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Dick Gernert's 10th inning walk-off homer
wins a thriller against the Orioles

ON THIS DATE (August 28, 1959) ... Dick Gernert pumped his 11th home run, with a man on base, to give the Red Sox a 6 to 4 win, in a 10 inning thriller, against the Orioles. After Gary Geiger flied deep to right to start the tenth, Pete Runnels came through with a base hit, his fourth of the game. Gernert came up next and worked the count to 3-2 against Billy Loes. Then he took hold of a waist-high fastball high into the left field nets for a walk-off game winner.

His smash gave Nelson Chittum his first big league win. Chittum had come in at the start of the eighth inning and held Baltimore scoreless, after Tom Brewer and Mike Fornieles had pitched before him.

The Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead for Brewer, who shut-out the O's for the first six innings. Three consecutive singles by Geiger, Runnels and a little infield squibber by Gene Stephens, gave them their first run in the first inning off Hal Brown. Then Runnels chased home Geiger with a sharp double down the right field line in the third inning, for the second run.

Brewer lost his stuff in the seventh inning when the Orioles brought home four runs, to take a 4-2 lead. Willie Tasby, who had four hits in the game, doubled and Billy Klaus singled. Bob Nieman's grounder brought in the first run and Gene Woodling brought in the tying run with a sacrifice fly.

Billy Jurges then brought in Mike Fornieles, who served up a double to Walt Dropo to bring in the go-ahead run. That was followed by a single by Brooks Robinson, scoring Dropo, for Baltimore's fourth run of the inning.

But the Sox came back with a single run in the seventh inning, on a line double by Frank Malzone that bounced off the wall, and a high fly, wall-ball double by Ted Williams, who pinch-hit for Sammy White.

In the eighth inning, singles by Geiger and Runnels off Billy O'Dell, put runners on the corners for Gernert who came in to hit for Stephens. He tied the game up with a sacrifice fly. And so it remained until the 10th inning.

Runnels and Geiger accounted for seven of the twelve Red Sox hits in the game.

 

F   E   N   W   A   Y     P   A   R   K

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

 

R

H

E

 
 

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

0

0

0

 

4

14

1

 
 

BOSTON RED SOX

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

1

0

2

 

6

12

1

 

 

W-Nelson Chittum (1-0)
L-Billy Loes (4-6)
Attendance: 18,071

 2B-Runnels (Bost), Malzone (Bost), Williams (Bost),
 Klaus (Balt), Dropo (Balt)

 HR-Gernert (Bost)