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Jim Rice's grandslam brings the Sox from behind April 12, 1981 ... Chicago reliever Ed Farmer threw one fastball that wasn't quite where I wanted it and turned to watch Jim Rice's eighth-inning grand slam nestle into the net. And so, with one dramatic swipe, Richard Dotson's bid for a no-hitter became a parenthetical clause to a storming 5-4 Boston victory over the White Sox that gave the new manager and new Red Sox their first win before 21,439 in Fenway. It was like a football game in which one team had the ball in the other's territory for 48 minutes and lost. Dotson had his no-hitter until Dwight Evans led off the bottom of the seventh with a sharp hopper off the glove of third baseman Jim Morrison. It was 3-0 with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the eighth, with the help of a big pickoff throw by Gary Allenson and a running catch by Rick Miller on an eighth-inning drive by Harold Baines that in July would have been 20 rows up in the bleachers. But this is Fenway, where a couple of bloops, a single and a walk brought it all down to one pitch. Dotson had his two-hit shutout rolling with two out, none on in the eighth. But with right fielder Baines, playing deep and off to right-center, looking for Dotson to throw heat to Miller, the 22- year-old righthander threw a changeup which Miller dropped into shallow right for a double. Jerry Remy then got another changeup and looped a single into center making it 3-1. Exit Dotson. Farmer's first problem was that he couldn't get his curveball over, the pitch he came up with two years ago that makes his fastball so good. So he got behind Dave Stapleton, who then jumped on the fastball and roped a base hit. Two on. He missed with three to Dwight Evans and walked him to load the bases and bring up Rice. The pitch was supposed to be inside, off the plate. But the ball just stayed right out over the plate. The ball roared into the screen to make the score 5-3. And soon, with travails, Mark Clear finished off his first win in a Boston uniform After walking three in 28 innings in Florida, Frank Tanana began by walking Ron LeFlore, who, a stolen base and bunt later, was on third. Fisk hit one shot into the net a couple of feet outside the foul pole, then drilled a double off The Wall. 1-0. But from there, Tanana began working, and the one big help he had was in the fourth when, with two on, two out and a 2-1 count on the dangerous Rider in the Storm, Morrison, Allenson picked Rusty Kuntz off first. Morrison's double with one out and Kuntz on in the seventh forced Houk to have Tony Bernazard walked and Tanana pitch to Billy Almon, who hit a cue shot through the box. Enter Mark Clear for a DP. The no-hitter was lost in the bottom of the seventh when Evans spiked a tough hopper which ricocheted off Morrison's glove. Anyway, after a forceout later, Tony Perez blooped a clean single to right, but when Carney Lansford flied to LeFlore three steps in front of the warning track, LeFlore shocked everyone by throwing Rice out at the plate. With two on in the top of the eighth, Baines jacked a shot into the wind on which Miller got a great jump and grabbed on the run in the V, some 410 feet away. Even after Rice's homer and the 5-3 lead, the fun wasn't over. Morrison took Clear into the net to lead off the ninth, and after one out, Bob Molinaro, who started the trouble Friday with a pinch- hit walk, came off the bench and did the same today. Clear, in fact, went into a wild streak of six straight balls, going to 2-0 on LeFlore. LeFlore fouled a 2-1 hit- and-run. After fouling two 3-2 pitches, he got another fastball right down the gut and, with Molinaro breaking, hit a quail to Glenn Hoffman. Easy double play. |
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