Bones got the ball in the top of the first inning and Franklin Stubbs booted a grounder by Wade Boggs for an error to start. Jody Reed dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Wade to second but Mike Greewell flied out to left. Ellis Burks struck out swinging to end the inning. Gardiner got the ball in the bottom of the first and Paul Molitor flied out to right to start. Darryl Hamilton struck out swinging and BJ Surhoff grounded out to second to end the inning.
Phil Plantier struck out swinging to start the top of the second inning before Jack Clark grounded out to short. Mo Vaughn grounded out to second to end the inning. Dante Bichette struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second and Robin Yount went down hacking as well. Stubbs lined out to center to end the inning.
Tony Pena popped up to Bones to open the top of the third before Luis Rivera grounded out to third and Boggs grounded out to short to end the inning. The Brewers struck first in the bottom of the third although Kevin Seitzer lined out to left to begin. Jim Gantner singled to right and Scott Fletcher tripled him home to put Milwaukee on top. Molitor struck out swinging but Hamilton walked to put runners at the corners. Surhoff forced Hamilton at second to end the inning but Milwaukee now led 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fourth as Reed lined out to center to start. Both Greenwell and Burks flied out to right to end the inning. Gardiner recovered in the bottom of the fourth as Bichette struck out swinging to start. Yount grounded out to third and Stubbs struck out swinging to end the inning. .
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Plantier flied out to left to start. Clark struck out swinging and Vaughn grounded out to first to end the inning. The Brewers beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the fifth as Seitzer grounded out to short to start. Gantner grounded out to first and Fletcher grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pena grounded out to second to start the top of the sixth and Rivera popped up to second. Boggs broke up the no hitter with a base hit to left but Reed flied out to left to end the inning. Gardiner cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Molitor struck out swinging to start. Hamilton grounded out to short and Surhoff grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox broke through in the top of the seventh although Greenwell grounded out to first to start. Burks beat out a roller to third and Plantier doubled to left to chase Bones. Mike Fetters came in to pitch and Clark grounded out to short, but Burks scored to tie the game. Plantier moved to third on the grounder and Dan Plesac came in to relieve Fetters. Vaughn grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Gardiner returned for one last inning in the bottom of the seventh and Bichette struck out swinging to start. Yount struck out swinging and Rivera chased down a pop up by Stubbs in foul territory to end the inning. Gardiner was outstanding, allowing 2 hits and a run while striking out 9 batters.
The Sox took command in the top of the eighth with Jim Austin now on the mound. Pena hit a routine grounder to Fletcher who threw it away for an error. Rivera dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Tony to second and Boggs was intentionally walked to get to Reed. Jody made the Brewers pay with a base hit to center to score Pena with the go-ahead run. Jesse Orosco came in to pitch to Greenwell and Boggs got thrown out at third on a double steal although Reed swiped second. Mike popped up to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Danny Darwin came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Seitzer grounded out to short to start. Gantner popped up to left in foul territory and Greg Vaughn pinch hit for Fletcher only to pop up to third in foul territory to end the inning.
Pat Listach took over at short for the top of the ninth and Burks singled in the hole at second to begin. Plantier flied out to left and Doug Henry relieved Orosco. A wild pitch moved Burks to second but Clark watched strike three go by. Vaughn was intentionally walked and Pena made the Brewers pay with a base hit to center to score Burks with the insurance run. Ribera struck out swinging but it was 3-1 Red Sox.
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Darwin returned to close out the bottom of the ninth and Molitor doubled to center to start. Paul moved to third on the grounder to second by Hamilton but Darwin got a big out when Surhoff popped up to left. Bichette struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-1.
The Good:
Wade Boggs was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Jody Reed was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Ellis Burks was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Danny Darwin tossed 2 scoreless innings to earn the save.
The Bad:
Mike Greenwell was 0 for 4.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Phil Plantier was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jack Clark was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 3 but walked.
Tony Pena was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the offense was virtually non-existent but the pitching stepped up big. Gardiner pitched a hell of a game. That's 2 big wins early in the season for Mike and if he can keep this pace up, the Sox may have their third starter they've been desperately been missing since Bruce Hurst took off at the end of 1988. As for the offense, good grief they are bad. Nobody is hitting particularly well but they're getting by on timely hits. Hopefully once the weather improves the offense picks it up because with the unsteady pitching, the Sox bats are going to need to score some runs as the season progresses. Think the Sox miss 1991 National League Rookie of the Year Jeff Bagwell now? Still, the Sox did win the game and Darwin slammed the door so sense squawking too much about the way things are going. The Sox look to make it two in a row over the Brewers tomorrow night when they send their ace Roger Clemens (2-1) to the mound against Bill Wegman of Milwaukee. The game begins at 8:05 PM Eastern time at County Stadium.
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