KOD24: 1988 Boston Red Sox move on to KOD 24 Championship by defeating 1958 Cleveland Indians

1988 Boston Red Sox
American League East Champions

1958 Cleveland Indians
American League Wild Card

VS

King of Diamonds #24

American League Championship Series

Best of 7 Series

GM 1 - October 11

Fenway Park, Boston, MA
67 Degrees, 19 mph in from LCF
Cal McLish (6-2) vs Bruce Hurst (5-2)

Boston wins 4-1

WP: Bruce Hurst (6-2) - 9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
LP: Cal McLish (6-3) - 6.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
SV: None
HR: None
GWRBI: Dwight Evans

MVP: Bruce Hurst (9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, WIN)

The Red Sox, fresh off an emotional series with the New York Yankess, got just what they needed from starter Bruce Hurst. Hurst was dominant from the start and in the 4th inning got the backing he needed thanks to an RBI single by Dwight Evans and a 2 RBI knock by Todd Benzinger. The Sox added an insurance run in the 7th when Ellis Burks knocked in Marty Barrett. But that was more than Hurst would need as he held the Indians down and only allowed a single run in the 5th when Roger Maris, who doubled to lead off the inning, came around to score on a single off the bat of Mickey Vernon.

GM 2 - October 12
Fenway Park, Boston,MA
57 Degrees, Clear, Rain, 10 mph in from CF
Gary Bell (6-1) vs Mike Boddicker (3-1)

Cleveland wins 6-4

WP: Gary Bell (7-1) - 7.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
LP: Mike Boddicker (3-2) - 7 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
SV: Hoyt Wilhelm (SV 6) - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, (SV 6)
HR: Minnie Minoso (9), Mike Greenwell (7)
GW RBI: Vic Power

MVP: Minnie Minoso (2-3, R, 4 RBI, BB, HR)

One bad inning for Mike Boddicker and the series is even at 1 game a piece. Boddicker gave up all 6 runs in the 3rd inning allowing 2 walks and then a big grand slam to Minnie Minoso. Cleveland starter Gary Bell was solid until he ran out of gas after struggling through the 6th and 7th innings. Hoyt Wilhelm shut the Sox bats down for the final 4 outs of the game to pick up the save and send the series to Cleveland even at a game a piece. Mike Greenwell (2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR) had a good game in a losing effort for Boston

GM 3 - October 14
Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, OH
59 Degrees, 14 mph Right to Left
Roger Clemens (10-1) vs Don Mossi (4-4)

Boston wins 8-1

WP: Roger Clemens (11-1) - 9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
LP: Don Mossi (4-5) - 4.2 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
SV: None
HR: None
GW RBI : Jim Rice

MVP: Roger Clemens (9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, WIN)

Boston ace, Roger Clemens, followed the game 1 lead of his fellow top of rotation mate, Bruce Hurst, and shut down the tough Indians lineup with a complete game 4 hit, 6 strikeout performance. The Indians actually jumped on Clemens with a run in the 2nd to take a brief lead. But, the Sox bats woke up in the top of the 3rd and never looked back. They scored 2 in the 3rd, 2 in the 4th and 3 more in the 5th to push out to a 7-1 lead. They would add another in the 7th and cruise to an 8-1 victory. Wade Boggs (4-5, R, 3 RBI, 2 2B) and Ellis Burks (3-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB) were the offensive catalysts at the top of the Boston lineup. Jim Rice picked up 2 big doubles while driving in 2 and scoring another.

GM 4 - October 15
Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, OH
62 Degrees, Clear, 14 mph Right to Left
Wes Gardenr (2-2) vs Mudcat Grant (6-4)

Boston wins 6-4

WP: Wes Gardner (3-2) - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
LP: Mudcat Grant (6-5) - 4 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 9 BB, 0 K
SV: Lee Smith (SV 11) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: Ellis Burks (5), Mickey Vernon (11), Larry Doby 2(11)
GW RBI: Ellis Burks

MVP: Ellis Burks (2-3, 2 R< 3 RBI, 2 BB, HR)

Mudcat Grant struggled from the start with his control and ended up walking 9 Boston batters and recording just 12 outs. Grant also commited a big error and the Red Sox took advantage of all the help and jumped out to a 5-0 lead thru the top of the 3rd. The Indians would battle throughout this game led by slugger Larry Doby (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR). But in the end, the Sox would hold on thanks to a Lee Smith shut down 9th inning. Smith did give up a lead off HR to Doby but then struck out Minnie Minoso, Russ Nixon and Vic Wertz to push the Indians to the brink of elimination.

GM 5 - October 16
Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, OH
62 Degress, 15 mph in from RCF
Oil Can Boyd (2-3) vs Cal McLish (6-3)

Boston wins 7-6 in 11 innings

WP: Lee Smith (2-2) - 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 57 PITCHES
LP: Hoyt Wilhelm (1-1) - 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
SV: NONE
HR: Mike Greenwell (8), Rocky Colavito (14), Mickey Vernon (12)
GWRBI: None (winning run scored on Wild Pitch)

MVP: Mike Greenwell (2-5, R, 4 RBI, BB, HR)

It took five games but we finally got the signature classic game from this series. Both teams had chances to win but both seemed to find ways to extend the game instead of seal it away. Ultimately the game was decided on a wild pitch by Hoyt Wilhelm that scored Wade Boggs with the go ahead run in the top of the 11th inning. The fact that the game went that long was a surprise as the Sox jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the 5th when the Red Sox turned 2 McLish walks and an error into 4 runs when Mike Greenwell cranked a grand slam down the RF line. The Sox extended the lead to 5-1 in the 6th when Wade Boggs (2-5, 2 R, BB, RBI) drove home Marty Barret (3-5, R, 2B). Cleveland, with their backs up against the wall, fought back off of surprise starter Oil Can Boyd (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), who had not pitched since a few weeks before the end of the regular season. With Boyd out after 5 plus innings, the Sox had to call upon Bob Stanley earlier than usual and that forced Boston to turn to seldom used Tom Bolton and Dennis Lamp. Both struggled to keep the powerful Indians lineup from chipping away at the lead and the Indians tied the game up at 5 thanks to a Vic Power double that scored Bobby Avila in the 7th. Boston answered quickly with a run in the top of the 8th thanks to a single by Marty Barrett to score Rich Gedman. With 6 outs left and no bullpen options left, Lee Smith was brought in to close out the game and the series for Boston. But Mickey Vernon was not going down without a fight and he drove a Smith fastball down the RF line and the game was tied again. Both teams had scoring opportunities in the 10th, but Boston grounded into a double play and Cleveland ran into an out with a Minnie Minoso caught stealing. The Red Sox took advantage of more walks and in the 11th inning as Wade Boggs singled to lead off, Greenwell walked and after a sac bunt by Ellis Burks, Dwight Evans was given a free pass to load the bases with 1 out. Wilhelm settled down to strike out Jim Rice for the 2nd out bringing up the light hitting SPike Owen with the bases still loaded but now 2 outs. Unfortunately, Wilhelm let a knuckleball get away from him and a wild pitch would allow Boggs to score the go ahead run. With only shaky options, Mike Smithson and Jeff Sellers, Lee Smith was sent out for his 4th inning of work for the opportunity to close out the 2nd straight series with long inning outings. Smith was up to the challenge and dug deep to set the Indians down with just Bobby Avila reaching by a hit by pitch.