Bannister, Mariners Blank Sox (5/18/82)

The good news was Dennis Eckersley of the Boston Red Sox tossed a complete game against the Seattle Mariners holding them to 3 runs and 7 hits. The bad news was Seattle starter Floyd Bannister pitched the game of his life against the Sox. He tossed a complete game 3 hit shutout allowing just 1 walk and striking out nine batters. Joe Simpson got a first inning rbi off Eckersley and that was all the runs Bannister would need. Bruce Botche hit a home run and Manny Castillo drove in a run in the top of the ninth for the insurance runs. The Sox never came close to doing any damage as the Mariners won this one 3-0 at Fenway Park. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?

The Mariners wasted no time getting to Eckersley in the top of the first as Bobby Brown got a base hit to right to start. Brown took off for second and catcher Gary Allenson threw the ball away allowing Bobby to take third. Joe Simpson grounded out to second to score Brown to put the Mariners up for good already. Bruce Bochte took strike three but Al Cowens doubled to left. Steve Stroughter flied out to left to end the inning with the Mariners up 1-0.

                                                            Mariners strike first

Bannister got the ball to start the bottom of the first and Jerry Remy struck out swinging to start. Dwight Evans grounded out to second and Jim Rice struck out swinging to end the inning.

Todd Cruz hit one up the elevator shaft to start the top of the second and Manny Castillo struck out swinging. Terry Bulling grounded out to short to end the inning. Tony Perez got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the second but Carney Lansford popped up to first in foul territory. Dave Stapleton grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Julio Cruz struck out swinging to start the top of the third and Brown grounded to first. Simpson flied out to left to end the inning. Glenn Hoffman walked to start the bottom of the third but Allenson struck out swinging. Reid Nichols grounded out to third to end the inning.

The Mariners got another run in the top of the fourth as Bochte hit a home run into the Charles River to ice the game. Cowens flied out to right, Stroughter lined out to first and Todd Cruz flied out to end the inning with the Mariners up 2-0.

                                                              Home run Bochte

Remy flied out to left to start the bottom of the fourth but Evans doubled to right. Rice flied out to center and Perez grounded out to second to end the inning.

Castillo grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth and Bulling popped up to first. Julio Cruz struck out swinging to end the inning. Lansford grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth and Stapleton grounded back to the mound. Hoffman struck out swinging to end the inning.

Brown popped up to first on a bunt attempt to start the top of the sixth and Simpson lined out to first. Bochte walked, stole second and took second when Cowens walked. Stroughter took strike three to end the inning. Allenson grounded out to third to start the bottom of the sixth and Nichols flied out to left. Remy took strike three to end the inning.

Todd Cruz grounded out to short to start the top of the seventh but Castillo singled to left. Bulling forced Castillo at second but Julio Cruz got a base hit to right. Brown flied out to right to end the inning. Evans hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the seventh and Rice flied out to center. Perez grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

Simpson's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Eckersley to start the top of the eighth but Bochte singled to right. Cowens grounded into a double play to end the inning. Bannister dominated the bottom of the eighth as Lansford, Stapleton and Hoffman all struck out swinging in short order.

Eckersley returned to complete the game in the top of the ninth. Stroughter struck out swinging but Todd Cruz tripled to left. Castillo hit a sac fly to right to score Cruz but Bulling flied out to center to end the inning with the Mariners up 3-0. Eckersley held the Mariners to 3 runs off 7 hits.

                                                                    Eck deserved better

Bannister came back to finish the bottom of the ninth and Allenson struck out swinging to start. Nichols got a base hit to left but Remy popped up the bunt to second. Evans popped up to first to end the game. The Mariners had won it 3-0.

Jackass of The Night is Gary Allenson. He was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and his error in the first allowed the first one to score.

                                                               Jackass Allenson

The Good:

Tony Perez was 1 for 3.

Reid Nichols was 1 for 3.

One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list but Dennis Eckersley tossed a complete game 7 hitter allowing just 3 runs.

The Bad:

Jerry Remy was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jim Rice was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Carney Lansford was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Dave Stapleton was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Dwight Evans was just 1 for 4.

Glenn Hoffman was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked.

Final Thoughts:

Not much you can do about this one but tip your cap to a hell of a game pitched by Bannister. He was damn near unhittable and the Sox barely got anyone to second base. Eckersley pitched solid but just didn't get any run support in this one. Allenson throwing the ball away in the first inning set the tone although the Sox weren't going to score much in this one. Once again, give all the credit in the world to the Mariners for getting the hits when they needed and the pitching of Bannister. The less said about this one, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 23-13, percentage points behind the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Chuck Rainey goes for the Sox against Larry Andersen of Seattle. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Fenway Park.