It’s Super Bowl week for the Patriots and Seahawks, a fairly rare entry into the ledger of sports happenings between teams from Boston and Seattle. The Red Sox and Mariners have never met in the playoffs, but they do have some interesting history between them, so here’s a trip down memory lane.
10. Dwight Evans’ cycle
Things started well for Dwight Evans on June 28, 1984, as he doubled with one out in the bottom of the first inning against Matt Young and came around to score on a Tony Armas single. Then, in the third inning, Evans tripled and came around to score on a Jim Rice single. After a pair of groundouts and a strikeout, it seemed Evans’ day would be a simple 2-for-5, but Mike Easler’s game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth sent the game to extra innings. After Seattle scored twice in the 10th inning, Evans singled and scored on Bill Buckner’s two-run, game-tying double. Then, up again in the bottom of the 11th, Evans hit a three-run homer to finish his cycle and the game.
9. Jamie Moyer trade
On July 30, 1996, Boston sent a 33-year-old left-hander who sometimes started and sometimes worked out of the bullpen to Seattle for Darren Bragg, a speedy 26-year-old outfielder. Bragg had a couple of good seasons for Boston before leaving for St. Louis as a free agent, but the trade was still lopsided because Moyer became a fixture in Seattle’s rotation for a decade, including a pair of 20-win seasons and masterful work in the Mariners’ ultimately fruitless 2001 playoff campaign.
8. All night long
Seattle was cruising with a four-run lead through seven innings at Fenway Park on Sept. 3, 1981, but then things fell apart for the Mariners. Joe Rudi got the Red Sox going with an RBI single off Mike Parrott in the eighth inning, then Boston scored three in the ninth against Shane Rawley, Dick Drago, and Bryan Clark. In a 7-7 game, nobody managed to score for the next 10 innings, and the game was suspended because of American League curfew rules. The next day, play resumed in the 20th inning, and Joe Simpson drove home Dave Henderson with a triple off Bob Stanley. Jerry Remy’s sixth hit of the game was part of Boston’s rally to load the bases in the bottom of the 20th, but Jim Rice grounded out to end the marathon with Seattle victorious.
7. Clemens' first hit
Looking to pad a two-run lead in the seventh inning on May 23, 1996, Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy had Mike Stanley pinch-hit for light-hitting center fielder Milt Cuyler with the bases loaded after Seattle brought southpaw Tim Davis out of the bullpen. The move worked, as Stanley came through with a two-run single. The thing was, Stanley was not a capable outfielder, so the next inning, Boston moved Jose Canseco from DH to left field amid a series of positional switches. That meant Clemens went into the lineup, due up fifth in the bottom of the eighth. Tim Naehring’s two-run homer off Mike Jackson made the game an 11-4 rout and ensured Clemens’ spot in the order would come up, and in the blowout, Kennedy let Clemens have his first major league at-bat. The Rocket singled to center field, then came back out the next inning and finished his complete game.
6. Dave Henderson trade
Looking to add to their roster for a run at October, the Red Sox picked up Dave Henderson and Spike Owen on Aug. 19, 1986, sending Mike Brown, John Christensen, Rey Quinones, and Mike Trujillo to the Mariners. Boston never missed any of those players, but in the 36 games Henderson played for the Red Sox down the stretch, he provided little help, hitting .196/.226/.314 with one home run. Then, in Game 5 of the ALCS in Anaheim, with Boston one strike from elimination, Henderson hit a two-run homer off Donnie Moore to give the Red Sox the lead. After Boston coughed that up, Henderson’s sacrifice fly propelled Boston to victory, and back at Fenway, the home team romped in Games 6 and 7. Henderson then went 10-for-25 in the World Series with two home runs, including the blast in Game 6 that gave the Red Sox the lead in the 10th inning, before Boston’s own collapse from being one strike away from victory.
5. Nomar's grand day
Given an early lead on Ken Griffey Jr.’s RBI single in the first inning at Fenway Park on May 10, 1999, Seattle’s Brett Hinchliffe did not keep it for long. Jeff Frye got the Red Sox going with a single, then John Valentin singled, then Hinchliffe hit Brian Daubach with a pitch. That left nowhere to put Nomar Garciaparra, and on a 2-0 pitch, Boston’s shortstop socked a grand slam. Two innings later, Garciaparra took HInchliffe deep again for a two-run shot, rather ho-hum for the day because in the eighth, Garciaparra came to the plate with the bases loaded again, and hit a second grand slam, this time off Eric Weaver. The three-homer, 10-RBI night paced Boston to a 12-4 romp.
4. Healtcliff Slocumb trade
Protecting a 10th-inning lead in Kansas City on July 31, 1997, Heathcliff Slocumb started by hitting Bip Roberts with a pitch. After a forceout, a single, and a walk loaded the bases, Slocumb uncorked a wild pitch for a tie game and the blown save, then gave up the winning single to Chili Davis. That night, the Red Sox traded their closer and his 5.79 ERA to the Mariners for rookie pitcher Derek Lowe and catching prospect Jason Varitek. Slocumb did go 10-for-11 in save opportunities for the Mariners down the stretch, but he was awful the following year and never worked as a full-time closer again. Meanwhile, Lowe and Varitek wound up being key members of Boston’s world championship team in 2004, as the Mariners kept waiting for their first taste of the Fall Classic.
3. Big Unit leaves, Big Mo rolls
In eight innings against Randy Johnson in their 1998 home opener, the Red Sox had been stymied, with the exception of Damon Buford’s two-run homer in the fourth. The Big Unit struck out 15, allowing only two hits and three walks. He also threw 132 pitches on April 10, a day that was a cool 56 degrees in Boston. With a 7-2 lead, Lou Piniella went to the bullpen to start the bottom of the ninth, calling on Heathcliff Slocumb. That did not work. Troy O’Leary singled, Mark Lemke walked, and Darren Bragg hit an RBI double. Tony Fossas entered the game, and the Red Sox countered with pinch-hitter Mike Benjamin, who walked. So, Piniella went to Mike Timlin. He gave up an RBI single to Nomar Garciaparra, then hit John Valentin with a pitch to bring home another run and make it 7-5. Piniella went to the bullpen one more time, calling on Paul Spoljaric to face Mo Vaughn. On an 0-2 pitch, Vaughn drilled the ball into the right field stands, capping the seven-run rally and a wild comeback at Fenway.
2. Chris Bosio's no-hitter
A walk to Ernie Riles and another walk to Carlos Quintana put Chris Bosio in early trouble at the Kingdome on April 22, 1993. The right-hander then got Mike Greenwell to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play, and struck out Andre Dawson to end the threat. Over the final eight innings, Bosio was perfect, and he had plenty of run support as Bret Boone hit a two-run homer off Joe Hesketh to pace a seven-run attack. Over the final four innings of the gem, Bosio got 10 groundouts and one strikeout, with Mo Vaughn’s flyout to center field the only time the Red Sox managed to hit the ball out of the infield.
1. Roger Clemens’ 20-strikeout game
On a night when Roger Clemens was all but untouchable at Fenway Park in setting the single-game strikeout record with 20, the Mariners actually managed to take the lead in the seventh inning when Gorman Thomas homered off a pitcher who had already struck out 16. Spike Owen and Danny Tartabull had Seattle’s only other hits in the April 29, 1986 game, and after being handed the lead, Mike Moore could not hold it — Seattle’s starter, who had done so well to match zeroes with Clemens, if not strikeouts, gave up a three-run homer to Dwight Evans. Every Mariners starter struck out at least once, with Phil Bradley — who was Clemens’ record 20th victim of the night – leading the way with four Ks. Clemens, who got eight of his strikeouts looking, did not walk a batter in one of the finest pitching performances ever.