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MORE OF "MORGAN'S MAGIC"
(BUT NOT ENOUGH)
Jack Clark breaks out of his
slump
with a bloop home run
September
17, 1991 ... Jack Clark was in a 2-for-23
slump, but he stepped up against Orioles starter Jose Mesa in the
sixth inning and lofted a fly ball to right field. It kept drifting
in a stiff wind, over to Pesky's Pole.
If there
was such a thing as hard work paying off, it did for Clark. It wasn't exactly
what he planned, but the results were more far-reaching than he could imagine,
especially because of a right knee injury to Mike Greenwell in the third inning.
By the
fourth inning, you didn't recognize the outfield. Ellis Burks, bad back. Gone.
Tom Brunansky, new son. Gone. Now Greenwell.
Greenwell
didn't even attempt his usual slide into first but ended up on the ground in
pain. He was attended to by trainer Charlie Moss and left the field with the aid
of Moss to a mixed ovation.
He was
replaced in left field by Phil Plantier, who moved over from right field. And
galloping out of the dugout was Carlos Quintana. The Q, who has established
himself as the team's best defensive first baseman, immediately was pressed into
action, taking Randy Milligan's leadoff fly. Plantier also made a nice catch of
a Leo Gomez liner at the scoreboard in the sixth.
With an
outfield of Plantier-Lyons-Quintana, the Sox carried on. The Q moved to first in
the seventh after Clark's homer, with Bob Zupcic taking over in right.
Starter
Kevin Morton was drilled for a two-run homer in the first inning by Glenn Davis,
his eighth, and a second-inning leadoff homer by Leo Gomez, but settled into a
nice rhythm in subsequent innings. Morton, who lasted six innings, threw 97
pitches, 44 in the first two innings.
The Red
Sox struck in the second on Wade Boggs' two-run double to the left field corner.
Vaughn walked to start the inning off Mesa. After one out, Tony Pena doubled to
left field. With runners at second and third and two outs, Boggs struck with his
39th double, overtaking Jody Reed for the team lead.
The game
remained status quo until the fifth when Luis Rivera doubled to left field.
Boggs moved Rivera to third on a grounder to second, and Rivera scored the tying
run on Reed's grounder to shortstop.
Clark's 23rd home run will not go down as his most
prodigious blast, but it did break a tie and give the Sox a 4-3 victory. Jeff
Reardon finished off the Orioles in the ninth for his 40th save. |
