Detroit's Jack Morris got the start for the Tigers as Marty Barrett led off with a ground out to short. Dwight Evans popped to short but Wade Boggs worked a walk. Jim Rice popped up to third to end the inning. Ojeda began his day by allowing a single to Lou Whitaker to begin the bottom of the first. Alan Trammell walked but the alert Rich Gedman cut down Whitaker at third on a double steal. Barbaro Garbey grounded to third and Lance Parrish flied out to center to end the inning.
Morris stayed tough in the top of the second as Mike Easler hit a comebacker to Morris for the first out. Tony Armas and Gedman both struck out to end the inning. Ojeda matched Morris in the bottom of the second as Larry Herndon struck out to start. Chet Lemon and Kirk Gibson both grounded out to end the inning.
Morris got Reid Nichols to ground to third to open the top of the third before Jackie Gutierrez grounded to first. Barrett flied to right to end the inning. Gedman again bailed out Ojeda as Tom Brookens singled to open the bottom of the third only to be thrown out trying to steal. Rusty Kuntz struck out as did Whitaker to end the inning.
The Sox threatened in the top of the fourth but Evans led off by striking out. Boggs walked and Rice singled to put the pressure on but Easler struck out. Armas grounded into a force to end the inning, what a waste. Luckily Ojeda was ready for the bottom of the fourth. Trammell flied out and Garbey grounded out, but Parrish singled. Ojeda recovered to strike out Herndon to end the inning.
Once again the Sox threatened in the top of the fourth but could not score. Gedman walked but Nichols flied out to center. Gutierrez singled but Barrett struck out. Evans flied out to right to end the inning. It was the Tigers turn to threaten in the bottom of the fifth although Lemon flied out. Gibson singled but Brookens walked. Gibson moved to third on the fly out by Kuntz, but Whitaker also flied out to end the inning.
Once again the Sox put two men on in the top of the sixth inning. Boggs singled but was erased on the force by Rice. Easler flied out to center but Armas singled Jim to third. With runners at the corners....Gedman struck out to end the inning, damn. Ojeda began the bottom of the sixth by getting Trammell to fly out before Garbey hit a routine grounder to Gutierrez....who he kicked over to second base for absolutely no reason, allowing Garbey to reach on the error. Gedman stepped up AGAIN on a strike em out, throw em out double play to get Garbey at second after Parrish struck out to end the inning.
The Sox failed to capitalize on the double play in the top of the seventh inning. Nichols grounded out to short, Gutierrez flied out to right and Barrett popped up to short to end the inning. Ojeda matched Morris in the bottom of the seventh although Herndon led off with a single. Bob turned up the heat to strike out Lemon, Gibson and Brookens all in order to end the inning.
The Sox finally struck first in the top of the eighth when Evans crushed a solo home run to put the Sox on top. Boggs grounded out and Rice struck out before Easler flied out to end the inning. Still, the Sox were 6 outs from victory thanks to the Dewey home run.
Could Ojeda pitch with the lead? You bet your bippy he could. Kuntz flied to center, Whitaker struck out and Trammell grounded out to end the inning.
Morris returned for the top of the ninth and struck out Armas to begin. Gedman and Nichols both grounded to third to end the inning. Ojeda came back to finish the job in the bottom of the ninth. Garbey flied out but things got hairy when Parrish singled and Herndon walked to put the winning run at first. Ojeda got Lemon to fly out and struck out Gibson to end the game. The Sox had beaten the Tigers 1-0 after an amazing start by Ojeda.
Hero of the Night is Bob Ojeda. He was masterful pitching a 6 hit complete game shut-out while striking out 10.
The Good:
Wade Boggs was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.
Jackie Gutierrez was 1 for 3.
The Bad:
Marty Barrett was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mike Easler was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Reid Nichols was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Dwight Evans was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run that ended up being the difference.
Jim Rice was just 1 for 4.
Tony Armas was just 1 for 4.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 3 but walked and made 3 great throws to nab basestealers.
Final Thoughts:
The Tigers are red hot but that was quite a nice roadblock put up by Bob Ojeda. The Sox need an ace to step up with Dennis Eckersley struggling, could Ojeda be the one? The offense was asleep but Jack Morris is pretty damn good, so not much you can do there. Thank God for Dwight Evans right? The unsung hero of this game was Rich Gedman, throwing out 3 would be base-stealers to preserve the shut-out plus calling the game that Ojeda pitched. With all the runs the Sox pitching have been given up, it was nice to see a shut-out for once. The win improved the Sox to 11-14, 9 games behind the Tigers for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox return to Fenway to take on old friend Carlton Fisk and the Chicago White Sox. It looks like a Monster match with Tom Seaver going up against Dennis Eckersley (2-2, 5.94 ERA) who beat the ChiSox the last time he pitched in Chicago.
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