Rangers Blank Sox (4/25/74)

The good news was the Boston Bruins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of their NHL Semifinal playoff series but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox got shut out by the Texas Rangers. Jim Bibby went the distance tossing a complete game, four hit shutout. The Sox blew a first inning rally and could never get on track offensively. Meanwhile the Rangers rallied for three runs against Luis Tiant (1-2, 5.29 ERA) as he only lasted five innings. The Rangers got another run off Roger Moret in the sixth inning and that was all the scoring for the rest of the game. The Sox couldn't touch Bibby as they were shut out by the Rangers 4-0 at Arlington Stadium.

Bibby got the ball in the top of the first and Tommy Harper flied out to center to start. Doug Griffin grounded out to short but Dave Nelson booted a grounder by Cecil Cooper for an error. Bibby threw the pickoff throw away for an error to move Cooper to third and Carl Yastrzesmski walked. Rico Petrocelli flied out to center to end the inning. Tiant got the ball in the bottom of the first and Nelson's bunt attempt to third was snuffed out to begin. Toby Harrah popped up to short and Alex Johnson popped up to first to end the inning.

Bernie Carbo struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Bob Montgomery doubled to center. Juan Beniquez flied out to right and Mario Guerrero struck out swinging to end the inning. Jeff Burroughs took strike three to start the bottom of the second but Tom Grieve singled down the third base line. Jim Spencer popped up to second and Joe Lovitto grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Harper popped up to second to start. Griffin singled to left but Cooper forced him at second. Yaz walked but Petrocelli grounded out to first to end the inning, that's three men left on by Rico so far. Lenny Randle popped up to left to start the bottom of the third before Dick Billings singled to left. Nelson flied out to center and Harrah forced Billings at second to end the inning.

Carbo lined out to left to start the top of the fourth before Montgomery grounded back to the mound. Beniquez struck out swinging to end the inning. Johnson grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth before Burroughs walked. Grieve flied out to center and Spencer grounded out to first to end the inning.

Guerrero grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Harper popped up to first. Griffin singled to left but pulled up lame and had to leave the game. Dick McAuliffe ran for Griffin and Cooper flied out to left to end the inning. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the fifth as Lovitto struck out swinging to start. Randle grounded a base hit just out of McAuliffe's reach and stole second. Billings popped up to second but Nelson dumped a base hit to center to score Randle. Harrah was decked by Tiant and Johnson singled to center to score Nelson. Burroughs lined another base hit to center to score Harrah. Grieve flied out to center to end the inning with the Rangers up 3-0. That was it for Tiant who got rocked in the fifth inning after allowing six hits and a walk.

                                                            Rangers take the lead

Yaz grounded out to second to start the top of the sixth before Petrocelli got a base hit to left. Terry Hughes ran for Rico and Carbo popped up to short, but Petrocelli took second on a wild pitch. Montgomery grounded out to short to end the inning. Roger Moret got tagged in the bottom of the sixth as Spencer lined out to center to start. Lovitto beat out a roller to short but Randle singled to left. Billings walked to load the bases and Nelson scored Lovitto with a sac fly to center. The Rangers pulled off a double steal but Harrah struck out to end the inning with the Rangers up 4-0.

                                                       Randle gets the Rangers started

Larry Brown took over for Randle to start the top of the seventh and Beniquez struck out swinging to start. Guerrero grounded back to the mound and Harper grounded out to short to end the inning. Johnson grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the seventh and Burroughs took strike three. Grieve grounded out to second to end the inning.

McAuliffe grounded back to the mound to begin the top of the eighth and Cooper popped up to short. Yaz grounded out to first to end the inning. Spencer got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the eighth and Lovitto sacrificed him to second with a bunt. Brown flied out to center and Billings grounded out to third to end the inning.

Bibby returned to finish the job in the top of the ninth and Hughes struck out swinging to start. Carbo struck out swinging and Montgomery popped up to left to end the game. The Rangers had won  4-0

                                                            Rangers win

Jackass of the Night is Luis Tiant. He got hammered in the fifth inning for 3 runs to put the game out of reach.

                                                         Jackass Tiant

The Good:

Doug Griffin was 2 for 3.

Carl Yastrzemski walked twice in four plate appearances.

The Bad:

Tommy Harper was 0 for 4.

Dick McAuliffe was 0 for 1.

Cecil Cooper was 0 for 4.

Terry Hughes struck out at the plate.

Bernie Carbo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Juan Beniquez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Mario Guerrero was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Rico Petrocelli was 1 for 3 but left three men on base.

Bob Montgomery was just 1 for 4.

Roger Moret allowed a run in 3 innings of work.

Final Thoughts:

Looks like the Sox bats crashed down to earth after overachieving for the first two weeks of the season. The bottom of the order is a legitimate black hole with Carbo, Guerrero, Montgomery and Beniquez all hitting under .246 and Harper at just .175. Its only April but that's the reason they've been perfectly mediocre to start the year. The pitching has been fine except for Tiant but he'll turn it around. He only gave up three runs in this one and if the bats could have done ANYTHING, the outcome might have been different. The Sox are desperately missing Carlton Fisk's offense and it might be time to start Dwight Evans over Harper unless Tommy can turn it around. In terms of help from Pawtucket, the Sox might have something with 23 year old Fred Lynn and 21 year old Jim Rice but they're still a year away. They're going to have to get creative to score some runs until Harper turns it around or Fisk gets back. The Sox now travel to Kansas City for a three game set with the Royals. Bill Lee (2-1) takes on Steve Busby of Kansas City and the game begins tomorrow night at 8:00 PM Eastern time at Royals Stadium.