McCaskill began his dominance in the top of the first as Wade Boggs lined out to left to start. Jody Reed grounded out to short and Phil Plantier grounded out to first to end the inning. Morton got the ball in the bottom of the first and Luis Polonia beat out an infield single to first. Luis Sojo grounded into a double play and Wally Joyner took strike three to end the inning.
Jack Clark popped up to first to start the top of the second before Mike Greenwell flied out to center. Mo Vaughn got a base hit to center but Ellis Burks flied out to right to end the inning. Gary Gaetti walked to open the bottom of the second but Dave Winfield flied out to left. Dave Gallagher flied out to right and Shawn Abner flied out to left to end the inning.
John Marzano grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Luis Rivera grounded out to first. Boggs singled to left but Reed popped up to short to end the inning. Dick Schofield Jr walked to begin the bottom of the third but Ron Tingley grounded back to the mound. Polonia took strike three before Sojo grounded out to second to end the inning.
McCaskill cruised in the top of the fourth as Plantier popped up to short to start. Clark flied out to right and Greenwell was thrown out at second after reaching on a fielding error by Joyner to end the inning.
Morton kept pace in the bottom of the fourth as Joyner flied out to left to start. Gaetti popped up to short but Winfield walked. Gallagher flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the fifth as Vaughn grounded out to third to start. Burks grounded out to short and Marzano grounded out to second to end the inning. Morton dominated the bottom of the fifth as Abner lined out to third to start. Schofield Jr popped up to Greenwell in foul territory and Tingley whiffed to end the inning.
Rivera whiffed to start the top of the sixth before Boggs flied out to left. Reed lined one off the glove of McCaskill but Schofield Jr threw him out at first to end the inning. Polonia struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth before Sojo popped up to short. Joyner grounded out to second to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the seventh as Plantier flied out to center to start. Clark took strike three and Greenwell flied out to left to end the inning. The Angels finally tagged Morton in the bottom of the seventh although Gaetti hit a squibber in front of the mound to start. Winfield then clobbered a 4 million foot home run into the Pacific Ocean to give the Angels the lead. Gallagher popped up to first and Abner grounded out to short to end the inning. Morton pitched his ass off but left trailing 1-0 after 7 innings.
The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the eighth although Vaughn grounded out to short to start. Burks singled to left to put the tying run on but Marzano flied out to left. Steve Lyons pinch hit for Rivera and popped up to right in foul territory to end the inning. McCaskill tossed 8 innings of shut-out ball and the Sox couldn't touch him. Greg Harris came in for the bottom of the eighth with Lyons taking over at second with Reed moving to short. Schofield Jr grounded out to short to start but Tingley singled to center. A wild pitch moved Tingley to second before moving to third on the Polonia grounder to first. Sojo grounded out to third to end the inning.
Bryan Harvey came in to close out the top of the ninth and the Sox tried to rally when Boggs led off with a double to center. Reed did his job with a sacrifice bunt to move Boggs to third....but Plantier lined out to first. Clark lined out to second to end the game. The Angels had won it 1-0.
Jackass of the Night is Phil Plantier. All he had to do was hit a grounder or a fly ball and the game would have been tied but instead he went 0 for 4 and failed to get Boggs home in the ninth.
The Good:
Wade Boggs was 2 for 4.
Mo Vaughn was 1 for 3.
Ellis Burks was 1 for 3.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the good list but Kevin Morton pitched great. The rookie allowed just 1 run in 7 innings on just 2 hits and 3 walks.
Greg Harris pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Jody Reed was 0 for 3.
Jack Clark was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mike Greenwell was 0 for 3.
John Marzano was 0 for 3.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Steve Lyons was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
None
Final Thoughts:
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. Morton pitched his ass off in this one and the Sox offense failed to pick him up. They made McCaskill look like his 1986 self and getting just 4 hits is unacceptable. The Sox normally can score runs so what in the world was that? Even so, the Sox had their chance in the ninth but Plantier and Clark blew that completely. Its a shame and its just another frustrating loss in a season full of them. The Sox have 39 games left in the season but they just seem off compared to last year. They can still go on a run but they are definitely missing Mike Boddicker this season. The only positive to come from this apart from Morton's performance was the game sucked but at least it was short. The loss dropped the Sox to 62-61, 4.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid a sweep tomorrow afternoon against the Angels. Joe Hesketh (8-2, 3.22 ERA) goes for the Sox up against Mark Langston of the Angels at 4:05 PM Eastern time at Anaheim Stadium.
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