After losing 3 of 4 in Milwaukee, the Sox traveled to Toronto and topped the sixth-place Blue Jays, 4-3. Jeff Sellers had one of his better starts, going 6 1/3 innings and surrendering 6 hits and 3 runs before giving way to Steve Crawford.
Back-to-back homers by Jim Rice and Don Baylor tied it at 3-3 in the fifth, and it stayed that way until the tenth when, in an unusual move, John McNamara used three straight pinch hitters. The Jays walked injured Wade Boggs to load the bases for Mike Stenhouse, who became the hero by also walking to force in the winner. It was one of the few good at bats for Stenhouse, who would end the season with an .095 average.
Roger Clemens went to 11-0 the next night in Toronto, a 3-2 victory which tied Roger Moret’s Sox mark for wins at the beginning of a season. A rain delay of 2:47 failed to stop the Rocket, who allowed 4 hits in 8 innings. He left with a 3-1 lead and Bob Stanley staggered to his tenth save. Baylor’s three-run homer in the fourth provided the winning margin.
Returning to Fenway, the Bosox ran their winning streak to 3 as Oil Can Boyd triumphed over the Brewers 5-3 to pick up his eighth win against 4 defeats. The Sox broke a 1-1 deadlock in the fifth when Dwight Evans doubled in Jim Rice, and Rich Gedman hit another double to drive in Baylor, who had walked. Typically for the Can, he arrived late for the game. Asked whether the traffic from the Celtics championship parade delayed him, he snapped: “Get the bleep away from here. I ain’t late.”
The Brewers were still a tough team, however, still alive in the AL East race. They showed it the next night at Fenway before 33,964, the second highest crowd of the year. Tim Leary and Dan Plesac combined for a 2-0 victory, allowing 8 hits, all singles. A good effort by Sox starter Mike Brown was wasted.
Former Sox reliever Mark Clear, the target of many boos in the last days of his Boston career, picked up a save the next day, as Sellers was hit hard for 8 hits and 6 runs in 61/3 innings for a 7-3 defeat. It didn’t help that Boggs reinjured his rib and left in the second inning. Clear, who had a large number of blown saves even in his best years here, pitched 2 shutout innings to nail it down for starter Juan Nieves.
Preparing to go to Yankee Stadium for a showdown series with the Bombers, who trailed by only 3 1/2 games, Boston stood at 40-21. Boggs still led the majors with a .390 mark, and Rice, who had been on a tear, was seventh in the AL at .326. Baylor was leading the team with 15 homers and 44 rbi’s.
Only one AL pitcher could approach Clemens’ 11-0 record. It was Mike Boddicker of the Orioles at 9-1; a few years later, Clemens and Boddicker would be teammates on the Sox.
The Mets, at 40-16, led Montreal by 10 1/2 games.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
