|
THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The Sox can't swing vs the Brewers
June 14, 1986
... Wade Boggs is hurting, and he says with complete
honesty that something is terribly wrong with him. Perhaps it wasn't apparent to
the average fan, who naturally makes allowances for the human side of the
American League batting leader (.379). Boggs did have one of Boston's eight hits
in today's 2-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers before a crowd of 33,784, the
second largest at Fenway Park this year.
But when he struck out
in the eighth inning after being ahead in the
count, 3-and-0, against lefthander Dan Plesac, it
was painfully clear that Boggs has not fully
recovered from the sore ribs he suffered in a freak
accident last Tuesday in Toronto. He flicked feebly
at two fastballs with one out and the bases loaded.
Plesac had just thrown three straight fastballs
that all missed. Then he decided to switch from
working out of a stretch to a full windup, and he
slipped a strike past Boggs. Two pitches later,
Boggs was on his way to the dugout.
It's always surprising when Boggs fails to make
contact. Before today, he had struck out only 18 times all year. Now it is 19,
including five times in the last three games.
Plesac was working in relief of Tim Leary (5-5),
who beat the Sox for the second time in a week. His performance in the eighth
was laudable, but in the ninth, Plesac was reminded it is also nice to be lucky.
After a two-out single by Dwight Evans, Rich Gedman hit a long drive to right,
only to see Rob Deer make a game-saving catch on the warning track for the final
out.
Milwaukee's seven-hit "attack" produced both runs
off Mike Brown (4-3), who got valiant bullpen work by Joe Sambito and Steve
Crawford. Deer drove in the winner with a sacrifice fly in the second inning,
scoring Ben Oglivie, who singled and moved to third on a hit and a walk.
In the seventh, Milwaukee made it 2-0 on a Dale
Sveum single followed by a walk to Charlie Moore and a single by Jim Gantner.
After an intentional walk to Robin Yount, Sambito took over and struck out Cecil
Cooper on three pitches. But it was all for naught as Boston's fourth shutout
loss of the season ended a three-game winning streak.
The Sox could do nothing with Leary, who gave up
seven hits in his 7 1/3 innings. In the eighth, singles by pinch hitter Mike
Stenhouse and Steve Lyons had given Boston a ray of hope, and forced Brewer
manager George Bamberger to his bullpen. Bamberger ignored the percentages and
brought in the lefthanded Plesac to face the righthanded Barrett. When Barrett
walked on a 3-and-2 pitch, the bases were loaded for Boggs, who went ahead and
struck out.
Mike Brown was relieved by lefthander Joe Sambito
and Steve Crawford. Sambito retired four straight lefthanded batters, including
a clutch three-pitch strikeout of Cecil Cooper. Sambito has now prevented 21 of
23 inherited runners from scoring.
Jim Rice got another hit, extending his hitting
streak to seven games. Dwight Evans is hitting .350 in his last six games. |
