Darwin took the ball in the top of the first inning and Luis Polonia greeted him by grounding out to second to start. Luis Sojo flied out to left but Junior Felix singled to center. Gary Gaetti went down swinging to end the inning. Wade Boggs greeted Blyleven with a fly out to center to start the bottom of the first. Billy Hatcher whiffed. Scott Cooper singled to center but Tom Brunansky grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Angels struck first in the top of the second inning as Chad Curtis walked and Lee Stevens doubled him home just like that. Gary Disarcina singled home Stevens for another run. Darwin got Ron Tingley to swing at air but Damion Easley was plunked and Polonia singled to center to load the bases. Sojo flied out to right to end the inning but it was 2-0 Angels.
Strangely that would be the final runs scored by either team the rest of the game as Blyleven cruised in the bottom of the second as Mo Vaughn grounded out to second to start. Jody Reed lined out to short and Herm Winningham popped up to third to end the inning.
Darwin got Felix to fly out to left to start the top of the third before Gaetti singled to left. Curtis went down hacking before Stevens flied out to center to end the inning. John Marzano hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the third before John Valentin flied out to center. Boggs whacked a double but Hatcher popped up to third to end the inning.
Disarcina singled to left to start the top of the fourth but Tingley took strike three. Easley blooped a single to center but foolishly tried for second base. Disarcina made it to third but Easley was thrown out at second trying to stretch. Polonia grounded out to first to end the inning. Cooper tried to start a rally with a base hit to right but got doubled off first on a bullet hit by Brunansky to third. Vaughn grounded out to first to end the inning.
Sojo singled to center to begin the top of the fifth then stole second on the strikeout by Felix. Gaetti whiffed and Curtis looked at strike three to end the inning. The Sox failed to do anything in the bottom of the fifth as Reed grounded out to short to start. Winningham took strike three before Marzano grounded out to second to end the inning.
Darwin cruised in the top of the sixth as Stevens grounded out to second to start. Darwin struck out both Disarcina and Tingley swinging to end the inning. The Sox were flat in the bottom of the sixth as Valentin flied out to deep right to start. Boggs grounded out to first and Hatcher grounded out to short to end the inning.
Darwin got in trouble in the top of the seventh as Easley and Polonia stroked back to back singles to start. Both runners moved over on the Sojo grounder to first and Felix was intentionally walked to load the bases. Darwin got a big out when Gaetti popped up to third and Curtis grounded into a force to end the inning. Darwin allowed 2 early runs then was almost unhittable the rest of the way. He deserved a better fate after pitching 7 innings of 2 run ball.
The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh although Cooper flied out to right to start. Brunansky walked to chase Blyleven after 6 1/3 shutout innings. Scott Bailes came in to pitch and Sox manager Butch Hobson sent in Jack Clark to pinch hit for Vaughn. Clark stroked a seeing eye single to put the tying run on first but Reed took strike three. Chuck Crim came in to pitch and Bob Zupcic pinch hit for Winningham...just to pop up to third to end the inning.
Paul Quantrill came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Stevens grounded out to second to start. Disarcina singled to right and moved to second on the Tingley ground out to first. Easley grounded out to third to end the inning. Tony Pena pinch hit for Marzano and got a base hit down the third base line to start. Foolishly he was thrown out trying to steal to kill the rally. Valentin and Boggs both flied out to center to end the inning.
Quantrill returned for the top of the ninth and Polonia grounded out to third to start. Sojo grounded out to second and Felix lined out to left to end the inning. Joe Grahe came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Hatcher tried to start a rally with a base hit to right. Cooper forced Hatcher at second before Brunansky lined out to left. With the game on the line....Clark took strike three to end the game. The Angels blanked the Sox in another loss at Fenway 2-0.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one since the entire offense put up a goose egg but I'll go with Jody Reed. He struck out in the bottom of the seventh with two men on.
The Good:
Scott Cooper was 2 for 4.
Jack Clark was 1 for 2 at the plate.
Danny Darwin was the hard luck loser but pitched very well. He allowed just 2 runs in 7 innings of work while striking out 9 batters.
Paul Quantrill tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Mo Vaughn was 0 for 2.
Herm Winningham was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Bob Zupcic was 0 for 1 at the plate.
John Marzano was 0 for 2.
John Valentin was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 4.
Billy Hatcher was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Tom Brunansky was 0 for 3 but walked.
Tony Pena singled as a pinch hitter but was thrown out trying to steal.
Final Thoughts:
After yesterday's everglades disaster offensively the Sox found a way to top themselves in this one. Getting held to 1 run by Jim Abbott is one thing but to not score at all against Bert Blyleven and the California bullpen is just another reason how Lou Gorman failed this season. It's been a perfect storm this season as the veterans such as Clark, Pena and Boggs had down years while the youngsters Valentin, Phil Plantier and Vaughn disappointed big time. Who knows how Sox brass is going to fix this mess at this point. The loss dropped the Sox to 55-66, good for dead last place in the AL East. The Sox look to score a run for once when they welcome the Seattle Mariners in for the next series starting tomorrow night. Randy Johnson goes for the Mariners up against Frank Viola (10-9) of the Sox at 7:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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