Round 1–‘85 Red Sox Sweep ‘51 Braves in Green Line Series

Game #1
Game #1 featured a great pitching matchup - Rookie Roger Clemens vs. Future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn.  The host Braves opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd by netting three off of Clemens, assisted by two Jim Rice errors on the same play, and RBI singles by Walker Cooper and Earl Torgeson.  The Red Sox came back in the next half scoring two on singles by Rich Gedman and Tony Armas.   The Red Sox tied the score in the 7th on a Marty Barrett ground out that brought Glenn Hoffman in from 3rd.  Red Sox Manager John McNamara was caught napping in the next inning - he had pinch hit for Clemens but did not get anyone up in the pen.  A cold Steve Crawford came in and promptly gave the Braves the lead back by allowing three straight hits, including Torgeson's double.  Mark Clear came in to slow things down, but another run scored on a ground out, making the score 5-3 Braves heading into the 8th.  But in the 8th, a Dwight Evans 2 run shot to left tied the score at 5.  Bob Stanley kept the Braves off the board in the bottom of the 8th.  In the 9th, Jackie Gutierrez led off with a single, stole 2nd and scored on a Wade Boggs double.  Stanley shut the door in the bottom of the 8th and the Red Sox came from behind to take Game #1 - 6-5.  WP - Stanley  LP – Paine

Game #2
In Game #2 Vern Bickford started for the home team vs. Oil Can Boyd for the Red Sox.  Boyd was masterful, as he pitched a complete game for the win.  The Red Sox scored 2 in the first, 3 in the 4th and 5 in the 6th as they cruised to a 12-1 win.  Bill Buckner and Psycho Lyons mashed HR's for the Sox, while Wade Boggs and Hoffman also drove in 2 runs each in the win.  WP - Boyd  LP – Bickford

Game #3
The teams hopped a trolley for the trip from Braves Field to Fenway for Game #3.  Bruce Hurst was the starter for the Sox versus Chet Nichols for the Braves.  Hurst walked a tight rope early on, putting runners on base in each of the first three innings while throwing 60 pitches.  Nichols cruised through the first 4 innings, but hit a bump in the 5th.  Evans and Armas led off the inning with singles, and Glenn Hoffman drove home Dewey with a wall ball double to left center.  Meanwhile Hurst settled down and was able to complete 7 innings, holding on to the 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the 7th, Evans again singled, Lyons sacrificed him to 2nd, and slugger Glenn Hoffman doubled to right to score Dewey.   Rob Woodward pitched a scoreless 8th and Bob Stanley did the same in the 9th for the save and the series.  Red Sox 2  Braves 0.  WP - Hurst Sv -Stanley  LP - Nichols
Glenn Hoffman was the hitting star for the Red Sox, going 5 for 10 with 3 2B's and 4 RBI's in the series.

--submitted by Tom Landers--  Click here to see series box scores