Andujar, A's Defeat Sox (7/22/86)

The road trip from hell keeps going for the Boston Red Sox. Their slide continued as they were beaten once again by the Oakland A's. This time it was Joaquin Andujar that shut down the Boston attack. Playing without some of their regulars, the undermanned Sox were held to just two runs in 7 1/3 innings on a Rich Gedman home run. Tom Seaver (4-8, 4.10 ERA) was tagged for 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings and the Sox failed to get to the A's bullpen. Steve Ontiveros slammed the door and the A's beat the Sox 4-2 at Oakland Coliseum.

                                                        "Damn A's"

Andujar got the ball in the top of the first inning and Marty Barrett led off with a grounder to first. Wade Boggs grounded back to the mound but Bill Buckner doubled to center. Don Baylor grounded out to short to end the inning. Seaver got blasted in the bottom of the first as Tony Phillips grounded out to second to start. Dwayne Murphy walked but Jose Canseco popped up to short. Bruce Bochte singled to left and both runners moved over on a wild pitch. Dave Kingman drilled a base hit to center to score both runners and took off for second. Sox catcher Rich Gedman threw to the wrong base and Kingman made it to third on the error. Carney Lansford doubled to left to score Kingman with another run but Mike Davis grounded out to second to end the inning with the A's up 3-0.

                                                         Lansford drives in a run

The Sox failed to respond in the top of the second as Dwight Evans grounded out to short to start. Rich Gedman lined out to center and Mike Stenhouse flied out to left to end the inning. Jerry Willard walked to start the bottom of the second before Alfredo Griffin dropped down a bunt to move Willard to second. Phillips lined out to a running Evans and Murphy flied out to right to end the inning.

Rey Quinones grounded out to second to start the top of the third before LaSchelle Tarver grounded out to first. Barrett dumped a base hit to left and Boggs grounded out to second to end the inning. Canseco's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Seaver to start the bottom of the third before Bochte grounded out to first. Kingman grounded out to third to end the inning.

The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth as Buckner flied out to center to start. Baylor cracked a single to right and moved to second when the Andujar pickoff throw went wide. Evans grounded out to short but Gedman crushed his 6th home run of the season to cut the lead. Stenhouse flied out to the right field wall to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.

                                                         Sox are back in it

Seaver settled down in the bottom of the fourth as Lansford grounded out to third to start. Davis grounded out to first and Willard grounded out to second to end the inning.

Quinones led off the top of the fifth with a ground out to second before Tarver struck out swinging. Barrett flied out to right to end the inning. Griffin flied out to left to start the bottom of the fifth before Phillips grounded out to second. Murphy struck out swinging to end the inning.

Boggs grounded back to the mound to start the top of the sixth before Buckner flied out to left. Baylor popped up to short to end the inning. Canseco flied out to right to start the bottom of the sixth but Bochte doubled to right. Kingman and Lansford both grounded out to short to end the inning. 

Evans got a base hit off the glove of Griffin to start the top of the seventh but Gedman grounded into a double play. Stenhouse walked but Quinones struck out swinging to end the inning. The ChiSox chased Seaver in the bottom of the seventh as Davis singled in the hole at short to start. Willard singled to center to move Davis to third and Mike scored on the Alfredo sac fly to left. Phillips took strike three but Murphy walked to chase Seaver. He didn't have his best stuff, allowing 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings off 6 hits and 3 walks. Bob Stanley punched out Canseco swinging with the A's leading 4-2.

                                       "Yeah you're out, Tom. Now beat it!" - McNamara

The Sox blew a rally in the top of the eighth as Tarver got a base hit to center to begin. A wild pitch moved Tarver to second but Barrett flied out to center. Boggs walked to chase Andujar and Dave Von Ohlen came in to pitch to Buckner. Bill flied out to center and Steve Ontiveros came in to pitch to Baylor. Baylor struck out swinging to end the inning. Bochte popped up to second to start the bottom of the eighth before Kingman grounded out to third. Lansford flied out to right to end the inning.

Ontiveros returned to close out the top of the ninth and Evans flied out to right to start. Gedman grounded out to short and Stenhouse grounded out to third to end the game. The A's had won it 4-2.

                                                          A's win

Jackass of the Night is Tom Seaver. He put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of, allowing 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings.

                                                               Jackass Seaver

The Good:

LaSchelle Tarver was 1 for 3.

Bob Stanley tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

The Bad:

Rey Quinones was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Marty Barrett was just 1 for 4.

Wade Boggs was 0 for 3 but walked.

Bill Buckner was just 1 for 4.

Don Baylor was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.

Dwight Evans was just 1 for 4.

Rich Gedman was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 2 run home run.

Mike Stenhouse was 0 for 3 but walked.

Final Thoughts:

Going back to just before the All-Star break the Sox have now lost 6 of their last 7, 7 out of 9 and 3 in a row. Losing 3 out of 4 to Seattle was embarrassing but now dropping the first two games in Oakland is inexcusable. To be fair, Jim Rice, Tony Armas and Ed Romero didn't play but still. Andujar isn't the same pitcher as he was the last few years in St. Louis and they still couldn't touch him. Seaver didn't really pitch that bad but without run support, he was doomed for a loss. The Sox clearly weren't ready to play coming out of the break but hopefully they snap their funk soon before their lead in the AL East is gone. The loss dropped the Sox to 57-36, 4 games in front of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid a series sweep tomorrow afternoon against the A's when Al Nipper takes on Dave Stewart of Oakland. The game begins at 3:05 PM Eastern time at Oakland Coliseum.

Stewart, A's Defeat Clemens and Sox (7/7/86)

Uh oh, it looks like Roger Clemens (14-2, 2.58 ERA) is human after all. After losing his first game all season last Wednesday against Toronto, the Oakland A's have come into Boston and beaten him as well in new manager Tony La Russa's Oakland debut. Clemens got lit up by rookie sensation Jose Canseco and old slugger Dave Kingman, allowing 6 runs five plus innings of work. Clemens gave up three runs early, the third on an rbi grounder by old pal Carney Lansford. The Sox got a run back on a wild pitch but Kingman and Canseco hit back to back jacks in the sixth to finish off Roger. The Sox did rally to pull close but couldn't deliver the knockout punch in the seventh inning. It all added up to a bitter 6-4 defeat by the Athletics at Fenway Park.

                                                            Dammit

Clemens got the ball in the top of the first and Tony Phillips flied out to center to start. Old buddy Carney Lansford got rung up for strike three and Jose Canseco struck out swinging to end the inning. Stewart got the ball in the bottom of the first and Marty Barrett grounded out to third to start. Wade Boggs flied out to center and Bill Buckner grounded out to first to end the inning.

The A's rallied in the top of the second although Dave Kingman struck out swinging to start. Bruce Botche singled to center but was forced at second by Mike Davis. Dwayne Murphy doubled off the Monster to score Botche and Alfredo Griffin doubled to center to score Murphy. Jerry Willard grounded out to second to end the inning with the A's up 2-0.

                                                            A's strike first

The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the second as Jim Rice hit a ground ball up to middle that Phillips fielded but couldn't do anything with it for a "single". Don Baylor forced Rice at second before Dwight Evans flied out to left. Tony Armas struck out swinging to end the inning.

The A's struck again in the top of the third as Phillips chopped a base hit up the middle to start. Phillips took off for second and Gedman threw the ball into the bullpen for an error to move Tony to third. Phillips scored on the Lansford grounder to short to increase the lead and Canseco popped up to first. Kingman struck out swinging to end the inning with Oakland up 3-0.

                                                   Phillips scores another run

The Sox fought back in the bottom of the third as Rich Gedman flied out to center but Rey Quinones singled to center. Barrett drilled a base hit to right to move Quinones to third and a wild pitch scored Rey to put Boston on the board. Boggs and Buckner both flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.

                                                             Quinones scores a run

Bochte grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth before Davis struck out swinging. Murphy flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fourth as Rice walked to start. Baylor got a base hit to left but Evans popped up to left. Armas struck out swinging and Gedman grounded out to first to end the inning.

Rice dopped a pop up by Griffin for a two base error to start the top of the fifth but was thrown out at third trying to steal. Willard grounded out to first and Phillips grounded out to second to end the inning. Quinones grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fifth but Barrett doubled to the left field wall. Boggs moved Barrett to third with a grounder to second but Buckner struck out swinging to end the inning.

The A's chased Clemens in the top of the sixth as Lansford singled in the hole at short. Canseco hit a home run all the way to the moon then Kingman hit one into the Charles River for back to back jacks. That was the end for Clemens as he got rocked for 6 runs in just 5 plus innings off 7 hits. Tim Lollar walked Botche and Davis blooped a single to left. Murphy grounded out to second to move the runners over but Botche was doubled off at third on a liner to Boggs by Griffin to end the inning with the Sox down 6-1.

                                                 "You sucked tonight, Rog" - Gedman

The Sox fought back in the bottom of the sixth as Rice ripped a base hit to center to start. Phillips slipped catching a pop up by Baylor and Rice took second in the confusion. Evans cracked his 11th home run of the season to cut the lead in half but Armas

                                                           Evans brings the Sox closer

Willard got a base hit to right to start the top of the seventh and was sacrificed to second by Phillips. That was it for Lollar as Sox manager John McNamara wanted Mike Brown to face the righties. Lansford grounded out to short but Canseco got a base hit to left. Willard tried for home but was thrown out by Rice to end the inning.

                                                           Yerrrrr out!

The Sox blew their best chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the seventh as Quinones got a base hit to left. Barrett walked to chase Stewart and Dave Van Ohlen came in to face Boggs. Wade drilled a base hit off the Monster to score Quinones and put the tying run at first. The play of the game occurred when Buckner bunted too hard to third to force Barrett and Buckner was thrown out at first for a double play. Doug Bair came in to face Rice and Jim grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 6-4.

                                                    Quinones scores a run

Kingman walked to start the top of the eighth but Botche grounded into a double play. Davis singled to right to chase Brown and Joe Sambito came in to pitch. Murphy struck out swinging to end the inning. Stan Javier came in to play center in the bottom of the eighth and Baylor popped up to first. Evans also popped up to first and Armas earned the hat trick with a swinging strikeout to end the inning.

The A's threatened in the top of the ninth as Griffin singled to center to start but was forced at second on Willard's bunt attempt. Phillips also dropped down a bunt but Buckner was pulled off the bag by Boggs' throw. Sox manager John McNamara stormed out of the dugout screaming his head off that Buckner's foot did NOT come off the bag. McNamara got the heave ho by first base umpire Ted Hendry. Pitching coach Bill Fischer lifted Sambito in favor of Steve Crawford. Lansford flied out to right but Canseco singled to left to load the bases. Kingman struck out swinging to end the inning.

                                                        "Get outta here you lunatic!" - Hendry

Gedman struck out swinging to start the bottom of the ninth and Mike Stenhouse pinch hit for Rey Quinones. Stenhouse flied out to center and Barrett grounded out to third to end the game. The A's had won it 6-4.

                                                            A's win

Jackass of The Night is Roger Clemens. He allowed 6 runs in just 5 plus innings and put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.

                                                               Jackass Clemens

The Good:

Marty Barrett was 2 for 4 with a walk.

Jim Rice was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Rey Quinones was 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored.

Tim Lollar tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Mike Brown tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Joe Sambito tossed 2/3 of a scoreless inning.

Steve Crawford pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning.

The Bad:

Bill Buckner was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.

Tony Armas was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.

Rich Gedman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.

Mike Stenhouse flied out as a pinch hitter.

The Ugly:

Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.

Don Baylor was just 1 for 4.

Dwight Evans was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 2 run home run.

Final Thoughts:

Uh oh. That's two losses in a row for Clemens and with Bruce Hurst still not back from his groin pull, the Sox are in a bit of trouble if Roger is coming back to earth. ABC analyst Al Michaels made a point if the offense scores four runs with your ace on the mound, usually you win. Not tonight they didn't, Clemens got pounded. The Sox did have a chance to tie it in the seventh but Rice couldn't get it done. Not being able to hit the A's bullpen was disappointing but the A's can't lose them all. Hopefully this is just a minor hiccup and not a major injury like last year. Kingman and Canseco are big home run hitters so maybe they just timed Roger better than others. Either way its just one loss and the all-star break is coming up to rest a bit. They still have a nice lead in the AL East marathon so let's see how they respond in the next one. The loss dropped the Sox to 52-29, 7 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Oil Can Boyd (10-6) takes on Bill Mooneyham of Oakland. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Fenway Park.