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The Sox explode in the sixth to come from behind July 5, 1971 ... The first Yankee batter gave an indication of things to come. Gene Michael, who usually just taps the ball around, hit a windblown fly to left-field off Gary Peters and it sailed into the net for a home run. From there until Ken Tatum scraped out of trouble, Fenway Park was a wild scene, with the Red Sox hitting four home runs and finally beating the Yankees 12 to 7. The Sox trailed 5 to 0, before they got a chance to bat, tied the game at 5 to 5 in the second inning, went behind 6 to 5 in the fourth, tied it 6 to 6 in the fifth, trailed 7 to 6 in the sixth and then set off the big explosion in the bottom of the inning, to score 6 runs and eventually put the game away. It was Rico Petrocelli's base clearing triple to left-center, off Lindy McDaniel, that put the Sox ahead for good. With the count at 2-2, McDaniel through a hard slider which Rico took with two outs. Umpire John Rice called it a ball, but if he had raised his right hand the inning was over. The Yankees squealed about the decision and really whined when Rico took the next pitch off the wall for a triple. Three more runs then clattered across the plate when George Scott slammed a home run into the screen and Joe Lahoud launched his third round tripper into days. It was a liner into the seats where the corner of the bleachers meets the flagpole. There didn't seem to be much hope when Peters was driven from the mound in one third of an inning, with four runs home. Bob Bolin replaced Peters, worked through the sixth and got credit for the win. With a man like Mel Stottlemyre on the mound and a five-run lead, the day looked long and bleak. After Michaels hit his home run, Bobby Murcer singled, Roy White was hit by a pitch and then Felipe Alou homered. Danny Cater then singled, Ron Swoboda singled and Peters left the game. Bolin came in but gave up a run-scoring single to Stottlemyre. But until Bolin was yanked for a pinch-hitter in the sixth, he gave up only one run, in the fourth on a home run by Murcer, and another run in the sixth on three singles. The 5 2/3 innings that he worked, was his longest stretch for the Red Sox this year. It is a wonder why the manager Ralph Houck stayed was Stottlemyre until the seventh inning. In the first inning, Reggie Smith hit his 16th home run into the left-field net with two men on. Stottlemyre gave up two more in the second inning when Yastrzemski singled through the box for two more runs. John Kennedy (.337 BA) got a base hit with two outs for the first of his three hits. Luis Aparicio singled with his second of four hits, and Yastrzemski brought them home to tie up the game at 5 to 5. Murcer's long home run put the Yankees back on top in the fourth inning, but Rico tied everything back up with a drive over everything in left, in the fifth inning. Consecutive singles by Thurman Munson, Murcer and White put the Yankees ahead 7 to 6, in the sixth inning. But in the bottom half of the inning, there was one out when the eruption started for the Red Sox. Kennedy singled and went to third on a hit-and-run play, executed beautifully by after Aparicio. After Reggie struck out, Yaz walked and Rico came to the plate. McDaniel didn't try anything fancy with the bases loaded and everybody moving on the final pitch. But Rico slammed the ball hard and it almost went out of the park. There was still a little more to worry about in the ninth, when the Yankees had the bases loaded, on a double, a hit batsman and a single. Ken Tatum was on the mound and Horace Clarke hit one back to him. He shoveled the ball forward and had but one play. It was at the plate and he beat Alou coming home. He underhanded it quickly to Duane Josephson for the out. The last Yankee batter grounded out and another one of those old-fashioned Red Sox and Yankees slugfests came to an end. |
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