Yankees Turn Tables on Sox (6/20/70)

After the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees yesterday, today it was the Yankees turn to stick it to the Sox. The Yankees bats pounded out 15 hits and 8 runs, knocking out Sox starter Mike Nagy (1-1, 4.67 ERA) in 4 innings. The Sox bullpen didn't do Nagy any favors by allowing 4 runs of their own. Mel Stottlemyre went the distance for the Yankees as the Bombers knocked out the Sox 8-3 at Fenway Park.

                                               Joel doesn't like bad pitching

The Yankees wasted no time getting to Nagy in the top of the first inning. Horace Clarke struck out to begin the game but Jerry Kenney singled to center. Kenney swiped second and Bobby Murcer singled to right. Tony Conigilaro booted the ball in right which allowed Kenney to score and advance Murcer to third. A wild pitch by Nagy allowed Murcer to score another run. Roy White popped up to third but Danny Cater and Curt Blefary stroked back to back singles. Rob Hansen popped up to first to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 2-0.

                                                          Dammit Tony

The Sox answered in the bottom of the first against Stottlemyre as Mike Andrews led off by dumping a base hit to left. Reggie Smith flied out to center but Carl Yastrzemski walked. Tony C struck out but Rico Petrocelli singled home Andrews to cut the lead. George Scott struck out to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.

                                                            Petrocelli drives in a run

The Yankees countered in the top of the second as Jake Gibbs flied out to center to begin. Stottlemyre walked and Clarke flied out to left. Kenney doubled home Stottlemyre to increase the lead. Murcer walked but White flied out to left to end the inning with the Yankees up 3-1.

Billy Conigliaro grounded out to second to open the bottom of the second before Jerry Moses grounded out to short. Nagy struck out to end the inning.

The Yankees kept up the attack in the top of the third inning as Cater popped up to second to begin. Blefary grounded back to the mound but Hansen singled to right. Gibbs doubled home Hansen to push the Sox down further. Stottlemyre popped up to second but it was now 4-1 Yankees.

Andrews walked to begin the bottom of the third but Smith grounded out to second. Andrews moved to second on the out then to third on the grounder by Yaz. Tony C flied out to center to end the inning.

Nagy finally kept the Yankees off the board in the top of the fourth as Clarke popped up to second to begin. Kenney took strike three but Murcer doubled to left. White grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox had a chance to come back in the bottom of the fourth although Petrocelli flied out to center to start. Scott flied out to right but Billy C walked and Moses singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Sox manager Eddie Kasko had rookie Mike Derrick pinch hit for Nagy... only to strike out to end the inning.

                                                That's not how you pinch hit, Derrick

Lee Strange came in for the top of the fifth inning and got hammered as well. Cater singled and Blefary was hit with a pitch to start the inning. Hansen singled home Cater and moved Blefary to third, Blefary scoring on the sac fly by Gibbs. Stottlemyre popped up to short but Clarke singled Hansen to third. Kenney flied out to center to end the inning but the game was in hand for the Yankees 6-1.

                                                        Nice relief Lee

The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the fifth as Andrews grounded out to third to start. Smith grounded out to first and Yaz popped up to short to end the inning.

Strange cruised in the top of the sixth as Murcer popped up to third to start. White flied out to left and Cater grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox got a run back in the bottom of the sixth although Tony C lined out to left to start. Petrocelli smashed his 12th home run of the season to cut the deficit. Scott singled but Billy C forced him at second and Moses lined out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 6-2.

                                                        Home run Rico

Strange came back for the top of the seventh and Blefary popped up to third to start. Hansen lined out to center but Gibbs singled to left. Stottlemyre took strike three to end the inning. Jim Lyttle took over for Blefary with Dick Schofield pinch hitting for Strange to begin the bottom of the seventh. Dick grounded out to first before Andrews flied out to right. Smith doubled to left but Yaz grounded out to second to end the inning.

                                              Not the best pinch hitting by Schofield

Jose Santiago took over for the top of the eighth and the Yankees got to him too. Clarke flied out to left but Kenney walked. Murcer popped up to third but White doubled home Kenney. Cater singled home White to increase the lead. Lyttle took strike three to end the inning with the Yankees up 8-2.

                                                             Bad relief Jose

The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Tony C flied out to right to start. Petrocelli lined out to center and Scott struck out to end the inning.

Santiago came back for the top of the ninth and Hansen flied out to center to begin. Gibbs popped up to short but Stottlemyre singled to center. Clarke grounded out to first to end the inning. Stottlemyre came back to complete the game but the Sox had one last raspberry to blow in the bottom of the ninth. Billy C of all people smashed his 5th home run of the year just to stick it to the Yankees. Moses grounded out and Tom Satriano pinch hit for Santiago, only to fly out to left. Andrews popped up to short to end the game. The Yankees had won it 8-3.

Jackass of the Night is Mike Nagy. He got lit up for 4 runs in just 4 innings in a clear sophomore slump to take the loss.

                                                           Jackass Nagy


The Good:

Rico Petrocelli was 2 for 4 with 2 total rbis and a home run.

Billy Conigliaro was 1 for 3 with a walk and a solo home run.



The Bad:

Tony Conigliaro was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Mike Derrick struck out as a pinch hitter.

Dick Schofield grounded out as a pinch hitter.

Tom Satriano was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter

Lee Strange allowed 2 runs in 3 innings of work.

Jose Santiago allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.



The Ugly:

Mike Andrews was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.

Reggie Smith was just 1 for 4.

Carl Yastrzemski was 0 for 3 but walked.

George Scott was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jerry Moses was just 1 for 4.




Final Thoughts:

If you wonder why the Sox are a game under .500, the regression of Nagy has to be one of the main reasons. Lots of fans thought he was going to be the second coming of Jim Lonborg but it hasn't worked out this season. The offense has been fine for the most part but the Sox simply dont have the pitching to match some of the great teams in baseball. Maybe they can make a trade but as of right now it doesnt look good moving forward this season. The loss dropped the Sox to 30-31, 10 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for 1st place in the American League East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox are back in action against the Yankees with Gary Peters going for the Sox up against Fritz Peterson at 2:05 PM at Fenway Park.

Red Sox Walkoff White Sox (5/29/70)

What a comeback win for the Boston Red Sox. In danger of losing their fourth straight game, they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox took a 3-0 over Sonny Siebert and the Red Sox due to the brilliant pitcher of Tommy John. Then a sac fly by Rico Petrocelli made the score 3-1 and Jim Lonborg (4-1, 3.09 ERA) held the fort in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, old friend Wilbur Wood gave up a two run single to Billy Conigliaro to tie the game. Danny Murphy then allowed an rbi single by Jerry Moses to give the game to the Red Sox. Boston had won it 4-3 at Fenway Park.

                                                        Leslie Caron approves of the win

Siebert got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy McCraw flied out to left to start. Luis Aparicio grounded out to third but Gail Hopkins singled in the hole at short. Carlos May grounded out to second to end the inning. John got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mike Andrews grounded out to short to start. Reggie Smith grounded out to second but Carl Yastrzemski singled to center. Tony Conigliaro grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

The White Sox struck first in the top of the second as Duane Josephson flied out to right to start. Bill Melton doubled to center but Sid O'Brien grounded out to third. Buddy Bradford got a base hit to center to score Melton and John flied out to right to end the inning with Chicago up 1-0.

                                                                    Chicago strikes first

Rico Petrocelli flied out to right to start the bottom of the second and George Scott took strike three. Luis Alvarado grounded out to third to end the inning. 

McCraw flied out to left to start the top of the third and Aparicio did the same. Hopkins popped up to third to end the inning. Tom Satriano singled to right to start the bottom of the third and Siebert's bunt failed as Tom was out at second. Andrews forced Siebert at second but Smith walked. Yaz flied out to center to end the inning.

All of a sudden Smith was rushed to the local ICU for no reason and Billy Conigiliaro took over for him to start the top of the fourth. May got a base hit to right but Josephson grounded into a double play. Melton then bashed a home run all the way into the Charles River to increase the lead. O'Brien singled in the hole at short and Bradford took strike three to end the inning with the White Sox up 2-0.

                                                               Home run Melton

Tony C reached on an error by John to start the bottom of the fourth and pulled up lame, leaving the game as well, Jerry Moses ran for Tony and Petrocelli flied out to center. Scott walked but Alvarado flied out to center and Satriano grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

John walked to start the top of the fifth but McCraw hit one up the elevator shaft. Aparicio forced John at second but promptly stole second. Hopkins walked but May took strike three to end the inning. Siebert grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth and Andrews struck out swinging. O'Brien dropped a pop up by Billy C but Yaz grounded out to short to end the inning.

Josephson got a base hit to left to start the top of the sixth but Melton popped up to first in foul territory. O'Brien grounded into a double play to end the inning. O'Brien booted a grounder by Moses to start the bottom of the sixth but Petrocelli forced Jerry at second. Scott walked but Alvarado beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Don Pavletich pinch hit for Satriano and forced Alvarado at second to end the inning.

Bradford popped up to first to start the top of the seventh and John grounded out to first. McCraw got a base hit to left and Aparicio doubled to left as well. Hopkins grounded out to short to end the inning. Ken Berry came in for Hopkins to start the bottom of the seventh and Dick Schofield pinch hit for Siebert. Dick grounded out to short, Andrews grounded out to third and Smith lined out to short to end the inning.

Jim Lonborg came in to pitch the top of the eighth and May doubled to center to start. A wild pitch moved May to third and Carlos scored on the Josephson sac fly to center. Melton popped up to first but O'Brien got a base hit to right. O'Brien got picked off to end the inning with Chicago up 3-0.

                                                              Another run for Chicago

The Red Sox struck back in the bottom of the eighth with Bobby Knoop in for O'Brien. Yaz got a base hit to center and took second on a wild pitch. Moses flied out to center to move Carl to third and Petrocelli hit a sac fly to center to score Yaz. Scott grounded out to first to end the inning with the Red Sox down 3-1.

                                                              Petrocelli drives in a run

Bradford struck out swinging to start the top of the ninth and John flied out to center. McCraw got a base hit to right but Aparicio grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the ninth as Alvarado walked to start. Wilbur Wood came in to pitch with Ed Herrmann in to catch. Pavletich flied out to center but Jose Santiago pinch hit for Lonborg. Santiago got a base hit to left and Andrews walked to load the bases. Billy C got a base hit to left to score both Alvarado and Santiago to tie the game. Yaz walked to re-load the bases and Danny Murphy came in to face Moses. Jerry got a base hit to left to score Andrews to win the game. The Sox had won it 4-3.

Hero of The Night is Jerry Moses. He came off the bench to deliver the game ending blow.

                                                              Hero Moses

The Good:

Reggie Smith walked in two plate appearances.

Billy Conigliaro was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.

Carl Yastrzemski was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

George Scott walked twice in four plate appearances.

Tom Satriano was 1 for 2.

Jose Santiago singled and scored as a pinch hitter.

Sonny Siebert allowed just 2 runs in 7 innings off 9 hits and 2 walks.

The Bad:

Tony Conigliaro was 0 for 2.

Don Pavletich was 0 for 2.

Dick Schofield was 0 for 1.

The Ugly:

Mike Andrews was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.

Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 3 with an rbi.

Luis Alvarado was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.

Jim Lonborg got the win by allowing a run in 2 innings.

Final Thoughts:

The bad news was both Reggie Smith and Tony Conigliaro left the game but the good news was their replacements both helped win the game. Billy Conigliaro got the game tying hit and Moses got the winning hit. That was a hell of a rally in the ninth because the Sox had accomplished almost nothing the entire game. Siebert deserved the win but Lonborg got it instead. You're going to need your role players to step up eventually and today they did. Kudos to Eddie Kasko for making the balsy decision to have Santiago pinch hit for Lonborg. Santiago's single was integral to the game winning hit and every run counted. The Sox may be under .500 but you can't stay that game wasn't exciting. The win improved the Sox to 19-24, 12.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the White Sox tomorrow afternoon when Mike Nagy goes for the Sox against Bart Johnson of Chicago. The game begins at 2:05 PM at Fenway Park.

Sox Beat Twins, Winner Take All Tomorrow (9/30/67)

The Impossible Dream season of the Boston Red Sox are now one win away from winning the American League pennant. Needing two wins in two games to lock it up, the Sox got one of them today against the Minnesota Twins. Jose Santiago (12-4, 3.59 ERA) tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball to put the Sox in the driver seat. Carl Yastrzemski continued his march toward the Triple Crown with his 44th home run of the season and 119th rbis to pace the offense. Twins ace Jim Kaat left the game in the third inning with an elbow injury and the Sox pounced on the Twins bullpen for six runs. When it was all said and done, the Sox need just one more win to take home the American League pennant with their 6-4 win at Fenway Park.

                                                      33,000 fans go wild

The Twins struck first in the top of the first as Zoilo Versalles dumped a base hit to left to start. Cesar Tovar flied out to center but Harmon Killebrew walked. Tony Oliva singled home Versalles to give the Twins the lead. Bob Allison lashed a base hit to left to load the bases and Sox manager Dick Williams came out to tell Santiago to pick up the pace or he was bringing in Gary Bell. Santiago responded by getting the biggest out of the game when he got Rod Carew to hit a line drive right to Jerry Adair. Ted Uhlaender grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were lucky to only be down 1-0.

                                                    Twins take the lead

Kaat got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mike Andrews led off with a base hit to left. Jerry Adair banged into a double play but Carl Yastrzemski lined a base hit into the right field corner. Ken "Hawk" Harrelson took a nasty curve for a strike three to end the inning.

Santiago cruised in the top of the second as Jerry Zimmermann popped up to first to start. Kaat grounded out to second and Versalles grounded out to short to end the inning. George Scott led off the bottom of the second by lining a base hit up the middle but Rico Petrocelli popped up to right. Reggie Smith struck out swinging on a foul tip into the mitt before Russ Gibson took strike three on the outside corner to end the inning.

Tovar led off the top of the third by popping up to Scott to start. Killebrew doubled off the Monster but Santiago struck out Oliva. Allison whiffed on a curveball to end the inning. The Sox caught a break in the bottom of the third although Santiago struck out to start. All of a sudden during the at-bat against Mike Andrews, Kaat started shaking his arm and motioned toward the dugout. Kaat shockingly left the game and later told reporters he felt something "pop" in his elbow. Jim Perry came in and Andrews walked before moving to second on the Adair grounder. Yaz whiffed to end the inning but Kaat was gone.

                                                     Bye bye Kaat

Carew damn near beat out a grounder to Scott to begin the top of the fourth but Uhlaender took advantage of Harrelson and Smith nearly colliding to reach third on a triple. Santiago stepped up to strike out Zimmerman and get Perry to fly out to center to end the inning. Harrelson whiffed to start the bottom of the fourth then Scott grounded out to second. Petrocelli popped up to Killebrew in foul territory to end the inning.

Santiago cruised in the top of the fifth inning as Versalles struck out swinging to start. Tovar grounded out to third and Killebrew struck out to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Smith doubled off the Monster to start and Dalton Jones pinch hit for Gibson. Jones hit a routine grounder to Carew but it took a bad hop that ate up Rod, allowing Jones to reach first and Smith third. Santiago watched strike three go by before Andrews took strike three as well. Adair tied the game with a bloop singled to score Smith and advance Jones to third. Who else but Yaz hit a liner that Killebrew dove and missed that Carew corralled. Killebrew didn't get to first in time and Yaz was credited with an rbi single, Dalton scoring the go-ahead run. Harrelson popped up to third in foul territory to end the inning but Boston surged ahead 2-1.

                                                   Jones scores the go-ahead run

Elston Howard took over behind the plate with Jose Tartabull in right to start the top of the sixth inning. Oliva popped up to third in foul territory but Allison drew a walk. Carew struck out but Uhlaender singled to left. Rich Reese pinch hit for Zimmerman and hit a roller into left to score Allison with the tying run. Frank Kostro pinch hit for Perry and walked to load the bases. Versalles popped up to third to end the inning with the game tied 2-2/

                                                     Reese ties the game

Old friend Russ Nixon took over behind the plate with Ron Kline now on the mound for the bottom of the sixth. Scott then blasted his 19th home run of the season to dead center to put the Sox back in front. Petrocelli popped up to Tovar, Smith flied out to deep to center and Tartabull struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.

                                                   Scott gives the Sox the lead.

Santiago returned for the top of the seventh and Smith made a running grab on a Tover liner to start. Killebrew swung at air and Oliva grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the seventh although Santiago grounded out to short to start. Andrews check swing singled and Adair hit a picture perfect double play ball to Kline. Kline threw to Versalles who dropped the ball for this 30th error of the season. Jim Merritt came in to face Yaz and Carl responded by clobbering his 44th home run of the season to ice the game. Howard flied out to the left field warning track and Scott grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.

                                                      Yaz hits the kill shot

Santiago returned briefly for the top of the eighth only to walk Allison. Sox manager Dick Williams took no chances and told Jose to hit the showers. He held the 1965 AL champs to 2 runs in 7 innings. Gary Bell came in and Carew flied out to right before Uhlaender forced Allison at second. Nixon lined out to a running Yaz to end the inning.

                                                   Santiago stands tall

Petrocelli walked to open the bottom of the eighth but Smith beat out a double play ball. Tartabull flied out to deep right and Smith tagged up, advancing to second. Bell grounded out to second to end the inning.

Bell came back to finish the job in the top of the ninth and Rich Rollins pinch hit for Merritt to start. Rollins grounded out to third and Versalles popped up to right to put the Sox one out away from victory. Things got hairy when Tovar doubled down the left field line and Killebrew crushed his 44th home run of the season into the screen. Oliva then hit a bullet....right to Adair for the final out! The Sox had won it 6-2 to set up tomorrow's showdown.

                                                               Sox win

Hero of the Night is Carl Yastrzemski. He hit the backbreaking 3 run bomb and drove in 4 total runs to guide the Sox to victory.

                                                     Yaz the Hero

The Good:

Mike Andrews was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

George Scott was 2 for 4 with a solo home run.

Dalton Jones singled and scored as a pinch hitter.

Jose Santiago got the win by tossing 7 innings of one run ball.

The Bad:

Ken Harrelson was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Elston Howard was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Russ Gibson was 0 for 1.

Jose Tartabull was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.

Gary Bell allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.

The Ugly:

Jerry Adair was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.

Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 3 but walked.

Reggie Smith was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Final Thoughts:

What an unbelievable season this has been. From Dick Williams saying they'll win more than they lose in Spring Training to Billy Rohr's 1 hitter to Tony Conigliaro getting hurt to the 10 game win streak, this has been a roller coaster of a season. Just the fact the Sox are one win away from being American League Champions means win or lose, its been a hell of a year. Who would have thought that last year's champs, the Orioles, would fall off a cliff? Who would have thought Eddie Stanky's White Sox would fade in September? Who would have thought Jim Kaat would hurt his elbow and leave today's game? All that remains between the Sox and the World Series is a win tomorrow. Carl Yastrzemski has a legit shot at the triple crown, Jim Lonborg has a legit shot at the Cy Young award and the Sox are win away from the pennant. The win improved the Sox to 91-70, tied with the Twins for first place in the American League. Tomorrow its winner take all as Jim Lonborg (21-9) takes on Twins ace Dean Chance for the American League pennant.