The Sox did manage to strike first against Welch in the top of the first inning. Ellis Burks lined a base hit up the middle to start and moved to second on a balk. Marty Barrett dumped a single to right to put runners at the corners and Wade Boggs dropped a base hit into left to score Burks to give the Sox the lead. Mike Greenwell doubled past the stumbled Stan Javier to score both Barrett and Boggs to increase the lead. Greenwell moved to third on the grounder by Jim Rice before Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman drew back to back walks to load the bases. The Sox had Welch on the ropes but let him off as Jody Reed lined out to shallow left so nobody advanced. Todd Benzinger flied out to the left field wall to end the inning and the Sox led 3-0, but it could have been better.
Boddicker got in trouble in the bottom of the first as Carney Lansford singled in the hole at short to start. Lansford was thrown out trying to steal by the alert Rich Gedman but Dave Henderson hit a chopper under Jody Reed for a base hit. Jose Canseco drew a walk and Dave Parker hit a grounder to Benzinger who made a great stab for the out. BUT WAIT! Canseco tried to run all the way to third not knowing Benzinger had the ball and Todd chased him to initiate a run-down. Todd fired to Reed and Jody noticed Henderson was coming home so he threw to Gedman. Rich fired to Boggs to tag out Henderson to end the inning.
The Sox pounded on Welch in the top of the second inning as Burks doubled down the left field line and moved to third on the sacrifice bunt by Barrett. Boggs scored Burks with a sac fly and Greenwell pounded a home run to right to increase the lead. A's manager Tony LaRussa stopped the bleeding by bringing in Gene Nelson to replace the ineffective Welch. Rice flied out to center to end the inning but the Sox led 5-0.
The A's roared back in the bottom of the second as Mark McGwire pounded a home run to left to put Oakland on the board. Ron Hassey lined a hanging curve up the middle for a base hit but Barrett dropped a double play ball. He got Hassey at second on the force but Javier made it to first on the force. Javier was forced at second and his takeout slide prevented Barrett from throwing out Mike Gallego at first. Walt Weiss made the Sox pay with a double to center to score Gallego with another run. Lansford put the exclamation point on the rally with a home run to left. Henderson took strike three to end the inning but the A's closed the gap in the hurry with the Sox only ahead 5-4.
Evans led off the top of the third by flying out to the centerfield warning track before Gedman hit a seeing eye single up the middle. Reed got a base hit to right to put runners at the corners but Benzinger banged into a double play to end the inning. The A's finished off Boddicker in the bottom of the third although Canseco popped up to first tostart. Parker took strike three but McGwire hit an infield single to short and Hassey launched a 2 run bomb to give the A's the lead. Sox manager Joe Morgan came out to get Boddicker out of there. Boddicker was a godsend at the trade deadline to get the Sox to October but he was shelled for 6 runs in just 2 2/3 innings. Wes Gardner came in and got Javier to ground out to second to end the inning but the A's led 6-5.
The Sox failed to answer in the top of the fourth as Burks popped up to first to start. Barrett popped up to third but Boggs slapped a single to right. Greenwell lined out to right to end the inning. Gardner did what he could in the bottom of the fourth as Gallego dropped a base hit to right to start. Weiss lined out to a running Greenwell, Lansford popped up to right and Henderson went down swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew a chance to get back in the game in the top of the fifth as Rice grounded out to third to start. Evans walked and Gedman singled him to third, but Reed hit a double play ball to short. Gedman slid hard at second and Reed beat out the throw to score Evans to tie the game....but wait! Second base umpire Ken Kaiser felt Gedman slid too hard into second and called Reed out on interference. Sox manager Joe Morgan bolted out of the dugout and screamed at Kaiser but to no avail, the Sox were robbed of a tie game and the inning was over. Bruce Hurst had to be restrained in the dugout from attacking Kaiser and was thrown out of the game. What a mess.
Naturally the A's capitalized on the break in the bottom of the fifth. Canseco popped up to center to start before Parker took strike three. McGwire lashed a base hit to right and Hassey hit a double off the left field wall to score McGwire. Javier was intentionally walked but Gallego took strike three to end the inning with the A's ahead 7-5.
Curt Young came in to pitch the top of the sixth and cruised. Benzinger went down hacking before Burks struck out swinging as well. Barrett grounded out to short to end the inning. Gardner returned for the bottom of the sixth and Weiss grounded out to second to start. Gallego grounded out to third and Henderson went down swinging to end the inning.
The Sox finally came to life in the top of the seventh as Boggs led off with a base hit to left that Henderson ran over from center to field, but he muffed the ball. Boggs dove into second safe on the error but Greenwell flied out to center. Eric Plunk was brought in to face Rice and Jim watched strike three go by. Evans got a base hit to right to score Boggs and cut the lead. How big was that interference double play now? Rick Honeycutt came in and got a big play by McGwire to rob Gedman of a hit to end the inning with the Sox down 7-6.
Once again when the Sox inched closer, Oakland went further ahead in the bottom of the seventh. Gardner did manage to strike out Canseco swinging. Parker inside outed a double down the left field line but McGwire went down hacking. Hassey was intentionally walked and Javier singled up the middle to score Parker and increase the lead. Gallego whiffed to end the inning but it was 8-6 Oakland.
The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the eighth when Reed walked to start. A's manager Tony La Russa took no chances and brought in closer Dennis Eckersley for the six out save. Larry Parrish pinch hit for Benzinger and swung for the fences, but missed for strike three. Burks forced Reed at second and Barrett flied out to center to end the inning. The A's iced it in the bottom of the eighth as Weiss took strike three to start. Lansford singled to center to chase Gardner. Bob Stanley was brought in and none other than old pal Dave Henderson hit the killshot with a 2 run blast to left. Canseco hit a 400 foot out to dead center and Parker grounded out to first to end the inning but it was now 10-6 Oakland.
Eck returned to close out the top of the ninth and the Sox went quietly. Boggs lined out to a jumping Javier in left, McGwire made a great diving stab to rob Greenwell of a hit and Rice whiffed to end the game. The A's were on the verge of a sweep with a 10-6 win in Game 3.
Jackass of the Night is Wes Gardner. Had he not surrendered 3 runs, the Sox may have had a chance to win.
The Good:
Ellis Burks was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Wade Boggs was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Mike Greenwell was 2 for 5 with 3 rbis, a run scored and a home run.
Dwight Evans was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Rich Gedman was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Jody Reed was 1 for 3 with a walk.
The Bad:
Jim Rice was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Todd Benzinger was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Larry Parrish was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Mike Boddicker got shelled for 6 runs in just 2 2/3 innings.
Bob Stanley allowed a 2 run home run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Marty Barrett was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
As the season comes crashing down, its not only the way the A's are winning but every break imaginable has gone their way. The interference call on Gedman, what happened at Fenway and so on. You have to be lucky as well as good and that's why the A's are on their way to the World Series. The Sox would have to become the first team in ML history to win four straight, yeah, that's not happening. Now the Sox do have Bruce Hurst going in Game 4 and Roger Clemens in Game 5 if it gets that far so the series is not over yet. Still, if the Sox couldn't get it done so far...how the hell can they come back and win 4 straight? It's even worse then you consider how hard the Sox worked to get to October. They were a game under .500 and John McNamara was sent packing. All of a sudden Joe Morgan came in and the Sox rode the wave to October. Mike Boddicker was the big pick up they needed but he failed big time today. The Sox have one game left to save their season tomorrow afternoon as they send Hurst to the mound opposite Dave Stewart at 3:00 PM Eastern Time at Oakland Coliseum.
