Baseball Roundup : Yankees Bounce Back on Red Sox Error

Ever since the Boston Red Sox started winning and became a contender in the American League East, they have been calling Manager Joe Morgan the miracle man.

Maybe it’s going to his head. In Boston’s 5-4 loss to the Yankees Saturday at New York, which kept the Yankees’ slim title hopes alive, Morgan did the unbelievable.

He pinch-hit for Wade Boggs, the best hitter in baseball.

The Red Sox lost it, though, when rookie shortstop Jody Reed booted a ground ball with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and Morgan now has two unhappy players on his hands, Boggs and pitcher Mike Boddicker.

And the Yankees, who trailed, 4-3, and seemed on the verge of elimination going into their last at-bat, have new life. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 4 1/2 games and, with 8 games left, still need a combination of 5 victories and/or Yankee defeats to clinch the division title. Detroit, rained out at Baltimore, is 5 games back.

To Morgan’s credit, his surprising move in the top of the ninth actually worked, and it put the Sox in front, if only momentarily.

There were Boston runners on first and third with nobody out and Lee Guetterman, not one of the all-time great left-handers, on the mound when Morgan sent in the right-handed Jim Rice, a .249 hitter, to bat for the lefty-swinging Boggs, batting .362. Rice grounded out as the go-ahead run scored.

Boggs, bothered by a foot injury suffered in batting practice a couple of days ago, picked up his bats and went from the dugout to the clubhouse.

“I calmly walked back here and put my game bats and batting gloves away,” he said. “I didn’t come in here to break toilets or bats.

“I don’t remember ever having someone bat for me. He’s the manager. I don’t second-guess. Left-hander, right-hander, go with the odds.”

Boddicker wasn’t happy either. He had a 3-0 lead, but when Rickey Henderson led off the seventh with a single, Morgan gave Boddicker the hook, and the Yankees tied the game.

Strangely, the first two games of the series have been settled by Boston shortstops. Friday night, Spike Owen, who lost the job to Reed, singled in 2 runs, giving the Red Sox a 10-9 win in the ninth.

Lee Smith, who had posted saves in nine consecutive opportunities, came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. But he lost his save opportunity in a hurry when Henderson walked, stole his 87th base, took third on a wild pitch and scored on clutch-hitting Claudell Washington’s booming double.

It appeared that Smith would escape defeat when, with the bases loaded and two out, Willie Randolph, in a deep slump, hit a routine grounder to short.

The ball bounced up and hit Reed in the chest and bounded away as the winning run scored.

It was only the 10th error for Reed this season.

Said Morgan: “We let them off the hook today just as they did last night with us.”

Cincinnati 2, Atlanta 1--Before Orel Hershiser started his shutout string, it seemed certain that left-hander Danny Jackson would win the Cy Young Award.

His consolation, after pitching a 4-hitter at Atlanta to improve his record to 23-7, was that it delayed the Dodgers’ Western Division title celebration at least for a day.

Ron Gant homered on Jackson’s second pitch to spoil the shutout. It was Jackson’s 15th complete game.

Oakland 5, Milwaukee 2--It seemed fitting that Dave Stewart, their best pitcher, would win his 20th game while providing the Athletics with their 100th victory.

Stewart (20-12) gave up 8 hits in 8 innings at Milwaukee as the Athletics practically eliminated the Brewers in the East. This is the second straight year that Stewart has won 20.

Dennis Eckersley got the final out to pick up his 44th save, and Mark McGwire, warming up for the playoffs, hit his 30th home run.

New York Mets 14, St. Louis 1--Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog had said early in the week that he would not let versatile Jose Oquendo play every position. But when this game at St. Louis got out of hand, he relented.

Oquendo became the first player in the National League to play all positions in a game in 70 years.