'85 Bosox take 2 of 3 from '72 Royals

The 85 Boston Red Sox traveled to Kansas City to open up a 3 game series. Game 1 featured Red Sox righty Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd squaring off against the Royals southpaw Jim Rooker. All the scoring in the game came in the 4th inning. Marty Barrett started the Red Sox uprising with a 1 out single to left. Steve Lyons followed up with a single to center to put runners on the corners. After Boyd struck out trying to squeeze, Dwight Evans laced a single to make it 1-0. Wade Boggs rolled a single to left to make it 2-0 and Jim Rice singled to make it 3-0. Kansas City scored twice in the bottom of the inning. Cookie Rojas reached on Bill Buckner’s fielding error, then a rain delay of 41 minutes halted play. Boyd returned to the mound and Amos Otis greeted him with a double to put 2 on and no one out. John Mayberry lofted a sac fly to right to make it 3-1 and Richie Schienblum doubled to make it 3-2. But, that was all the scoring as Boyd cruised through 7.1 innings fanning 6. Bob Stanley picked up his 3rd save working a perfect 9th, fanning 2. Wade Boggs went 3-5, lifting his average to .513.

Game 2 pitted Boston lefty Bruce Hurst against Kansas City righty Mike Hedlund. Boston jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st, highlighted by a Rich Gedman 2 run double and Jim Rice RBI single. Kansas City made it 3-2 with Lou Pinella and Carl Taylor driving in runs. Boston scored a single run in the top of the 2nd, but Kansas City plated 3 in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a Cookie Rojas 2 run double. Paul Schaal homered to left to make it 6-4 KC in the 3rd. Jim Rice drove in another run in the 4th to make it 6-4.In the 7th, Rice made it 6-5 with a solo homer off of Royal reliever Al Fitzmorris to tie the score. Boston took the lead in the 8th to make the comeback complete. The Royals turned to lefty Tom Burgmeier, but Marty Barrett greeted him with a double. Boston went to pinch hitter Tony Armas, who Burgmeier intentionally passed. Billy Buckner singled to load the bases and Wade Boggs hit a bases clearing double to make it 9-6 BoSox. Mark Clear pitched the final 2 innings, striking out 3 to gain his 1st save. Rice ended the game 4-5 with a homer and 4 RBI’s.

Game 3 moved to Boston. Dick Drago (KC) faced off against Al Nipper (Bos) in the series finale. Kansas City plated 2 in the 1st on a Lou Pinella single and 2 in the 2nd on a John Mayberry 2 run double. Kansas City plated single tallies in the 3rd and 5th to race out to a 6-0 lead. Boston began to chip away in the bottom of the 5th as Steve Lyons doubled in their 1st run. Boston plated another run in the 6th on a Bill Buckner ground ball. The Sox had loaded the bases with no one out, but could only manage 1 run. Wade Boggs homered in the 8th to make it 6-3. But that was it as Drago buckled down and shut the door on the Red Sox, going the route scattering 7 hits and striking out 7, raising his record to 2-1. Wade Boggs went 2-3 to raise his ave, to .532. --submitted by Milo Miller--