. Turner hit a routine grounder to Hesketh to start the bottom of the fifth and not only did Joe boot it, he threw it wide for an error. Hudler grounded into a double play and DiSarcina grounded out to third to end the inning.
Old friends Spike Owen came in for Easley and John Dopson came in to pitch the top of the sixth. Greenwell grounded out to first to start before Dawson struck out swinging. Vaughn also went down hacking to end the inning. Bob Zupcic took over for Greenwell for the bottom of the sixth and Owen flied out to center to start. ESPN showed a hilarious interview with Eduardo Perez (Tony's son) saying Joe Morgan's glove was too small for even him when he was six years old. Curtis grounded out to short and Salmon struck out swinging on an 86 mph fastball to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh as Naehring flied out to center to start. Cooper drilled a base hit to center and Valle walked before Fletcher beat out a double play ball. Tinsley got a base hit up the middle to score Cooper then took second on the throw home. Hatcher grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 10-0.
Hesketh returned for the bottom of the seventh as Davis doubled over the head of Zupcic to start. Jackson grounded out to third and Jon Miller told a hilarious story of Hesketh getting called for a balk in his ML debut in 1984 before even throwing a pitch. Then in 1985, Hesketh, with the Expos at the time, pitched a complete game shutout against Nolan Ryan and the Houston Astros while the newspaper headline read "Expos Win, Ryan Strikes out 15". Perez walked, Turner popped up to third and Hudler grounded out to third to end the inning. That was it for Hesketh who tossed 7 innings of shutout ball allowing just 5 hits and a walk.
Good work by Hesketh
Joe Grahe took over on the mound in the top of the eighth and Zupcic lined out to first. Rich Rowland pinch hit for Dawson and took strike three before Vaughn hit a ground rule double down the right field line. Naehring grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Angels got on the board in the bottom of the eighth against Paul Quantrill as DiSarcina grounded out to short to begin. Owen got a base hit to left then moved to second on a grounder to second by Curtis. Salmon ripped a base hit to left to score Owen. Davis grounded out to second to end the inning with the Angels down 10-1.
Cooper grounded out to second to start the top of the ninth before Valle took strike three. Fletcher grounded out to third to end the inning. Quantrill came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Jackson grounded out to short to start. Perez grounded out to third and Turner flied out to left to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-1.
Sox win
Hero Hesketh
Dave Valle was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Hero of The Night is Joe Hesketh. He threw 7 shutout innings allowing 5 hits and a walk while striking out six
The Good:
Mo Vaughn was 3 for 4 with a hit by pitch and 3 runs scored.
Lee Tinsley was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Billy Hatcher was 2 for 5 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
Tim Naehring was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Scott Cooper was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Dave Valle was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
The Bad:
Otis Nixon was 0 for 1 before leaving the game.
Bob Zupcic was 0 for 1.
Andre Dawson was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rich Rowland struck out in his only at-bat.
The Ugly:
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Scott Fletcher was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Paul Quantrill allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
It doesn't get much better if you're a Red Sox fan. The Sox have been red hot on both sides of the ball, mainly the pitching. The last five games Aaron Sele, Roger Clemens, Frank Viola. Joe Hesketh and Danny Darwin all held their opponents to just 1 run. Obviously that hot streak isn't going to last but its the main reason the Sox are in first place right now. Its too bad Otis Nixon had to leave the game but Lee Tinsley filled in admirably. The Sox put this one away early and cruised the rest of the way. What more can be said about the offense other than hope it lasts. Vaughn, Naehring, Greenwell, etc are red hot and could be a contender if this keeps up. The only low point was Bob Zupcic being put in for defense and couldn't make two plays, he might be gone pretty soon if Sox brass want to give Greg Blosser another chance. All in all it was a good win and the Sox are rolling. After an off-day tomorrow, the Sox look now travel to Seattle for a two game set with the Mariners, gunning for their sixth straight win. Frank Viola goes for the Sox up against Dave Fleming of the Mariners. The game begins Tuesday night at 10:05 PM Eastern time at the Kingdome.
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