Fred Lynn's sinking liner to center with the bases loaded brought home the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, and Boston would tack on one more run to take Game 2 by a 4-2 count. The all-time Red Sox now lead their best of five ALDS with the Tigers 2-0 and could get the brooms out in Motown.
This contest featured a pitching duel between two franchise power arms in Pedro Martinez and Justin Verlander. However, the matchup fell short of the hype. Verlander only allowed 5 hits in his 6 innings of work, but he didn't register one strikeout and walked two batters. He also surrendered a 1-0 lead in the sixth as Carl Yastrzemski atoned for an error in the second inning, driving a mammoth two-run homer to deep center.
Pedro Martinez deserved a better fate as he was not charged with an earned run. A dropped fly ball by Yastrzemski led to the game's first run, and then Detroit tied it on a three-base error by Jim Rice as a liner off the bat of Tigers' DH Harry Heilmann skipped by him and rolled to the fence. Martinez struck out 4 Tigers and was touched up for 6 hits in 6.2 innings of work.
With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth, the Tigers opted for lefty Hank Aguirre to face Ted Williams and David Ortiz. Aguirre spent 10 years with Detroit and was 64-64 with a 3.29 ERA. He was used primarily as a reliever in his earlier years in but enjoyed his only all - star season in 1962 as a starter going 16-8 with a league-leading 2.21 ERA. He would be in the starting rotation for the next 3 seasons and logged a 33-35 record during that time.
Willams drew his third free pass of the game to lead off the eighth. The "Splendid Splinter" has been an on-base machine in this series going 4-5 with 3 walks, 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. David Ortiz then followed Williams with a single. After Aguirre struck out Dwight Evans, who came on to pinch hit for Yastrzemski, Detroit intentionally walked Jim Rice. This loaded the bases and set up another lefty on lefty matchup between Fred Lynn and Aguirre in hopes of initiating an inning-ending double play. Lynn made the Tigers pay with his knock to center making Aguirre 0-3 facing lefthanded Sawx batters and ending his night as the losing pitcher.
Boston has also been getting terrific relief pitching from Dick Radatz. "The Monster" tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up the win. He now has 3.1 innings of work to his credit as he set down 6 batters in order in Game 1, three on strikeouts.
Koji Uehara, who authored a magical 2013 campaign in Boston's World Series win, picked up the save. Uehara had a 1.09 ERA in 73 appearances in 2013 and struck out 101 batters in only 74.1 innings pitched picking up 21 saves in the process. In the 2013 playoffs, he had 7 saves and only allowed 6 hits in 13.2 IP. Ironically, he was the 2013 ALCS MVP against Detroit as the Sawx ousted the Tigers in 6 games.
Boston will try to close this series out sending Luis Tiant to the mound at Comerica Park to face the Tigers' Denny McLain. To check out the other Sawx series I'm blogging on featuring the 1975 Red Sox, click on Sensational 70s.
Willams drew his third free pass of the game to lead off the eighth. The "Splendid Splinter" has been an on-base machine in this series going 4-5 with 3 walks, 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. David Ortiz then followed Williams with a single. After Aguirre struck out Dwight Evans, who came on to pinch hit for Yastrzemski, Detroit intentionally walked Jim Rice. This loaded the bases and set up another lefty on lefty matchup between Fred Lynn and Aguirre in hopes of initiating an inning-ending double play. Lynn made the Tigers pay with his knock to center making Aguirre 0-3 facing lefthanded Sawx batters and ending his night as the losing pitcher.
Boston has also been getting terrific relief pitching from Dick Radatz. "The Monster" tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up the win. He now has 3.1 innings of work to his credit as he set down 6 batters in order in Game 1, three on strikeouts.
Koji Uehara, who authored a magical 2013 campaign in Boston's World Series win, picked up the save. Uehara had a 1.09 ERA in 73 appearances in 2013 and struck out 101 batters in only 74.1 innings pitched picking up 21 saves in the process. In the 2013 playoffs, he had 7 saves and only allowed 6 hits in 13.2 IP. Ironically, he was the 2013 ALCS MVP against Detroit as the Sawx ousted the Tigers in 6 games.
Boston will try to close this series out sending Luis Tiant to the mound at Comerica Park to face the Tigers' Denny McLain. To check out the other Sawx series I'm blogging on featuring the 1975 Red Sox, click on Sensational 70s.
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