Greenwell one-man show for Red Sox

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Greenwell set a major-league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one scoring on his single in the 10th inning Monday night that gave the Boston Red Sox a 9-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Greenwell hit a two-run homer, a grand slam, a two-run double and his single to account for all nine runs.

By driving in all his team's runs, Greenwell broke the record of eight RBIs shared by George Kelly of the New York Giants (1924) and Bob Johnson of the Philadelphia Athletics (1938).

"Greenwell had a career night. It was a weeks' work. Two weeks' work," Seattle manager Lou Piniella said.

He wasn't the only one impressed

"I've never seen anything like that," Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy said.

With the Red Sox only 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore and Chicago in the AL wild-card race, Greenwell's hopes for one more shot in the postseason before his career ends may get realized. With six hits and 11 RBIs in the last two games, he looks like he is capable of carrying the Red Sox.

"I want to be on the next Red Sox team that wins the World Series," Greenwell said. "I've been in four playoffs and want one more before my career is over."

The surging Red Sox, who last won the World Series in 1918, have won 24 of 32 games and are a season-best four games over .500 (71-67).

"This was a big win," Greenwell said. "We have to win a lot more big games if we're going to get in postseason this year."

Greenwell, 34, said the Red Sox turnaround is because of a change in attitude.

"Winning is an attitude," Greenwell said. "Even we were down, there was a belief in the dugout we were going to come back."

Greenwell was out from May 3 to July 17 with a broken ring finger on his left hand. He has also missed games with a sore lower back.