Boston has been making a habit of being giant killers as they unseated the '79 Orioles last series and did the same to the visiting '77 Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox were beneficiaries of good fortune taking the first two games of the series. Game one starter Reggie Cleveland was Houdini-esque as Chicago feasted on his offerings to a tune of .368 and pounded three homers. Despite not missing many bats, Cleveland managed to induced four double plays, all started by veteran Carl Yastrzemski (see below) to limit the damage, and the three long balls were also all solo shots. One of those was drilled by Chicago third baseman Eric Soderholm tying him with American League leader Reggie Jackson. Sawx DH Cecil Cooper delivered the game winning kill shot in the fourth, a two run job down the right field line. Love the bat flip as he pimps the homer below. Boston took this one 6-3
A strikeout sparked the Red Sox in the second game. Down 1-0 in the fourth with runners on the corners and two out, Dwight Evans would strike out on a Francisco Barrios slider low and away, so far away that it found its way to the backstop. Evans made it to first uncontested, and Fred Lynn came home from third to count,tying the game. Carlton Fisk and Rico Petrocelli added consecutive RBI singles to push Boston to a 3-1 lead, and they never looked back notching two more in the fifth to chase Barrios in another 6-3 victory. Roger Moret battle through 5 innings but it was enough for the win to push his record to 5-2. The White Sox did put up 2 runs in the sixth, but that was just enough to allow a save opportunity for Dick Drago. He went 2 innings and reduced his ERA to 1.91.
With Bill Lee and Luis Tiant slated to finish the series, a possible sweep was conceivable for Boston. Unfortunately, Bill Lee was slow out of the gate in the third game, and the home team was down 3-0 before they got a chance to hit. Lee tossed 22 pitches in the first inning giving up 4 hits, a walk, and uncorked a wild pitch. Boston was unable to string anything together to pose a threat against Chicago's Ken Brett and dropped this one 4-2. In the last game, Luis Tiant suffered his worst beating of the season giving up six runs on six hits while walking four. Two of those walks came with the bases loaded as Tiant was unable to harness command of his offerings. It was his shortest outing of the season as he would last only 1.1 innings. The bullpen was unable to provide relief as Diego Segui was also under siege allowing 5 hits and 4 runs in 1.2 innings. Boston was hammered 11-3 and with those final two wins, the White Sox pulled within 1.5 games of the Central Division leading Royals
With the calendar reading July 3rd, this would be the first time Boston lost two games in a row since June 17 and 18 when they dropped a three game series at home to the Twins. Boston is one of the hottest teams in baseball as they haven't lost a series since that last two game skid against Minnesota. The Red Sox are 13-7 in their last 20 games and 7-3 in their last ten. Currently Boston is 4.5 games out of first place but owns an impressive 23-15 record within the division.
On the offensive side of the ledger, in the last ten games, Fred Lynn has been heating up along with Petrocelli and Cooper as can be seen below. I'll have a complete season recap of league leaders and stats after the Houston series as Boston heads into the all- star break.
Boston now heads to Houston for their last series before the all-star break. They will run the gauntlet in this series as they will face the formidable trio of Bob Forsch (12-1), Vern Ruhle (11-3) and J.R. Richard (10-5) who together have combined to give the Astros the third best ERA in the Majors. As can be seen below, the Red Sox staff is also one of the Majors best in overall ERA but the back end of the rotation will have to step up in order to keep the Astros at bay in the AL Wildcard race.
A strikeout sparked the Red Sox in the second game. Down 1-0 in the fourth with runners on the corners and two out, Dwight Evans would strike out on a Francisco Barrios slider low and away, so far away that it found its way to the backstop. Evans made it to first uncontested, and Fred Lynn came home from third to count,tying the game. Carlton Fisk and Rico Petrocelli added consecutive RBI singles to push Boston to a 3-1 lead, and they never looked back notching two more in the fifth to chase Barrios in another 6-3 victory. Roger Moret battle through 5 innings but it was enough for the win to push his record to 5-2. The White Sox did put up 2 runs in the sixth, but that was just enough to allow a save opportunity for Dick Drago. He went 2 innings and reduced his ERA to 1.91.
With Bill Lee and Luis Tiant slated to finish the series, a possible sweep was conceivable for Boston. Unfortunately, Bill Lee was slow out of the gate in the third game, and the home team was down 3-0 before they got a chance to hit. Lee tossed 22 pitches in the first inning giving up 4 hits, a walk, and uncorked a wild pitch. Boston was unable to string anything together to pose a threat against Chicago's Ken Brett and dropped this one 4-2. In the last game, Luis Tiant suffered his worst beating of the season giving up six runs on six hits while walking four. Two of those walks came with the bases loaded as Tiant was unable to harness command of his offerings. It was his shortest outing of the season as he would last only 1.1 innings. The bullpen was unable to provide relief as Diego Segui was also under siege allowing 5 hits and 4 runs in 1.2 innings. Boston was hammered 11-3 and with those final two wins, the White Sox pulled within 1.5 games of the Central Division leading Royals
With the calendar reading July 3rd, this would be the first time Boston lost two games in a row since June 17 and 18 when they dropped a three game series at home to the Twins. Boston is one of the hottest teams in baseball as they haven't lost a series since that last two game skid against Minnesota. The Red Sox are 13-7 in their last 20 games and 7-3 in their last ten. Currently Boston is 4.5 games out of first place but owns an impressive 23-15 record within the division.
On the offensive side of the ledger, in the last ten games, Fred Lynn has been heating up along with Petrocelli and Cooper as can be seen below. I'll have a complete season recap of league leaders and stats after the Houston series as Boston heads into the all- star break.
Boston now heads to Houston for their last series before the all-star break. They will run the gauntlet in this series as they will face the formidable trio of Bob Forsch (12-1), Vern Ruhle (11-3) and J.R. Richard (10-5) who together have combined to give the Astros the third best ERA in the Majors. As can be seen below, the Red Sox staff is also one of the Majors best in overall ERA but the back end of the rotation will have to step up in order to keep the Astros at bay in the AL Wildcard race.
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