Red Sox 9, Twins 8
If Kelly felt uneasy about how he used his pitching staff last night, he is wallowing with full regret tonight. Building an 8-0 lead off of Clemens by the 6th inning, the series was all but wrapped up. But with Anderson tiring in the 7th, Kelly went to a depleted well that took only three innings to go dry.
The Twins offense was relentless for the first two thirds of the game. Twelve hits, culminating with a solo shot by Randy Bush put the hometown nine just nine outs from their second consecutive World Series berth. But with one out in the 7th, Rick Cerone tripled to right, sparking the so far uninspired Sox bats. An error by Gagne only further fueled the fire. With two runs already across, Kelly went to Roy Smith. He walked the bases loaded before getting Greenwell to line out. Needing only one out to escape the jam, Smith allowed a double to Burks and a single to Rice, cutting the lead to just two runs.
Possibly flustered by the turn of events, the Twins bats went 1-2-3 for the first time in the game. Berenguer, who had to be used last night in the blow out, came in and couldn’t retire a batter. Leaving with the bases loaded, Kelly stubbornly went to German Gonzalez instead off his closer. But the rookie did his job, allowing only a sacrifice fly to Marty Barrett. After walking Greenwell intentionally to load the bases with two outs, Kelly finally went to the Terminator, who struck out Burks to preserve the 8-7 lead.
But Reardon, overworked himself, collapsed in the 9th. Benzinger lined a pinch-hit single to begin the inning. But after striking out Parrish, Cerone got his second huge hit of the game, a double to deep left. Reed and Boggs followed with singles and the lead had evaporated. Lee Smith did his job in the 9th, allowing a single to Jim Dwyer but no runs. With the tying run on second, Gagne struck out to slam the final nail in the Twins’ coffin.
Heading back to Boston with momentum, the Sox will try to take two at home to pull off a miracle comeback. Meanwhile, the Twins bullpen will rest, and Les Straker will try to bounce back from his previous outing.
Boxscore and play-by-play below the fold
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1988 Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 2 9 14 0 12 0
1988 Minnesota 1 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 8 14 2 9 0
Boston AB R H BI AVG Minnesota AB R H BI AVG
Boggs 3b 4 1 1 1 .316 Moses lf 5 0 0 0 .227
Barrett 2b 5 1 1 2 .261 Bush rf 5 3 4 1 .417
Evans rf 5 1 0 0 .400 Puckett cf 3 2 2 1 .250
Greenwell lf 3 0 3 1 .526 Hrbek dh 5 1 2 0 .421
Burks cf 4 1 2 2 .250 Larkin 1b 4 1 1 1 .294
Rice dh 4 0 1 1 .278 Newman 3b 4 0 1 2 .400
Benzinger ph 1 1 1 0 .500 Dwyer ph 1 0 1 0 1.000
Parrish 1b 5 0 0 0 .118 Gladden pr 0 0 0 0 .455
Cerone c 5 3 3 0 .385 Harper c 5 0 0 1 .077
Reed ss 4 1 2 2 .273 Gagne ss 5 1 2 1 .400
40 9 14 9 Herr 2b 4 0 1 1 .438
41 8 14 8
Boston INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Clemens 4.2 10 7 7 2 3 114 67 7.59
Gardner W 1-0 3.1 3 1 1 1 2 48 32 2.45
Smith S 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 16 12 0.00
9.0 14 8 8 3 7 178 111
Minnesota INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Anderson 6.1 7 4 1 1 2 96 64 2.92
Smith 0.2 2 2 2 1 0 18 9 8.44
Berenguer 0.0 1 1 1 2 0 13 4 3.38
Gonzalez H 1 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 9 4 0.00
Reardon BS 1, L 0-1 1.1 4 2 2 0 3 23 21 6.75
9.0 14 9 6 5 5 159 102
Bos: Benzinger batted for Rice in the 9th
Min: Dwyer batted for Newman in the 9th
Gladden ran for Dwyer in the 9th
E-Gagne, Herr. 2B-Greenwell, Burks, Cerone, Bush, Puckett 2, Herr. 3B-Cerone,
Gagne. HR-Bush(1). SB-Greenwell(1), Gagne(2). K-Evans 2, Burks, Rice,
Parrish, Puckett, Hrbek 2, Larkin, Gagne 2, Herr. BB-Boggs 2, Evans,
Greenwell, Reed, Puckett 2, Larkin. SH-Burks. SF-Barrett, Greenwell.
WP-Gardner, Smith.
GWRBI: Boggs
Temperature: 70, Wind: none.
************** Top of the 1st inning, Boston batting
0-0 0 — 02 Boggs flied out to right (CFX)
0-0 1 — 12 Barrett flied out to right (BFCFX)
0-0 2 — 22 Evans struck out (CCBBS)
************** Bottom of the 1st inning, Minnesota batting
0-0 0 — 11 Moses grounded out to third (BFX)
0-0 1 — 01 Bush doubled deep to right center (SX)
0-0 1 -2- 20 Puckett lined a double to right center, Bush scored (BBX)
0-1 1 -2- 32 Hrbek lined a single to left, Puckett to third (BBFFBX)
0-1 1 1-3 21 Larkin grounded out to the mound, Hrbek to second (BCBX)
0-1 2 -23 32 Newman grounded out to second (BFBBSX)
************** Top of the 2nd inning, Boston batting
0-1 0 — 12 Greenwell grounded a single up the middle (FFBX)
0-1 0 1– 00 Burks sacrifice bunted to the mound, Greenwell to second
(Xb)
0-1 1 -2- 12 Rice struck out (CBFC)
0-1 2 -2- 12 Parrish popped out to second (BCSFX)
************** Bottom of the 2nd inning, Minnesota batting
0-1 0 — 31 Harper flied out to center (BBBCX)
0-1 1 — 32 Gagne struck out (BSBBSC)
0-1 2 — 12 Herr struck out (CFFBS)
************** Top of the 3rd inning, Boston batting
0-1 0 — 22 Cerone grounded out to the mound (CFBBX)
0-1 1 — 22 Reed flied out to center (FCBBX)
0-1 2 — 32 Boggs walked (BBBCCB)
0-1 2 1– 02 Barrett popped out to third (CFFX)
************** Bottom of the 3rd inning, Minnesota batting
0-1 0 — 02 Moses flied out to center (CFX)
0-1 1 — 11 Bush lined a single to shallow center (CBX)
0-1 1 1– 32 Puckett walked, Bush to second (CBFBpFBB)
0-1 1 12- 12 Hrbek struck out (CBCS)
0-1 2 12- 01 Larkin lined a single to right center, Bush scored,
Puckett to third (FX)
0-2 2 1-3 21 Newman lined a single to shallow center, Puckett scored,
Larkin to second (SBBX)
0-3 2 12- 00 Harper grounded out to second (X)
************** Top of the 4th inning, Boston batting
0-3 0 — 21 Evans grounded out to second (BFBX)
0-3 1 — 00 Greenwell reached on an infield single to third (X)
0-3 1 1– 11 Greenwell stole second (BF>C)
0-3 1 -2- 12 Burks lined a single to shallow center, Greenwell to
third (BF>C.X)
0-3 1 1-3 00 Rice flied out to center (1X)
0-3 2 1-3 00 Parrish flied out to center (X)
************** Bottom of the 4th inning, Minnesota batting
0-3 0 — 10 Gagne bunted for a single (BXb)
0-3 0 1– 11 Gagne stole second (CB>S)
0-3 0 -2- 12 Herr flied out to right (CB>S.X)
0-3 1 -2- 20 Moses lined out to left (BBX)
0-3 2 -2- 11 Bush flied out to left (CBX)
************** Top of the 5th inning, Boston batting
0-3 0 — 10 Cerone flied out to center (BX)
0-3 1 — 31 Reed popped out to short (BFBBX)
0-3 2 — 32 Boggs grounded out to short (BCBCBX)
************** Bottom of the 5th inning, Minnesota batting
0-3 0 — 31 Puckett lined a double to left center (BCBBX)
0-3 0 -2- 32 Hrbek lined a single to shallow center, Puckett to third
(CCBBFBFFFX)
0-3 0 1-3 32 Larkin walked, Hrbek to second (SBBCFBB)
0-3 0 123 22 Newman grounded out to first, Puckett scored, Hrbek to
third, Larkin to second (CBFBX)
0-4 1 -23 22 Harper grounded out to third, Hrbek scored, Larkin to
third (BFSFBX)
0-5 2 –3 22 Gagne tripled deep to right center, Larkin scored (BCBFX)
Gardner now pitching
0-6 2 –3 21 Herr lined a double to left center, Gagne scored (BSBX)
0-7 2 -2- 11 Moses popped out to left (BSX)
************** Top of the 6th inning, Boston batting
0-7 0 — 10 Barrett flied out to center (BX)
0-7 1 — 31 Evans flied out to center (BFBBX)
0-7 2 — 10 Greenwell lined a double down the right field line (BX)
0-7 2 -2- 00 Greenwell to third, Burks to first on an error by the
second baseman Herr (X)
0-7 2 1-3 00 Rice grounded out to first (X)
************** Bottom of the 6th inning, Minnesota batting
0-7 0 — 00 Bush homered deep to right (X)
0-8 0 — 12 Puckett struck out (CSBS)
0-8 1 — 11 Hrbek grounded out to short (BFX)
0-8 2 — 01 Larkin flied out to center (CX)
************** Top of the 7th inning, Boston batting
0-8 0 — 01 Parrish lined out to short (FX)
0-8 1 — 01 Cerone tripled deep to right center (CX)
0-8 1 –3 01 Reed grounded a single up the middle, Cerone scored (CX)
1-8 1 1– 12 Reed to second, Boggs to first on an error by the
shortstop Gagne (BFSX)
1-8 1 12- 21 Barrett grounded a single between third and short, Reed
scored, Boggs to second (CBBX)
Smith now pitching
2-8 1 12- 31 Evans walked, Boggs to third, Barrett to second (CBBBB)
2-8 1 123 22 Greenwell lined out to left, Boggs scored (FFBBX)
3-8 2 12- 00 Burks grounded a double down the third base line, Barrett
scored, Evans scored (X)
5-8 2 -2- 20 Rice lined a single to shallow center, Burks scored, Rice
to second (BBX)
6-8 2 -2- 01 Smith threw a wild pitch, Rice to third (SB)
6-8 2 –3 12 Parrish flied out to left (SB.CX)
************** Bottom of the 7th inning, Minnesota batting
6-8 0 — 21 Newman flied out to left (BCBX)
6-8 1 — 12 Harper grounded out to short (FFFBX)
6-8 2 — 10 Gagne grounded out to short (BX)
************** Top of the 8th inning, Boston batting
Berenguer now pitching
6-8 0 — 11 Cerone grounded a single between first and second (FBX)
6-8 0 1– 30 Reed walked, Cerone to second (BBBB)
6-8 0 12- 32 Boggs walked, Cerone to third, Reed to second (FBFBBB)
Gonzalez now pitching
6-8 0 123 01 Barrett hit a sacrifice fly to center, Cerone scored (CX)
7-8 1 12- 11 Evans grounded out to first, Reed to third, Boggs to
second (BSX)
7-8 2 -23 30 Greenwell was walked intentionally (IIII)
Reardon now pitching
7-8 2 123 12 Burks struck out (SBFFFC)
************** Bottom of the 8th inning, Minnesota batting
7-8 0 — 01 Herr flied out to left (CX)
7-8 1 — 02 Moses popped out to short (SFFX)
7-8 2 — 11 Bush lined a single to shallow right (CBX)
7-8 2 1– 11 Gardner threw a wild pitch, Bush to second (BCB)
7-8 2 -2- 31 Puckett walked (BCB.BB)
7-8 2 12- 22 Hrbek struck out (CBBCFS)
************** Top of the 9th inning, Boston batting
Benzinger pinch hitting for Rice
7-8 0 — 01 Benzinger lined a single between first and second (CX)
7-8 0 1– 12 Parrish struck out (CCBC)
7-8 1 1– 00 Cerone doubled deep to left center, Benzinger to third (X)
7-8 1 -23 00 Reed reached on an infield single to third, Benzinger
scored, Cerone to third (X)
8-8 1 1-3 02 Boggs lined a single to shallow center, Cerone scored,
Reed to second (FFFX)
9-8 1 12- 01 Barrett lined out to center (CX)
9-8 2 12- 02 Evans struck out (CCC)
************** Bottom of the 9th inning, Minnesota batting
Smith now pitching
9-8 0 — 12 Larkin struck out (BCFFC)
Dwyer pinch hitting for Newman
9-8 1 — 12 Dwyer reached on an infield single to second (BCFX)
Gladden pinch running for Dwyer
9-8 1 1– 01 Harper grounded out to second, Gladden to second (C11>X)
9-8 2 -2- 22 Gagne struck out (BCBSS)
