Page 308 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 301
Five was no barn-burner from a historical point of view, after three straight one-run games — as well as a Game One that was scoreless through 71⁄2 innings — maybe the contestants (not to mention the fans) needed a break from the relentless tension. Even this game was tight in the middle innings, with the winner needing to come from behind to claim the advantage in the Series.
Don Gullett, who’d matched Luis Tiant zero for zero until a ood of well-placed hits knocked him out in Game One, was clipped for a run right o the bat in Game Five. Boston’s number-two hitter, Denny Doyle, tripled down the right- eld line and scored on Carl Yastrzemski’s sacri ce y. at was the only spot of trouble Gullett saw until the Red Sox scored another o him in the ninth. After Doyle’s three-bagger in the rst, Gullett did not allow another hit until Dwight Evans singled in the eighth inning — ending a stretch in which he retired 21 of 22 batters. By then Gullett’s club had the game well in hand.
Boston starter Reggie Cleveland had been named to pitch by manager Darrell Johnson shortly after the Red Sox won Game Four, instead of lefty Bill Lee, whose sinker Johnson thought would be better served at Fenway Park for Game Six. “I have a hunch that Cleveland may do better on this arti cial surface,” Johnson predicted.18 That hunch proved to be o the mark.
Cleveland did keep the Reds at bay for a while, with a little help from his defense. Juan Beniquez, leading o and playing left eld for the second straight night, ended the rst inning by throwing out Pete Rose trying to score on a y ball by Johnny Bench. Bench’s next time up, he was victimized by a leaping snag by third baseman Rico Petrocelli. is proved key because Tony Perez followed with a home run into the lower stands at Riverfront Stadium. e game-tying blast was Perez’s rst hit of the Series in 15 tries, but he was just getting started.
After the Reds took the lead in the fth on a two-out double by Rose that scored Gullett from rst, Cleveland started the sixth by walking Joe Morgan. Bench fol- lowed with a single to right, the Reds catcher moving to second base when Dwight Evans’s throw to third went over Rico Petrocelli’s head. With rst base open and nobody out, the Red Sox pitched to Perez and quickly regretted it. e rst baseman’s second home run of the game knocked out Cleveland and put the Red Sox on the ropes in a 5-1 game.
With Boston able to do nothing against Gullett, the four-run de cit seemed far greater. at perception was not helped when reliever Dick Pole walked both Bench and Perez on four pitches — not surprisingly, these would be the only pitches in the Series thrown by Pole. Diego Segui, also making his only appearance of the World Series, got the next two batters to y out to right, but both balls were deep enough to move up the lead runner. Dave Concepcion’s drive plated Bench to make the score 6-1.
Gullett entered the ninth with a ve-run lead and a neat two-hitter. He retired the rst two batters, but Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and Fred Lynn each hit safely, with Lynn’s double plating Yaz and putting two runners in scoring position. Rawly Eastwick, already with two wins in the Series, notched the save by fanning Petrocelli on three pitches. At 2 hours, 23 minutes, it was the fastest game of this memorable World Series.
It would be the last baseball game played for ve days, allowing everybody a rest to the point of restlessness as the World Series waited out the rain that had plagued the East Coast throughout this three-week period that would go down in the sporting annals. Baseball was no fair-weather sport, and doomsaying prophecies of its waning relevancy aside, this sport — as well as this World Series — were far from done.