Boston literally threw away a terrific outing by ace Dennis Eckersley. Butch Hobson's throwing error led to a four-run eighth for the '98 Yankees, and the New York would take the series opener 5-1 over the 78' Red Sox. Eckersley had been firing a gem no-hitting the Yankees for the first four innings, and he would only be charged with one earned run in his 7.2 innings of work. This is the second consecutive start that Eckersley has held the opposition hitless for the first four innings. He blanked the 1941 Red Sox in the hit column in Game 1 of the ALDS. For Hobson, it was the second consecutive game with a throwing error that has led to costly unearned runs.
Yankees starter David Wells has also been enjoying a solid playoff and was equally stingy on the scoresheet holding the Red Sox scoreless until the sixth inning. Wells didn't figure in the decision, but his ERA is a measly 0.59 in the postseason. Mike Stanton earned the win out of the pen blanking the Sawx in his only inning of work in the eighth.
Fred Lynn drew first blood with a solo shot to give Boston a 1-0 lead. New York countered with a run of their own in the home half of the sixth to tie the game up. Chuck Knoblauch hooked a two-out double into the left-field corner to bring home Scott Brosius who led off the inning with a single.
After retiring the leadoff hitter on a tap back to the mound, Eckersley ran into trouble with the next two Yankees reaching on singles. The lineup turned over and Derek Jeter bounced a routine grounder to Butch Hobson which should have been an easy inning-ending double play. Unfortunately, Hobson fired wide of second pulling Jerry Remy off the bag and loading the bases. Chuck Knoblauch picked up his second RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly, and Bernie Williams followed with a grandiose three-run homer to seal the deal for New York. Williams has been smoking hot coming into the ALCS batting.429, and he now has 3 homers and 6 RBI in five postseason games.
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