The "Sack the Mack" crew was out in force in early May, as the Sox began to stumble. The World Champion Twins had started slowly, but gave the Townies trouble in the Twin Cities. First Frank Viola shut them out for the second time by a 5-0 count. Boston was limited to 7 singles, as Viola walked one and fanned 6. The next night, Bert Blyleven did the job with another complete game effort, throwing a seven-hitter in a 5-2 victory. Rookie Steve Ellsworth continued to disappoint, being tagged for 7 hits and 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Sox had now dropped 6 of 7. They had managed only one extra-base hit in two days at the Metrodome and had fallen to fifth place with a 15-12 mark. The hitters did break out in the final game at Minnesota, with 10 hits in a 10-6 drubbing. The Sox trailed 4-2 after three, but outscored the home squad 8-2 over the next three frames. Led by Ellis Burks, who went 3 for 5, the top four Boston hitters combined for 10 hits, 10 rbi's, 2 homers and a triple. Burks and Dwight Evans each connected for homers and Wade Boggs also smashed 3 hits. But there was a downside, as Oil Can Boyd continued to struggle. He was removed after 5, having been reached for 6 hits and 6 runs, 4 earned Wes Gardner and Lee Smith shut down Minnesota in relief.
As the Sox headed for KC, Dan Shaughnessy, who admitted that he and John McNamara had had a sometimes contentious relationship, cautioned fans not to get too far down on the beleaguered skipper. At one point in the piece, Shaughnessy disagreed with the perception that Mac slept in the dugout and was not really in charge. "It's not that way at all," Marty Barrett was quoted as saying. He just doesn't move around a lot….He is not a rah-rah guy like Bobby Valentine." Hmmm-where have we heard that name before?
Serving as stopper, Roger Clemens put down the mediocre Royals 2-0 in KC in his best performance of the year. The Rocket hurled a three-hitter, with one walk and a season-high 16 K's, beating Mark Gubicza, who also pitched well. But the good feelings lasted only a day. For the first time all year, Bruce Hurst was hit hard, permitting 14 hits and 5 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings for a 7-2 defeat. Bo Jackson reached Hurst for 4 safeties, with Steve Balboni and Willie Williams contributing three. For the second time, Royals lefty Floyd Bannister got the victory.
The Bosox returned home to face lowly Seattle, and things looked up at first. On a Friday the 13th, Mike Greenwell led a 14-8 drubbing with 2 homers and 4 rbi's. Boggs had 4 hits and Evans and Rick Cerone 3 each. But despite getting the win, Boyd, who was barely speaking to the press by now, surrendered 10 hits and 6 runs in 6 innings. Clemens continued to roll the next day, with a 3-0 shutout to run his mark to 6-1 despite pitching with a balky knee. Roger uncharacteristically walked 5, but fanned 10.
Sometimes headlines seem to bring on jinxes. A day after a John Powers article in the Globe was entitled "Boston Relief Stellar" (a 2.35 ERA with 16 runs allowed), the closer imploded in shocking fashion. After a three-run Sox rally in the eighth tied the score at 7, a crowd of 33,000 saw star reliever Lee Smith surrender 4 in the ninth in an 11-7 loss. The inning began innocently enough for Smith with a pair of strikeouts. But those were the last batters he retired, as a walk, two singles, a triple and another single produced four. Smith, who then gave way to Bob Stanley, saw his ERA rise from 0.66 to 3.14.
As of May 16, the Sox were at 19-14, still just 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees. Cerone, Burks, Boggs, Greenwell, Barrett, and Todd Benzinger were all hitting over .300, but only Greenie had as many as 4 homers. Part-time DH Sam Horn stood at .167, Spike Owen .155. Clemens was 6-1 and 1.78, but Hurst's ERA had fallen to 3.99, Boyd's to 5.27. As,the Sox prepared to entertain the 26-10 Oakland A's, they were obviously hurting.
