Dobson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Harper popped up to second to start. Juan Beniquez grounded out to short but Bernie Carbo walked. Carl Yastrzemski was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning. Lee got the ball in the bottom of the first and Roy White hit a comebacker to start. Walt Williams grounded out to second and Bobby Murcer flied out to right to end the inning.
Bob Montgomery grounded out to third to start the top of the second before Cecil Cooper walked. Dick McAuliffe grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second as Thurman Munson doubled to left to begin. Lou Piniella beat out a roller to short and Munson took third on a fly ball to center by Bill Sudakis. Nettles hit a comebacker to Lee who then inexplicably spiked the ball like a football and did the boogie woogie for an error to score Munson. Gene Michael also hit a comebacker to Lee who tossed to second for the force but Mario Guerrero threw the ball away for another error. Piniella scored on the play but Jim Mason grounded out to first to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 2-0.
Doug Griffin popped up to third to start the top of the third before Mario Guerrero struck out swinging. Harper grounded back to the mound to end the inning. White grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the third before Williams also hit a comebacker. Murcer flied out to center to end the inning.
Beniquez grounded out to third to start the top of the fourth but Carbo walked. Yaz popped up to second but Montgomery reached on an error by Mason. Cooper took strike three to end the inning. Munson struck out swinging to open the bottom of the fourth and Piniella flied out to right. Sudakis lined out to left to end the inning.
McAuliffe grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth and Griffin grounded back to the mound. Guerrero grounded out to third to end the inning. The Yankees beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the fifth as Nettles grounded out to second to start. Michael grounded out to third and Mason grounded out to second to end the inning.
Harper lined out to left to start the top of the sixth and Beniquez grounded out to short. Carbo struck out swinging to end the inning. White hit another comebacker to start the bottom of the sixth and Williams popped up to second. Murcer got a base hit to right but Munson forced him at second to end the inning.
The Sox finally rallied in the top of the seventh as Yaz belted his fourth home run of the year to cut the lead. Montgomery flied out to right but Cooper got a base hit to left. McAuliffe also got a base hit to left to move Cecil to third, and Griffin caught the Yankees asleep with a safety squeeze to score Cooper. Guerrero and Harper both struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Lee caught Piniella looking to start the bottom of the seventh and Sudakis hit one up the elevator shaft. Nettles grounded out to third to end the inning.
Beniquez doubled to right to start the top of the eight but Williams threw the ball away to allow Juan to make third. Yankees manager Bill Virdon inexplicably put Williams in left field and brought in Elliott Maddox to play right. Carbo ripped a base hit to left to score Beniquez with the go-ahead run. That was it for Dobson as Sparky Lyle replaced him. Yaz greeted Sparky with a base hit to center to move Carbo to third and Bernie scored on the sac fly by Montgomery. Cooper got a base hit to left to move Yaz to third and Danny Cater pinch hit for McAuliffe. Cater grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Sac fly for Bob
John Kennedy came in to play second in the bottom of the eighth and Michael grounded back to the mound to start. Horace Clark pinch hit for Mason and walked but Maddox grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Griffin grounded out to third to start the top of the ninth before Guerrero struck out swinging. Harper also struck out swinging to end the inning. Lee returned to finish the job in the bottom of the ninth and Williams flied out to center to start. Murcer hit a routine grounder to Cooper who booted it for an error but was forced at second by Munson. Piniella singled to center and Ron Blomberg pinch ran for him. Sudakis got a base hit to center to score Munson and put the tying run at second. Nettles grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had hung on to win it 4-3.
Hero of the Night is Bernie Carbo. He drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning.
The Good:
Carl Yasztremski was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Cecil Cooper was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Dick McAuliffe was 1 for 3.
Bill Lee went the distance for the win allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out two.
The Bad:
Tommy Harper was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Danny Cater grounded into a double play in his only at-bat.
Mario Guerrero was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts and an error.
The Ugly:
Juan Beniquez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Bob Montgomery was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Doug Griffin was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Honorable Mention:
John Kennedy played second base in the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
Good comeback win for the Sox and kudos for Lee for going the distance despite the early troubles. The Yankees needed two errors to take the lead but once the Sox settled down, they took command of the game. Yaz' homer was clutch and the Carbo base hit put the Sox in a position to never look back. The Sox need to go on a nice winning streak to finish April strong and hopefully this could be the start. Luis Tiant and Rick Wise are pitching well and Reggie Cleveland had a good game recently, if Lee gets it going the Sox have a chance this season. The only drawback to this game was Mario Guerrero was completely useless but its only one game. The Sox look to take two of three from the Yankees tomorrow afternoon when Rick Wise (1-0) takes on Doc Medich of the Yankees. The game begins at 2:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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