Gooden took the mound in the top of the first inning and Wade Boggs led off with a ground out to second on a bang bang play. Marty Barrett also grounded out to second and Bill Buckner lined out to short to end the inning. Roger Clemens got the start in the bottom of the first and struck out Len Dykstra to begin. Wally Backman worked a walk but was gunned down trying to steal on a great throw by Rich Gedman. Keith Hernandez also walked but Gary Carter flied out to center to end the inning.
Jim Rice swung at air to lead off the top of the second inning but Dwight Evans walked. Rich Gedman grounded out to second but Evans moved to second. Red Sox manager John McNamara bounded out of the dugout and wanted Dwight Gooden checked for illegal substances. The umps looked at him and declared everything was on the level. Dave Henderson flied out to right to end the inning. Clemens dominated the bottom of the second inning as Darryl Strawberry whiffed, Danny Heep flied out to center and Howard Johnson struck out to end the inning.
The Sox exploded on Gooden in the top of the third. Spike Owen led off with a walk. Clemens tried to bunt Owen to second but Hernandez threw low to second and everyone was safe. Boggs made Keith pay with a double down the left field line that scored Owen with the game's first run. Barrett singled home Clemens as Boggs moved to third. Buckner singled to right to score Boggs then Barrett moved to third on the Rice fly out to right. Evans and Gedman both struck out but the Sox had built a 3-0 lead.
Rafael Santana led off the bottom of the third with a line shot off the glove of Clemens and beat out Spike Owen's throw to take first. Gooden popped up a bunt but the injured Buckner fell down trying to make the play and everyone was safe. Dykstra dropped another bunt down but this one was fielded cleanly for the out, but both runners advanced. Backman singled in Santana with Gooden now at third. Hernandez then lined a ball off Clemens but right to Boggs, who threw out Hernandez at first but allowing Gooden to score. Carter hit a shot but Boggs made a great play to throw him out to end the inning but it was now 3-2 Red Sox.
Just as the Mets had pulled within a run, Henderson gave the momentum back to the Red Sox with a solo home run to left to open the top of the fourth. Owen singled up the middle and Clemens dropped down a sac bunt to move him to second. Owen then got thrown out at third on a ground ball by Boggs which drew a scolding from broadcaster Vin Scully. Barrett singled down the right field line but Buckner flied out to right with the Sox now leading 4-2.
Clemens ran into more trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Strawberry flied out to deep right but Heep walked. Johnson also flied out to right but Santana singled. Gooden grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth inning. Rice singled to start the inning and Evans blasted a 2 run bomb off the top of the left field pavilion to give the Sox a huge lead. Gedman struck out as Vin Scully said it was too late. Henderson whiffed and Owen did as well to end the inning but it was now 6-2 Boston.
Shockingly Clemens would not last through the bottom of the fifth. Evans made a GREAT diving catch to rob Dykstra of at least a triple. Backman worked a walk and Hernandez singled off the glove of Barrett, moving Wally to third. Just like that, Roger Clemens was finished. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings and was not in line for the win.
Steve Crawford came in to finish the inning but Carter greeted him with an rbi single. Steve got a huge out when he froze Strawberry on strike 3 for the second out. Heep grounded out to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 6-3.
Gooden was gone as the top of the sixth began with Rick Aguilera taking over. on the mound batting 6th with Mookie Wilson replacing Heep and batting 9th. So much for the big Monster Match between Clemens and Gooden. Crawford was allowed to bat and at least he made good contact by flying out to right. Boggs drew a walk and moved to second on the Barrett ground out. Buckner whiffed to end the inning. Crawford came back for the bottom of the sixth and dominated. He got Johnson to fly out and Santana to ground out. Wilson whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox exploded again in the top of the seventh by nickel and diming the Mets to death. Rice got it started with a seeing eye single up the middle while Evans stroked a conventional single to center. Gedman blooped a single to load the bases and Henderson scored Rice with a seeing eye single to right. Owen also grounded a seeing eye single in the hole at short to score Evans. That was it for Aguilera as Jesse Orosco came in to pitch. Mike Greenwell pinch hit for Crawford but struck out. Boggs whiffed and Barrett flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 8-3.
Bob Stanley took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and Dykstra greeted him with a single. Backman poked a single to left but Stanley recovered to strike out both Hernandez and Carter. Strawberry grounded out to end the inning as fans began to pour out of Shea Stadium.
Orosco returned for the top of the eighth and Buckner hobbled to first on a single. Sox manager John McNamara showed some mercy by pinch running Bill with Dave Stapleton. Rice singled but Evans banged into a double play. Gedman watched strike three go by to end the inning. Stanley came back for the bottom of the eigth as Lee Mazilli pinch hit for Orosco and flied out to center. Johnson grounded out to first and Santana struck out to end the inning.
Sid Fernandez got the ball in the top of the ninth and the Sox offense had one last surge left. Henderson greeted him with a single and Owen singled up the middle as well. Stanley hit for himself and bunted foul for strike three. Boggs doubled off the wall to score Henderson for the Sox 18th hit of the night. Owen pulled up lame going to third and had to be replaced by Ed Romero. Doug Sisk came in to pitch and intentionally walked Barrett. Stapleton stepped in as an embarassing graphic on NBC shows Stapleton's average dipping every year he was in the league. Dave flied out and Rice whiffed to end the inning with the Sox up 9-3.
Stanley came back for the bottom of the ninth to close the game out. Wilson flied out but Dykstra worked a walk. Backman grounded out to first and Hernandez flied out to the wall in center to end the game. The "hopless underdog" Red Sox had come into New York and swept both games going home to Fenway with a 9-3 win in Game 2.
Hero of the Night is Wade Boggs. He got the Sox rally going in the top of the second with an rbi double then almost singlehandedly snuffed out the Mets rally in the bottom of the third. He got it done on both offense and defense.
The Good:
Marty Barrett was 2 for 5 with a walk and an rbi.
Bill Buckner was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Jim Rice was 3 for 6 with 2 runs scored.
Dwight Evans was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's, a walk, a home run and 2 runs scored.
Dave Henderson was 3 for 5 with 2 rbi's, a home run and 2 runs scored.
Spike Owen was 3 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Steve Crawford got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Bob Stanley got the save with 3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 1 as Buckner's replacement.
Mike Greenwell was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Rich Gedman was just 1 for 5.
Roger Clemens lasted just 4 1/3 innings while giving up 3 runs. He would have been in line for the win had he gone 5 but was still nothing special tonight. He also scored a run as a hitter.
Honorable Mention:
Ed Romero pinch ran for Spike Owen and played short in the bottom of the 9th.
Final Thoughts:
It seems too good to be true but the Sox are half-way home going back to Fenway for the next 3 games. Pounding the daylights out of Dwight Gooden one day after squeezing by Ron Darling has to feel good for the Red Sox themselves. They seem to be getting the clutch hits and making the clutch pitches when they need to. The Sox just need 2 more wins to rid themselves of the past 68 years of misery, bad management and bad reputation. Tuesday night is Game 3 with former Sox pitcher Bob Ojeda on the mound against Oil Can Boyd for the Red Sox. Boyd is an emotional pitcher and hopefully he'll be fired up to bury the Mets once and for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment