Escaping the horrors of the Oakland Coliseum, the Townies continued their road swing in Anaheim and Baltimore, hoping for more success. They did achieve some, but most of their help came from the ongoing problems of the Tigers.
The Sox bullpen, up and down all season, gave a strong performance in a 4-2 victory over the Angels. Starter Wes Gardner left after 5 innings with a 2-0 deficit, but Bob Stanley and Lee Smith each hurled two perfect frames, as Boston rallied with 4 in the sixth. The big hit was a three-run homer by Larry Parrish, who was providing some power at first and DH. LA took the second contest by a 3-2 count. Bruce Hurst, AL Pitcher of the Month for August, appeared headed for another victory, carrying a 2-1 lead into the seventh. But two bad throws on an attempted squeeze play by Parrish and Hurst himself led to a pair of unearned tallies. Steve Finley got the win for the Angels as Bryan Harvey picked up the save. It was the third time on the trip that the Sox had lost a chance to move into a first place tie, as Detroit continued to scuffle.
The following game was one in which one of Joe Morgan's hunches exploded in his face. Hooked up an a 1-1 tie entering the eighth, Morgan relieved Mike Boddicker with Dennis Lamp. With two away, Lamp gave up a bunt single and walk. With Stanley available, Walpole Joe went instead to rookie southpaw Mike Rochford, making his first big-league appearence. On a 1-2 pitch, Wally Joyner smashed a single to right for the winning run. Asked about it following the game, Morgan typically replied "I'm not afraid to use people. You can see that." If the Sox had lost the division by a game, Joe might have been subjected to Don Zimmer-like criticism. The incident, however, was soon forgotten, as was Rochford himself.
Roger Clemens went in game four to try to earn a split. Though the Rocket was still off his game, Boston bats awoke for a 6-5 victory in 10 innings. Clemens surrendered 4 in the second and left in the seventh, allowing 8 hits and 5 tallies. The Townies reached starter Dan Petry (now a part-time Sox color man) and three relievers for 10 hits, including a game winning homer by Parrish. Continuing strong, Stanley got the victory and Smith the save. Since Detroit lost to Milwaukee, the Sox finally got back into a tie for the division lead.
A trip to Baltimore, where the Orioles stood at 48-88, resulted in two more victories. First in-and-out Mike Smithson went 6 innings in a 4-1 win, backed by homers from Parrish and Dewey Evans, who contributed 3 hits and 3 rbi's. More importantly, the Tigers' 11th loss in 13 games pushed the Sox into the lead alone for the first time since 1986. More good news followed, as Wes Gardner hurled the first and only complete game of his career, a 6-1 triumph over the woeful O's. Greenwell, hitting as well as he ever would, had 3 rbi's to lead a 13-hit attack. A Detroit loss to Toronto pushed the lead to two games.
With a chance to end the trip over .500, however, the Townies failed. Smith carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth, but had to leave with a neck pull as a man stood on first with one away. Stanley-evoking some bad memories of 86- walked two to fill the bases. Billy Ripken then singled to tie the contest. In front of a five-man infield, Bob got brother Cal to ground to short. Jody Reed went to second for the forceout, but Todd Benzinger muffed Marty Barrett's relay, and the winning run scored. A Detroit win cut the lead to one.
It had been a tough grind, but at least the Bosox returned to Fenway in first place. 23 games remained, but they were all against the mediocre Eastern Division. The team was hitting well, with seven regulars over .280. Their homer total had jumped to over 100. Clemens, Hurst, and Boddicker were three dependable starters, and Gardner and Smithson were also contributing. The bullpen was okay, if not great. The West Coast trips were over. The Magic Men could finally see the light at the end of their tunnel.
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