April 8, 1985 Game 5: Yankees at Red Sox

April 8, 1985 Game 3: Yankees at Red Sox These two storied teams would renew their rivalry in the much anticipated season opener. The Red Sox would send Oil Can Boyd to the mound and the Yankees would counter with Future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro. The Red Sox would strike first when Jim Rice would smack a two out solo Home Run in the bottom of the 3rd. They would also add 2 more in the 4th, again the get a 2 out rally capped of with a bases loaded Single by Wade Boggs scoring Rich Gedman and Marty Barrett. Meanwhile the Yankees are unable to gain any offensive traction. Through 4 Innings Oil Can Boyd is perfect. At the end of 4 the Red Sox lead 3-0. Ken Griffey would break up the Perfect Game with a 2-out Single in the 5th. But the Yankees are still unable to scratch across a run. The Red Sox get 2 more in the 6th with an RBI Double by Wade Boggs scoring Rich Gedman and an RBI Single by Jim Rice scoring Marty Barrett, Niekro is pulled after 5.1 giving up 5 runs on 12 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2. Bob Shirley would come in and strikeout Mike Easler and Tony Armas to leave the bases loaded. At the end of the 6th Red Sox lead 5-0. The Yankees were finally able to get a run in the 8th. Ken Griffey would lead off with a Double and would later score on a bases loaded error by Red Sox Shortstop Jackie Gutierrez. The Red Sox would repond though with 3 more runs in the bottom half. Highlighted by a Dwight Evans solo Homer. With Oil Can starting to tire the Yankees bats would finally come alive with Singles by Dave Winfield and Ken Griffey they looked poised to score then Mike Pagliarulo would launch a 3-run shot over the Green Monster and cut the lead in half, but that would be all they could muster and the Red Sox came away with the win. Final score was a 8-4 Red Sox win. Wade Boggs went 4-5 with a Double and 3 RBI. WP Oil Can Boyd 1-0 LP Phil Niekro 0-1