Click the above image to view clickable stats in a separate tab. I upload an update each time my team begins a new series with a new opponent.
As an aviation buff, I can't get enough of the fact that there was a baseball team called the Seattle PILOTS. The logos imply ship pilots rather than airplane pilots, but the city, famous for its Boeing factory, recognizes either type. The Pilots lasted only one season in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee and renaming themselves the Brewers. I am going to try to do better than the real-life 64-98, last in the A.L. West result. To make this replay more interesting for me, I have been reading Ball Four by Jim Bouton. Let's hope the season will be every bit as entertaining as the famous book.
This replay uses my settings, although I turned off defensive shifts. I like using them, but the computer manager for 1969 does not use them, so I want to be fair. I modified all teams' starters and setups/closers to make them more challenging by putting only the best pitchers on the mound. I allow the computer manager full rosters and limit myself to 25 players to maximize the computer managers' arsenal and my challenge.
I am posting all results, pre-game notes, newspaper recaps, League Notes summaries of interesting autoplayed games, recaps provided by my Events settings, and my own Manager Notes for what went through my head during each Pilots win and loss. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I did playing Strat-O-Matic and writing my thoughts.
February 14, 2020 update - I completed this replay using the 2018 and 2019 editions of the computer baseball game. However I just realized a few days ago that the 2019 game actually updated the computer managers' batter substitutions. I did not realize that until after my replay had been completed. The changes weren't automatic - I would have had to make the changes in my replay manually. So all computer manager settings were for the 2018 and prior versions of the computer game. I don't think the substitute changes would have made a huge difference for my Pilots, to be honest. Still, I appreciate the company introducing tweaks and improvements to computer managers and rosters even years after releasing them.
Click the above image to view clickable stats in a separate tab. I upload an update each time my team begins a new series with a new opponent.
See all the summaries below
As I end this replay, I have to say I really enjoyed playing as the Pilots. They had flashes of brilliance all spring and climbed to 1st place in the newly formed A.L. West twice. However even without the real-life injuries I could see they didn't have the consistent pitching and hitting required for playoff teams. It was a nice run in Seattle while it lasted.
World Series Game 6
Pittsburgh Pirates 3 @ Baltimore Orioles 4 (11 innings)
It was a hard fought Game Six. Pirates SP Bob Veale stayed in the game as long as he could, throwing 10 innings and 173 pitches. His length on the mound may have contributed to the Orioles tying the game in the bottom of the 7th. In the bottom of the 11th with one out, Paul Blair ended it for the Orioles with a solo homer off RP Joe Gibbons. Despite the Pirates' World Series loss, SP Bob Moose won MVP honors thanks to a 3-0 record, 0.67 ERA, and .96 WHIP.
World Series recap.
World Series Game 5
Baltimore Orioles 1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 2
In the last game of the year at Forbes Field, the Pirates refused to lose. The Orioles tied the game in the top of the 4th 1-1, but in the bottom of the 8th Roberto Clemente hit a solo homer off SP Mike Cuellar for the win. Bob Moose kept the birds at bay with a 6-hit complete game. We will take the day off and see what happens at Baltimore as the O's still has a 3-2 series lead.
World Series recap.
World Series Game 4
Baltimore Orioles 1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 0
Once again both teams pitched great. David McNally had one of the best pitching performance in postseason history by throwing a 1-hit shutout. Paul Blair and Frank Robinson had RBIs in the top of the 3rd. One more game and the Orioles are world champions!
World Series recap.
World Series Game 3
Baltimore Orioles 1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 0
Once again the Bucs got shut out. This time it was a 4-hitter by the O's Jim Palmer. Boog Powell, who continues to come through for the Birds, scored the game's only RBI in the top of the 6th by hitting a double to score Paul Blair from 2B.
World Series recap.
World Series Game 2
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 @ Baltimore Orioles 2
Today was the Orioles' turn to win a well-pitched and low-scoring contest. Mike Cuellear shut out the Pirates. The Bucs could hit but just couldn't score today. The World Series is evened up at 1-1 as we take a day off for a short trip from Baltimore to Pittsburgh.
World Series recap.
World Series Game 1
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 @ Baltimore Orioles 1
Pirates SP Bob Moose rode the Bucs' hot starting pitching to Game 1 of the World Series. Moose pitched a 2-hitter with 8 strikeouts. Jose Pagan had a RBI in the top of the 3rd. Roberto Clemente hit a solo homer in the top of the 9th that proved to be the decider. Boog Powell hit a RBI groundout in the bottom of the 9th but Lemon struck out Frank Robinson for the win.
World Series recap.
Playoffs Scores and Notes
Oakland Athletics 3 @ Baltimore Orioles 8
The Orioles' Mike Cuellar pitched a complete game and he did just enough to keep the A's batters at bay to clinch the American League pennant with a 3-1 record. Brooks Robinson led the offense with 2 runs and 4 RBIs.
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 @ San Francisco Giants 1
Early in the game the Giants forced a bases loaded walk against SP Luke Walker. Walker regained his composure and ended up 1-hitting the Giants for the first eight innings of the game!!! He gave up one more for a 2-hitter and struck out 13 Giants total. Richie Hebner hit the game-winning RBI for the Pirates in the top of the 7th inning to clinch the N.L. pennant with a 3-1 record.
Playoffs recap.
Playoffs Scores and Notes
Oakland Athletics 1 @ Baltimore Orioles 5
After his Game 1 loss, Jim Palmer came back with a vengeance for the Orioles. He pitched a 4-hitter and gave up only one run. Brooks Robinson totaled 3 RBIs as the Orioles are one win away from the World Series.
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 @ San Francisco Giants 9
The Giants needed a win and Juan Marichal delivered. He was nearly unhittable, throwing a 3-hit shutout. Willie Mays brutalized the Pirates pitching with two triples. Jim Davenport had a double and a triple. Bobby Bonds and Willie McCovey launched homers for the home team, who still trail 2-1.
Playoffs recap.
Playoffs Scores and Notes
Baltimore Orioles 9 @ Oakland Athletics 12
Game 2 was an extremely high-scoring affair with both teams totaling 14 hits. The Athletics looked like they were going to run away with the game when they led 10-0 in the bottom of the 1st, but the O's countered with 7 runs in the next inning. Reggie Jackson starred for the A's with two home runs and 4 RBIs. Rollie Fingers pitched the last 4 innings to win the game for the A's.
San Francisco Giants 4 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 10
Pirates 1B Al Oliver led the way for the Bucs with 4 for 5 and 2 RBIs. The Giants have their backs against the wall as the NLCS shifts to San Francisco.
Playoffs recap.
Playoffs Scores and Notes
Baltimore Orioles 3 @ Oakland Athletics 0
Orioles star Mike Cuellar nearly pitched a 5-hit shutout, but he was rested for the last out for Eddie Watt to pick up the save. Frank Robinson led the way with 2 RBIs and Cuellar added a RBI of his own. The Orioles start with a 1-0 lead.
San Francisco Giants 3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 4
Bob Moose outdueled Gaylord Perry to take the Game 1 win for the Bucs. Richie Hebner broke the 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 9th by hitting a walk-off double to score Gene Alley.
Playoffs recap.
Manager's Notes
Only 1,600 fans came to today's home game and you can't blame them. We complete our summer-long freefall by getting swept by the red-hot A's. We sure pounded a lot of Buds this season! Despite the terrible team I enjoyed managing this season and getting to know those fine men better. End-of-season awards and stats will come after the World Series is completed.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP John Gelnar started with 4 no-hit innings. In the top of the 5th, 3B John Kennedy booted a double play ball. The very next Athletic hit a RBI single for the A's first hit of the game and also run. However we quickly evened the score thanks to a Steve Hovley solo dinger.
In the bottom of the 7th I lifted Gelnar for PH Merrit Ranew with Wayne Comer on 3B and one out. It paid off with a RBI single. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 8th RP John O'Donoghue gave up a 2-run single to Jackson and a 2-run homer to the next batter, Bando, for a 5-2 A's lead. We could not get that third out and the A's ran away with the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Cleveland Indians 4 @ New York Yankees 0
SP Sam McDowell saved his best start of the season for last. He 4-hit the Yankees and struck out 15 batters in one of this season's most dominant performances.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the bottom of the 1st Don Mincher started things off with a RBI single. Unfortunately in the top of the 4th SP Gene Brabender gave up three consecutive walks. All three baserunners scored runs to give the A's the lead. SP Odom pitched a complete game and gave up only 5 hits to keep our offense from scoring any more runs. He picks up his 20th win of the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Houston Astros 4 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Astros SP Larry Dierkers earned his 20th win of the season in a 2-hitter
·Full game report.
MLB Notes
The Boston Red Sox won easily over the Washington Senators 22-5. Sox CF Reggie Smith had a 4 for 4 day with 5 runs and 5 RBIs. RF Tony Conigliaro added 6 RBIs of his own as the Senators used up 7 relief pitchers due to SP Jim Shellenback lasting only 1/3 of an inning.
· MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
Our offense nosedived again, managing only 4 hits total against Twins SP Perry. Steve Hovley went 3 for 3 today, though. SP Diego Segui gave up 10 hits in 4.2 innings, resulting in 3 runs for the Twins. After he left the game we no-hit the Twins, but winning games requires batting as well as pitching. We are guaranteed a losing season but have 3rd place in the A.L. West locked up for good, like the most optimistic prediction of the real-lie Pilots 50 years ago.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
Tonight started off as another tightly pitched and well defended game. Don Mincher scored from 3B off a wild pitch in the bottom of the 2nd. Minnesota tied it in the top of the 4th with a RBI double.
In the bottom of 5th Fred Stanley hit a leadoff triple. Wayne Comer followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately in the top of the 6th PH Reese prevented a tiring Bob Meyer from getting a 3rd out in the top of 6th by launching a 2-run bomb. Killbrew put the game out of reach for us with two consecutive homers to total 60 for the season so far.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
John Kennedy and Jerry McNertney started us off with back-to-back RBI singles. The Twins scored twice to tie the game. In the bottom of the 8th inning Jim Pagliaroni hit a RBI single for a 3-2 lead. McNertney added another RBI with a successful squeeze play with the bases loaded and two outs. RP Jim Bouton stayed in the game to finish the job and go 4-2 for the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Kansas City Royals 23 @ Chicago White Sox 2
I have never seen so many hits in an autoplayed game... 31 hits by the Royals to the White Sox's 5! Lou Piniella led the beating for K.C. with 7 total RBIs, including a grand slam. Joe Foy had a 6-for-6 day with 3 runs and 3 RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
With rumors that our owner wants to move out of fincky Seattle, we wanted to have a good potentially last home games. We started off with a good pitcher's duel between Gene Brabender and Boswell. In the bottom of the 5th Tommy Harper broke through for us with a sacrifice fly for our first run. Brabender was on 1st and ran to and slid into 2B, preventing the Twins from trying to throw out Fred Stanley from 3B.
In the top of the 8th Minnesota threatened to score for the first time with a man on 3B and one out, but RP Steve Barber got one out and CL Bob Locker, after giving up a walk in a pitch-around attempt, struck out Oliva to keep the Twins shut out. Locker finished the job in the 9th for his 12th save of the season. Give lots of credit to our pitching and defense today, as we only had one hit!!! We limited the Twins to 4 hits.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Kansas City Royals 6 @ Chicago White Sox 7
Former Pilot Lou Piniella starred for the Royals today, going 5 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the White Sox enjoyed a 4-run 8th inning for the win. Ed Herrmann hit a bases-clearing double for the winning runs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
This doesn't happen often enough for us: we hit back-to-back homers. Dick Simpson and Greg Goossen did it in the top of the 3rd.
SP Diego Segui had an exciting bottom of 5th. The Angels had a man on 3B with no out. A lineout to LF, a GBb to the pitcher, and a pop up preserved Segui's shutout. Unfortunately in the next inning Spencer hit a clutch RBI single but we still led 3-1.
The Angels clawed back and tied the game in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a leadoff double and Spencer's successful squeeze play even though we had the infield in. In the 10th and 12th inning we loaded the bases, but each time Jerry McNertney ruined it for us by hitting in to the 3rd out. In the bottom of the 13th Reichardt, with two outs, hit a drive to CF that eluded Simpson's attempt at robbery for the walk-off win. The Angels sweep us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Los Angeles Dodgers 5 @ Cincinnati Reds 10
The Reds' Bobby Tolan led the offense with three home runs and 6 RBIs in an easy win.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Fred Stanley scored a RBI single for us in the top of the 2nd. After the Angels tied the game in the bottom of the 4th, Tommy Harper roared back with a walk and two stolen bases. Steve Hovley hit the RBI single to give us the lead back, 2-1.
Unfortunately we could not contain 3B Rodriguez. In the bottom of the 7th he hit a solo homer to tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the 9th he hit a walk-off S= off newly inserted RP Jim Bouton. Just like that.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago White Sox 0 @ Oakland Athletics 7
The A's are in A.L.C.S. form already. Jm Nash pitched a 2-hitter with 9 strikeouts, no walk, and exactly 100 pitches. Reggie Jackson led the offense with his 51st home run of the season and 3 RBIs total.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 5th Steve Whitaker hit a F1 for a sacrifice fly. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 6th we couldn't hold onto the lead as a RBI by Reichardt and a 2-out error by 2B Tommy Harper gave the Angels two runs. We never recovered and managed only three hits for the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 @ Cincinnati Reds 10
Pete Rose had a monster day for the Reds. He went 5 for 5 with two home runs, 4 RBIs, and 3 runs. The Dodgers' loss clinches the N.L. West pennant for the San Francisco Giants.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We got a RBI double from Don Mincher in the top of the 4th and a 2-bases error by SP John Gelnar in the 5th. Oliva hit a RBI in the bottom half but good pitching by Gelnar, setup man Jim Bouton, and closer Bob Locker kept the Twins from mounting a rally. If we could have gotten more games like this after the All-Star Break it would have done wonders for our pennant chances. For now let's see if we can finish 2nd instead of 3rd.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Washington Senators' Frank Howard is 16 RBIs shy of a Triple Crown. He needs more games like today's, when he hit two homers and totaled 5 RBIs in a narrow 9-8 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Manager's Notes
Minnestoa struck early with homers by Oliva and Reese for a 3-0 lead. In the next inning, the 2nd, Don Mincher hit a solo homer and Fred Stanley added a sacrifice fly for a 3-2 deficit. In the top of the 4th Stanley tied the game with a RBI grounder.
In the bottom of the 6th SP Gene Brabender ran out of gas and loaded the bases with no out. RP Steve Barber was able to induce a huge 6-2-3 double play!
Unfortunately the next RP, John O'Donoghue, gave up two runs in the bottom of the 8th for a 5-3 Twins lead. We couldn't do any further damage against the Twins' SP Perry. By the way, Oakland just clinched the first-ever A.L. West pennant with their 10th consecutive victory - a 8-4 win over the California Angels. Congratulations to them.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We started well with a RBI single by Ray Oyler for a 1-0 lead. SP Diego Segui lost control of the game and gave up 3 runs combined in the 4th and 6th innings.
However in the top of the 7th Greg Goossen, given a bases loaded situation and one out, hit a 3-run double to take a 4-3 lead for us. Jim Pagliaroni hit a RBI double immediately after.
Unfortunately I had to take Segui out for a pinch hitter, and Jim Bouton pitched terribly again. He gave up 2 runs for a tie game. In the bottom of the 10th Cardenas hit a clutch RBI double for a walk-off win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Oakland Athletics' magic number is now only two games after they won their 8th consecutive game. The Kansas City Royals were crushed 11-4 as SP Wally Bunker suffered his 30th loss of the season.
· MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We went to Chicago for a one-game series. The White Sox scored two runs off SP Bob Meyer and we struggled offensively until the top of the 6th, when Dick Simpson was able to hit a solo homer.
RP Jim Bouton gave up an 8th inning run and it proved to be costly for us. In the top of the 9th tiring SP John threw a wild pitch and Jim Pagliaroni was able to score from 3B. Unfortunately we couldn't get one more run to tie the game and CL Wood nothced his majors-leading 24th save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Oakland As' Blue Moon Odom reinforces his team's stranglehold on the A.L. West pennant with a 3-hit shutout in an easy 13-0 win over the Kansas City Royals. For those who wanted offense, Johnny Bench didn't disappoint today for the Cincinnati Reds. He was a single shy of a cycle with a triple, two doubles, and solo homer in a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
Manager's Notes
By the top of the 3rd we had a solo homer by Wayne Comer, but the Royals scored a man from 3B twice to lead 2-0. Steve Whitaker locked his new starting job with a grand slam! For the first time in a long, long, long time we knocked the startig pitcher (Hedlund) out when Steve Hovely quickly followed up with a RBI single for a 6-2 lead.
We added two more runs to lead 8-2. The Royals' bats came back to life for the 8th and 9th innings, but we held on to win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Atlanta Braves 11 @ San Francisco Giants 13
Willie McCovey went 4 for 4 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs! Despite that the Braves held their own and even led 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th. Ken Henderson hit a solo homer and Bobby Etheridge won the game with a 2-run walk-off homer.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Don Mincher, who hasn't been himself since a good first half of the season, started well for us today. He hit a RBI single in the top of the 1st. In the 2nd inning he scooped up a grounder to 1B with Foy on 3B and was able to get him out, saving a run and our 1-0 lead.
We scored 3 more runs, but in the bottom of the 5th SP Diego Segui was unable to get anyone out and the Royals scored 3 runs to tie 4-4. In the bottom of the 7th Rodriguez hit a big double off RP George Brunet to score a RBI and take the 5-4 lead. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th but couldn't score a single run. The Royals hold on to win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
After giving up a 2nd inning run, SP Steve Barber helped his own cause in the bottom half with a clutch RBI double to lead 2-1.
Unfortunately his bat hurt us in the bottom of the 4th when he lmaxed with one out and men in scoring positions. This happened after Johnstone hit a triple that became a 2-run inside-the-park homer after LF Greg Goossen's E2. Unfortunately that 3rd inning score decided the game as neither team was able to score again.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
N.L. batting leader Roberto Clemente led the offense for the Pittsburgh Pirates today. He had 2 homers and 6 RBIs as the Bucs defeated the New York Mets 12-9.
Manager's Notes
We had great pitching today but wasted the combined 3-hitter by obtaining only 4 hits ourselves. Steve Whitaker has been working hard to keep his starting job by getting our first two hits of the game. SP Greg Brabender was good enough to go the distance but I had to pull him for PH Merritt Ranew. Ranew actually rolled a homer but it was off SP Messersmith's pitching card and Merritt had W power. :-(
Almoar was a thorn in our side today, getting hits in his first three at-bats, including a RBI single that scored Azcue from 2B for the game's only run.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Cincinnati Reds 2 @ San Francisco Giants 7
Giants SP Gaylord Perry almost pitched a no-hitter today. His only two hits were solo home runs by Bobby Tolan and Johnny Bench. However Perry showed he could dish out homers too, getting his first of the season. He and Willie McCovey each finished with 3 RBIs. The Giants have won 7 consecutive games.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Fred Stanley started things well for us with a clutch 2-run double in the bottom of the 1st, but Rodriguez quickly tied the game for the Angels with a 2-run home run. After the Halos got two more runs, in the bottom of the 3rd Stanley came through again with a 2-run triple! Tie game at 4-4.
In toe top of the 4th Azcue hit a solo homer for the lead, but we countered with a Steve Hovley sacrifice fly that scored Tommy Harper from 3B. Harper had previously stolen 2nd and 3rd bases to get himself in that scoring position. 5-5.
Games are often won and lost by the little things in the end. Johnstone broke our fans' heart with a RBI triple in the top of the 7th to take the 6-5 lead. Harper reached 3B in the bottom half but got thrown out thanks to his teammate Steve Hovley's grounder. The game eventually got away from us, like many of our recent home games.
When things looked bad the Pilots tried to come back in the bottom of the 9th. Mike Hegan, who has been excellent today, hit a 2-run triple to bring the deficit to 9-8. Wayne Comer added a RBI single to tie the game. After a double by Jerry McNertney, new platoon starter Steve Whitaker hit a deep single to LF for the walk-off win!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
Aggressive hitting and running got us three runs in the top of the 1st. SP John Gelnar added a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning for a 4-0 lead. We added two more runs and Gelnar was able to go 8.1 innings before tiring. That was a nice win today.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The A's takes a step closer to clinching the A.L. West with an easy win over us today. Jackson hit a 2-run homer early in the game and Oakland did not look back. We managed one run in the top of the 9th but that was about it.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
St. Louis Cardinals 7 @ Philadelphia Phillies 6 (20 Innings)
So far this was the longest SOM game I've seen autoplayed. St. Louis scored the game-tying run in the top of the 9th to make it 2-2. The Cards scored in the top of the 10th, 17th, and 19th innings, but Philadelphia kept tying the game!!! Mike Shannon hit a solo homer for the Cardinals in the top of the 20th and Mike Torrez stayed in the bottom half to pick up the win.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
George Brunet got shelled in the 1st inning for a second consecutive game against another sub-.500 team. He will be a relief pitcher for the rest of this season. The Pilots got some runs of their own but the White Sox hurt us with the long ball. Pavletich got that grand slam off Brunet and Knoop and Berry also added blasts.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The nightcap was our turn. We quickly jumped ahead 3-0 thanks to a Greg Goossen RBI double and a 2-run homer by Jim Pagliaroni.
I have to check my season stats, but I swear John Kennedy at 3B leads the team in errors. He was supposed to keep a shutout intact in the top of the 5th with 2 outs, but got another error. That led the White Sox to scoring three runs to cut the deficit to 4-3 (Kennedy hit a solo dinger in the 4th). A Melton two-run homer gives the Sox a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom half we battled back and Ray Oyler was able to force a bases-loaded walk with one out to tie the game. Kennedy made up for his error with a RBI single. Fred Stanley forced another walk and Tommy Harper hit a RBI single off closer Wood.
Kennedy came through again in the bottom of the 7th as he stretched a triple into an inside-the-park homer! That was his second home run of the game!
Unfortunately Bob Locker blew the save, giving up a 3-run homer to Carlos May. Another homer was given to the next batter. We got two men on bases with no out but couldn't capitalize.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We scored early in the 1st and 5th innings off a sacrifice grounder by Don Mincher and a RBI single by Tommy Davis. Unfortunately SP Bob Meyer could not hold onto the lead. In the 6th inning gave up a RBI single and then a 2-out 2-run homer, the latter to CF Oliver.
In the bottom of the 6th Fred Stanley came up big, scoring both men in scoring positions with two outs with a triple. The manager replaced SP Hedlund with RP Morehead, but Wayne Comer homered anyway to increase our lead to 6-3.
In the top of the 8th RP Jim Bouton kept giving up hits to load the bases with no out. Oliver hit what looked like another HR, but it was caught on the warning track for a sacrifice. The Royals then cut the deficit to one with a wild pitch. Fortunately Bouton was able to get a ground out to escape with a 6-5 lead.
In the bottom of the 8th Jerry McNertney hit a clutch bases-loaded RBI single. My 3B coach stopped the man on 2nd from advancing. It was Bouton's turn to bat, LHP Burgmeier was on the mound, and I had Greg Goossen in the dugout waiting to make something happen. I was right. Grand Slam. If that weren't enough, the very next batter, speedster Tommy Harper, hit a very deep triple to CF and stretched it into an inside-the-park homer!
LOL the game news report said we had "little trouble" beating the Royals today. It was a difficult game for 7.2 innings!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 0 @ Detroit Tigers 10
Al Kaline had a huge day for the Tigers. He had a grand slam and a 2-run double to total 6 RBIs. The Tigers also had an ace performance out of Denny McLain, who limited the first-place Orioles to 2 hits en route to a shutout.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the first three innings we had men on 2B and 3B and could not score at any instance! It looked like 0 for 4 in the 4th inning with Tommy Harper on 3B, but Dick Simpson hit a RBI double. The very next batter, Greg Goossen, hit the go-ahead 2-run homer for a 3-2 lead.
In the next inning the Royals tied it 3-3. The inning after Simpson hit a solo homer to take the 4-3 lead. Unfortunately in the top of the 7th our relief pitchers could not continue John Gelnar's good performance and we gave up three runs to fall behind 6-4.
In the top of the 9th the Royals added a run to lead 7-4. In a very exciting bottom of the 9th, I realized earlier in the game that the Royals were resting all their left-handed pitching and only had righties. PHs Steve Whittaker and Merrit Ranew hit RBI singles with the bases loaded and two outs. For Ranew's single, the runner on 3B, Wayne Comer, had an 85% safe chance but Royals RF Kirkpatrick rolled a 19 to stop him from scoring the tie run!!! The Royals won 7-6.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Philadelphia Phillies 3 @ New York Mets 2 (10 innings)
Mets SP Jerry Koosman pitched a 1-run 1-hitter for 9 innings! He ran out of gas in the top of the 10th inning and gave up the game-winning 2-run homer to John Briggs. The Mets scored a run in the bottom of the 10th but couldn't come back for the home fans.
·Full game report.
San Francisco Giants 6 @ Houston Astros 0
Giants SP Ron Herbel had a more successful 2-hitter today. He shut out the Astros and earned 4 strikeouts.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Pilots played much more competent baseball today. An E2 by SS Hernandez on a Fred Stanley single enabled John Kennedy to score from 1B and give us a 1-0 start in the bottom of the 2nd. Both teams' offense could not score until the top of the 8th, when Adair hit a clutch S= to tie the game to ruin SP Diego Segui's shutout bid.
Kansas City managed to get a man on 3B with one out, but could not capitalize off RP John O'Donoghue. The Royals stubbornly left in SP Butler for the bottom of the 9th and it probably cost them. Kennedy hit a huge leadoff triple and Stanley hit a shot to the outfield to single Kennedy home for the walk-off win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Philadelphia Phillies 0 @ New York Mets 1 (Game 1)
Today was a excellent pitcher's duel - perhaps the best of the season so far. The Phillies' Rick Wise impressed with a 2-out performance, but even though he had one less hit than the Mets' Tom Seaver, he still lost the game. In the bottom of the 7th Art Shamsky walked, Wayne Garrett doubled to put the former on 3B, and Ed Kranepook hit a sacrifice fly for the game's only run.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Once in a while I am glad I play SOM on the computer rather than card and dice. The computer made this game mercifully short. Kansas City assaulted us for the first two innings as we could not get them out. Their offense cooled down after two innings, fortunately.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The San Francisco Giants' Juan Marichal continues his recent dominance with a 4-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos. The 23-9 Marichal marked his 9th shutout of the year. Speaking of wins, the Philadelphia Phillies won their 7th consecutive game in a 11-inning 8-7 victory over the San Diego Padres.
· MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The Yankees struck first, scoring two runs in the 1st inning. In the next inning a RBI single by Steve Hovley and two bases-loaded walks by Don Mincher and Mike Hegan gave us the 3-2 lead.
Poor pitching by #6 starter Steve Barber gave the Yankees 3 runs in the 3rd inning. Tommy Davis got a bases-loaded walk in the next inning to cut the deficit to 5-4.
That was the last time we played well that game. The Yankees bats exploded and they totaled 11 runs and 17 hits today. Our fielding was poor and gave up X-Chance hits after hits. We left 13 men on bases compared to the Yankees' 7, and went 1 for 10 with RISP. The Pilots continue to perform poorly against below .500 teams.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
St. Louis Cardinals 0 @ Houston Astros 1 (10 innings)
In a remarkable game the Astros' SP Don Wilson had a no-hitter all the way into the last out of the 8th inning. Cardinals SP Steve Carlton, of all people, broke it up with a double. The Red Birds were not able to capitalize and both pitchers stayed on for the 10th inning. Curt Belfry hit a 2-out walk-off single to score Jesus Alou to win the game for the Astros. Wilson ended the game with 10 innings and only 2 hits.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In an entertaining game, SP John Gelnar did well enough to rest the bullpen for the second game today, but he gave up too much damage for us to overcome - 3 runs. I had fun with the expanded roster by trying to mount a 9th inning comeback against Jack Aker but we could only manage one and lost 3-2.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Catcher Jerry McNertney had awful defense today. Twice he threw the ball into the outfield trying to stop Pepitone from stealing 2B, enabling the latter to get to 3B and score twice. The second situation allowed the Yankees to take the 3-2 lead.
In the top of the 8th Tommy Davis was able to get a solo homer to tie the game. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 8th Pepitone hurt us once again with the go-ahead 2-run homer. Despite good pinch hitting by our September call-ups, another 9th inning comeback attempt fell short for us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
St. Louis Cardinals 3 @ Houston Astros 0
Bob Gibson does it again for the Cardinals. He threw a 2-hit shutout against the Astros to lower his ERA to 1.89.
·Full game report.
Baltimore Orioles 0 @ Chicago Whte Sox 1
He isn't as big a name as Gibson, but the White Sox's Paul Edmondson had a 2-hitter of his own today. Carlos May hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 1st that was all the scoring that game had.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We started well with a RBI by Jerry McNertney in the top of the 1st inning. Unfortunatley in the next inning an E2 by 3B John Kennedy scored the typing run for Detroit. In the top of the 4th Greg Goossen was able to force a bases-loaded walk off SP Lolich, who had just committed his third error of the game!!! Jim Pagliaroni added a sacrifice fly to extend our lead to 3-1.
A solo homer in the bottom of the 6th and a RBI single in the bottom of the 8th enabled the Tigers to tie the game and prevented SP Diego Segui from securing a win. Pagliaroni continued his recent heroics with a solo homer off Lolich with two outs in the top of the 9th. 9th was also the save total so far for Bob Locker after he closed today's game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Kansas City Royals 0 @ New York Yankees 1
The Yankees' star pitcher, Fritz Peterson, had another great game today. He pitched a one-hitter against the Royals. Jim Bouton's old buddy walked only one Royal and struck out six.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
It was a close 2-1 deficit for us before the Tigers' offense exploded in the bottom of the 4th, scoring 5 runs. The Pilots' bats woke up too and we also scored 5 runs in the next inning! Unfortunately our bats totaled three double plays today and we couldn't score any more runs after that inning. RP Mike Marshall was used for the first time in a long time and pitched the last 5 innings for us, totaling 3 hits, 1 run, and 6 strikeouts.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
New York Mets 0 @ San Francisco Giants 1
In a battle of team aces, Juan Marichal secured a 2-hit shutout over Tom Seaver. Marichal now owns a staggering 1.68 ERA, the best in the majors. The Giants scored their only run in the 2nd inning thanks to a Hal Lanier RBI single.
·Full game report.
Oakland Athletics 3 @ Washington Senators 0
Athletic SP Jim Nash gave up a lead-off double. He then no-hit the Senators and finished the game with a 1-hit shutout.
·Full game report.
In an unusual ending, the Kansas City Royals scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th against the New York Yankees to lead 7-6. In the bottom of the 9th the Yankees battled back and loaded the bases with 2 outs. Jimmie Hall and Horace Clarke gave the Yankees two consecutive walks... to give the Yankees a walk-off win.
Manager's Notes
Detroit started with two runs in the bottom of the 2nd. In the top of the 3rd Dick Simpson answered for us with the tying 2-run home run.
Doesn't this game allow triple plays? The Tigers had two men on bases and no out. Kilkenny hit a lomax to 3B John Kennedy but the result gave only a double play. Apparently the 17.22 game rule gave a hidden dice roll after a lomax to give the final determination of a triple play and we lost the hidden roll. However the very next at-bat was another line out to 3B so that is all moot.
Greg Goossen continued his recent heroics in the top of the 5th with a 2-out 3-run homer for a 5-3 lead. We totaled only 3 hits and Kilkenney struck out 14 Pilots tonight! Only two pitches, the two home runs that gave us 5 runs, cost him.
SP George Brunet pitched brilliantly, nabbing a quality start. He could have finished the game but I needed a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 8th. Bob Locker closed the game for his 8th save.
We have climbed back to 2nd place in the A.L. West, 6 games behind the Oakland A's. Our 5-game winning streak is the current longest in the majors.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
California Angels 1 @ Baltimore Orioles 0 (Game 2)
The Angels' Jim Fergosi hit a RBI double in the top of the 1st. After that it got all quiet in the game. Angels SP Tom Murphy finished the doubleheader with a 2-run shutout.
·Full game report.
Oakland Athletics 3 @ Washington Senators 0
Athletics SP Jim Nash gave up a leadoff double... and then he no-hit the Senators the rest of the game for a 1-run shutout.
·Full game report.
In an unusual game, the Kansas City Royals scored 2 in the top of the 9th inning to take a 7-6 lead over the New York Yankees. The Yankees had the bases loaded with two outs and walked two consecutive times (Jimmie Hall and Horace Clarke) for a... walk-off victory.
Manager's Notes
Slumping Tommy Harper was a spark plug early on for our offense. He scored from 3B in the 1st inning on a Greg Goossen sacrifice grounder. Harper then hit a RBI double in the 2nd inning to make the score 2-0. Unfortunately in the 4th inning a Ray Oyler error scored Orioles from 3B and 2B for a tied game.
Bad defense by 3B John Kennedy and CF Dick Simpson cost us dearly in the bottom of the 6th inning and the Orioles were able to obtain the leading run. Fortunately in the very next inning we had a similar situation to the 1st inning: Harper on 3B and Goossen at the plate. Greg smashed a huge home run off the 1 column to give us the 4-3 lead. I set the game to pause at the best column and when I hit that column I raised my arms, I knew Goossen was going to score at least a run.
Sorry, but bad defense hurt us again. CA Jerry McNertney rolled a 666 for an E2 that scored an Oriole from 2B. Good relief pitching by us kept us afloat for a few extra innings.
In the top of the 11th with two outs and two men on bases, Jim Pagliaroni got a best column roll and I raised my arms again. Three-run homer! That was nice for Pagliaroni as he had a homer robbed from him earlier in the game.
With a nice 3-run cushion I left RP Jim Bouton in the game to save closer Bob Locker for another day. We enjoyed a very well-earned road sweep at first-place Baltimore.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP Cuellar limited our hits, but walks and errors doomed him early on. We got RBIs Jim Pagliaroni (1st inning), Greg Goossen (3rd inning), and a clutch RBI double by Dick Simpson (5th inning - scored SP Bob Meyer who reached 2B on a Orioles error fielding his bunt).
In the bottom of the 7th the Orioles rallied thanks to two passed balls and simply bad pitching by RP John O'Donoghue. Marty Pattin was put in and managed to get the last out we needed, but not before Baltimore scored two runs to give us less breathing space.
In the bottom of the 8th F. Robinson had a huge leadoff triple and it looked for sure Baltimore would tie the game. Fortunately Pattin was able to induce two pop outs and a ground out to get us out of that jam. Bob Locker picked up the save in the end. We scored 3 runs on 3 hits and Baltimore 2 on 11 hits.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago White Sox 1 @ New York Yankees 8
Jim Bouton's old buddy Fritz Peterson flirted with a no-hitter for the Yankees today. He had a no-hitter into the 7th inning but unfortunately Carlos May spoiled it with a solo homer. Peterson did not give up a hit for the rest of the game and finished with a one-hitter.
·Full game report.
There was one other no-hitter attempt by the Pittsburgh Pirates' Luke Walker. He didn't give up a hit for 6 innings but was only able to finish the game with three hits for a 5-0 win. In a battle of aces, both Denny LeMaster and Bob Gibson went 10 plus innings for the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. A sacrifice fly by Norm Miller in the top of the 11th gave the Astros a 3-2 win, their 7th consecutive win.
Manager's Notes
In the bottom of the 3rd Buford hit a RBI double to start the Orioles up 1-0. In the top of the 5th Fred Stanley managed a RBI S= to tie the game. After a costly 2-out balk by SP Palmer, Wayne Comer hit a 2-run double to get us up 3-1. In the bottom of that inning Blair hit another RBI double to trail 3-2.
In the top of the 7th I decided not to go for a Comer squeeze play but the man on 3B, Tommy Davis, got thrown out at home by SS Belanger. Thankfully the next batter, Jerry McNertney, made up for it with a S= RBI.
SP Diego Segui cruised until the bottom of the 9th, when I had to pull him after Baltimore put in PH Salmon with the intent of hitting the game-tying 2-run homer off righties. LHP John O'Donoghue got Salmon to ground out to earn a rare save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Houston Astros 9 @ St. Louis Cardinals 1 (Game 2)
Astros SP Jim Ray pitched a 2-hitter today. The Cardinals also suffered from poor defense, totaling 5 errors.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Pilots batters were at their usual awful self, getting no-hit by SP Paul for 4.2 innings. With two outs in the 5th inning, John Kennedy got our first hit of the game with a 2-run homer to cut the deficit to 3-2.
In the bottom of the 8th inning Fred Stanley hit a double and Ray Oyler attempted to score from 1B, but he was thrown out. Down to our last out for the inning, PH Tommy Harper hit a clutch double to score Stanley and tie the game for us.
It was an extra innings marathon as neither team could score until the 13th inning. Fred Stanley made another big hit, rolling a homer that was downgraded to a S= due to his W power. John Kennedy made it to 3B. The next batter, PH Wayne Comer, laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to win the game and the series for us!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Steve Carlton had another masterful start for the St. Louis Cardinals today. He had a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves until the 6th inning. He stayed in after 9 innings and the score tied 0-0. After another shutout inning, his teammate Joe Torre hit a single scoring Curt Flood from 2B for a 1-0 walk-off win.
Manager's Notes
Indians SP McDowell had an incredible game today at our expense. He carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning and gave up only 2 hits total. He struck out 15 Pilots! Our SP Steve Barber broke up the no-hitter with a triple and scored a run, but the other batters just could not bail him out as we continue to frustrate our home fans.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Atlanta Braves 0 @ St. Louis Cardinals 3
Not to be outdone by McDowell today, the Cardinals' Bob Gibson gave up only one hit to the Atlanta Braves today. Lou Brock ensured Gibson got the win with 3 hits and 2 RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
A revamped Pilots starting lineup started hot, scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st. We added another run in the top of the 2nd. However the Indians slowly clawed back and managed a 5-4 deficit by the end of the top of the 8th.
Unfortunately, closer Bob Locker blew the save by allowing a 2-run homer to Harrelson. We avoided extra innings when John Kennedy hit a grounder that RP Law mishandled for an E1, scoring Fred Stanley from 3rd! The nice thing about Kennedy doing that is that he made up for a fielding error in the top of the 9th that resulted in two runs for the Indians instead of one. Hopefully we can start winning more regularly.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The San Francisco Giants led the Montreal Expos 5-0 early on, but the Expos slowly clawed its way back into the game and managed a 5-5 tie. In the top of the 16th inning the Giants' batters outlasted the Expos' pitchers. The visiting Giants added three more runs to win 8-5.
Manager's Notes
In an odd start, SP Bob Meyer gave up two Tigers homers (Kaline and Wert) to start us behind 5-0. Ray Oyler hit a big 3-run homer and our bats came alive to tie the game. In the top of the 2nd the computer manager yanked SP Kilkenny for a pinch hitter!
In the bottom half Jerry McNertney made a bases loaded squeeze bunt to give us a 6-5 lead. John Kennedy hit what was almost a grand slam but CF Stanley robbed it to make it a sacrifice instead. 7-5 Pilots. Unfortunately in the next inning poor pitching by Meyer resulted in a 3-run homer by Freehan for a 8-7 Tigers lead.
Our offense sputtered the rest of the game and we gave up two more runs. We got swept at home for the second consecutive series. Even worse, we are now below .500 for the first time in months.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 8 @ California Angels 0
Jim Palmer followed up his team's combined 1-hitter yesterday with a solo 1-hitter of his own today. Brooks Robinson led the Orioles offense with a home run and 5 RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
It was another unremarkable loss for us. We managed only 5 hits total, including a 9th inning 2-run homer by Wayne Comer that came too late to be of much help to us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
For the first time in a while we got a good start to a game. Greg Goosen hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 1st and in the bottom of the 3rd Ray Oyler nearly hit a RBI single to extend the 1-0 lead. Detroit quickly tied the game with a Cash RBI single in the next inning. E stealer Kaline set that up with a successful steal of 2B for the following S= result.
In the top of the 6th Tresh hit a double to score SP Lolich from 2nd. Cash added another RBI right after and the Tigers led 3-1. We got a little pop in the bottom half with a Ray Oyler solo homer. The Pilots put pressure on Lolich in the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't get the hits we needed to tie the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The San Francisco Giants' #5 starter, Ray Sadecki, struck out 12 New York Mets en route to a 6-1 complete game victory. The Gianta totaled 13 hits to the Mets' 4.
Manager's Notes
If we somehow win the A.L. West pennant, we're not going to get past the Orioles, that's for sure. SP McNally limited us to 4 hits and struck out 11 Pilos. His only mistake was a solo homer by Wayne Comer in the bottom of the 6th. Baltimore totaled 13 hits for the afternoon.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Chicago Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants 10-8 thanks to Ron Santo's day. He totaled 6 RBIs, and both of them were 3-run home runs.
Manager's Notes
Baltimore led for most of the game and were up 3-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Our bats woke up with RBI singles by John Kennedy and Greg Goossen. We were unable to continue the rally and trailed 3-2. Unfortunately RP Jim Bouton gave up a 2-run homer to F. Robinson in the next inning to erase all our gains.
Powell starred for the O's today with two solo home runs. We made it exciting in the bottom of the 9th, scoring a run and placing two men on bases with two outs. SP Palmer was forced out of the game one out away from a complete game, but we couldn't get the job done. Given our losing ways our offense looked better than usual, scoring 10 hits and 4 runs today.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
St. Louis Cardinals 2 @ Atlanta Braves 1
Steve Carlton had a brilliant attempt at a no-hitter today. He had zeroes in the hit column until bottom of the 8th inning, when Bot Tillman hit a solo homer. Fortunately in the top half of that inning Carlton hit a RBI triple, then he scored on a Curt Flood single to win the 2-hitter by one run.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Baltimore led early 2-0 thanks to good hitting in the 1st inning and a solo HR in the 3rd inning by Blair. SP Diego Segui pitched well for us and kept us in the game despite the runs. It became more apparent in the bottom of the 8th, when we spoiled a one-hit effort by Orioled SP Cuellar. PH Dick Simpson hit a 2-out 2-run homer to tie the game 2-2!
Unfortunately we missed Segui after pulling him for a PH in the previous inning. RP John O'Donoghue was awful. He gave up two consecutive wild pitches that scored baserunners. The O's easily scored 4 runs off us for the win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We led early in the game thanks to a squeeze bunt by Fred Stanley and a solo homer by John Kennedy to make it 2-0. The Indians tied it in the bottom of the 6th when a CF Dick Simpson throw to CA Wayne Comer wasn't enough for the latter to block the plate and stop Harrelson from scoring from 2B.
We once again went deep into the night. In the top of the 13th Mike Hegan hit a clutch RBI single to score Jerry McNertnery (who had earlier hit a leadoff double). Bob Locker picked up another save and we will get plenty of rest with tomorrow being a team day off!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Kansas City Royals 1 @ Washington Senators 9
Senators SP Dick Bosman had a no-hitter for 7.2 innings until Joe Foy ended it with a RBI single. Mike Epstein's 2 homers ensured Bosman had an easy win. Speaking of wins, today was the Senators' 7th consecutive win. That leads the majors after the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
For the first time in a long, long time I got to use my vs. lefty starting lineup, which was a welcome change. In the bottom of the 2nd Fosse got the Indians on the scoreboard with a solo homer, but in the next inning Tommy Harper stole 2B and 3B, and took advantage of a high throw by Fosse to score the tying run.
SP Steve Barber loved hitting against lefties. He smashed a clutch Triple from his loaded 1-column to score our 2nd RBI of the 4th inning and take a 3-2 lead. Jerry McNertney added a RBI in the top of the 5th to extend the lead to 4-2. An OF error and a passed ball made it 6-2.
In the bottom of the 6th Barber ran out of gas and made way for RP Marty Pattin. Pattin was awful, giving up hit after hit and allowing the Indians to tie the game 6-6. He almost lost the game for us in the bottom of the 8th, but blame SS Ray Oyler for an awful E2 that send a runner to 3B with 1 outs. Pattin pulled off a Houdini act with two strikeouts to get out of the inning alive.
For the extra innings both teams refused to win. The closest thing to a win was pulled off by Horton in the bottom of the 16th when he rolled a TR1DO, but 3B John Kennedy was guarding lines under my order and saved the game. In the bottom of the 17th PH Klimchock hit a sacrifice fly to CF Don Simpson with Leon on 3B. Simpson nailed an almost perfect throw to CA Jerry McNertney, but Leon barely beat out the tag to give the Indians a 7-6 win. We ended the day with 3 for 15 RISP and the Tribe 4 for 21.
On a SOM game note, I really look forward to my next season replay. The reason is that I am planning on trying out the target eligibles roster feature. It forces the computer manager to use something other than 15 batters and 10 pitchers in their default 25-man lineup, which was a big issue in my 2017 replay with the modern game's emphasis on relief pitching. Before that game update I was (and am right now) using 25 players in my team and allowing the computer manager to use his minor leaguers. While it was indeed a challenge, it was not fun tonight to run out of pinch hitters under my rules while the Indians had an almost endless supply of situational bats to counter my depleted relief pitchers. Another plus of using target eligibles is that I won't have to reset my major/minor leaguers for every single game. It should prevent me from occasionally demoting the wrong guy to the minors.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Believe it or not there was another marathon game today. The San Diego Padres outlasted the Chicago Cubs 3-2 in 15 innings. Roberto Pena hit the walk-off single for the Friars.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st Mike Hegan hit a big two-run double to get us off on the right foot. Wayne Comer added a clutch RBI single in the top of the 3rd. In the next inning 2B Fuller blew a grounder that would have been a double play for the Indians, and another run scored for us.
SP George Brunet threw a no-hitter for the first 4 innings. He ran out of gas in the 7th inning and RP Gene Brabender saddled him with two earned runs. We added two more runs in the top of the 8th thanks to a 2-run error by RF Harrelson. RP Marty Pattin was great in relief and we snapped our 6-game losing streak.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
It looked like the St. Louis Cardinals were going to be able to halt the Los Angeles Dodgers' winning streak, leading 1-0 after five innings behind Steve Carlton. 1B Wes Parker came through for the Dodgers by getting RBIs in the 6th and 7th inning to give the Dodgers the 2-1 win and extend their win streak to 10 games.
Manager's Notes
After three innings of uninspired baseball, we fell behind 3-0. In the top of the 4th Mike Hegan took advantage of an E3 by RF Alyea to score our first run. RBIs by Wayne Comer and SP Bob Meyer pulled us up to a 3-3 tie.
Late in the game we had our best chance of taking the lead when Don Mincher hit a deep fly to right field with a man on 3B and two outs, but the 1-15 single split chance rolled a 20 for the RF Stroud flyout. In the bottom of the 9th it looked like we had lost yet another game when PH Maye hit a single to CF to score PR Bowens from 2B, but CF Dick Simpson made a miracle 20 roll throw to save the game for us!
In the top of the 10th I went for the win by letting Fred Stanley round 3B on a Wayne Comer double, but CF Unser gunned him down without much to spare. In the bottom of the 10th RF Mike Hegan committed an E2 off Epstein's fly ball for the 5th error of the game (3rd by us), walk-off loss, and sweep at R.F.K. Stadium.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
I have no idea how Dick Simpson is doing this, but he hit a 2-out 2-run homer in the top of the 1st to start us 2-0. Good hitting by the Senators enabled them to tie the game in the bottom half.
A Mike Stanley squeeze play with men in scoring position regained the lead in the top of the 2nd. John Kennedy added a RBI single for a 4-2 lead. SP Diego Segui immediately added a clutch RBI single.
Segui let way too many baserunners on in the bottom of the 5th and gave up a grand slam to Epstein. In the top of the 7th we made things interesting with a 2nd HR by Simpson and forcing men in scoring positions with one out on the top of the 8th, but the Senators still led 7-6. That ended up being the final score as we lost another close game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were a couple of marquee shutouts today. Denny McLain threw a 3-hitter in the Detroit Tigers' 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. In the other league, Juan Marichal pitched a 4-hitter as his San Francisco Giants won over the St. Louis Cardinals, also by 3-0. By the way, the Los Angeles Dodgers just won its 8th consecutive game thanks to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Manager's Notes
In the 1st inning we gave up a run, but quickly scored two runs of our own thanks to Mike Hegan and Fred Stanley's RBIs for a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 4th clutch hitting by the Senators scored two runs off two consecutive S='s for a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 6th inning Tommy Harper made it exciting when he hit a deef fly to left center with two men on bases and no out, but it was caught on the warning track. We had another exciting moment when RP John O'Donoghue pulled off a Houdini act by getting out of the bottom of the 8th with no run after Senators were in scoring positions with no out. Unfortunately our batters continued to slump and our opponents continued to win by getting those clutch hits.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago Cubs 0 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 3
The Dodgers' Don Sutton started with 5.1 no-hit innings. He ended the game with 2 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. The Cubs gave up only 4 hits, so it was up to the Dodgers' Andy Kosco and Bill Sudakis to make the timely hits, runs, and RBIs for L.A.'s win.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In a great pitching duel the Red Sox's Nagy, after giving up a leadoff single to Tommy Harper, shut us down for the next 6 innings. His next hit given up was a critical one - a one-run single to John Kennedy that scored Mike Hegan from 2B. It gave us a 1-0 lead.
Down to their last out, PH B. Conigliaro, replacing Nagy, hit a solo homer off slumping closer Jim Bouton to force the game into extra innings. We took the lead again in the top of the 10th, but since I am playing with Closer Rules I did not have anyone who could replaced the tired Bouton in a save situation in the 10th inning. The Red Sox got hit after hit and waltzed off with a walk-off win and the home sweep. I'll say it right now - this is the absolute worst loss of the season so far.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Baltimore Orioles' starters are untouchable right now. The day after Mike Cuellar's no-hitter, Dave McNally nearly did it again by throwing a one-hitter against the Kansas City Royals for a 4-0 win. McNally gave up the leadoff double to Jackie Hernandez and he was perfect the rest of the game. He walked no one and struck out 4 Royals.
Manager's Notes
Dick Simpson keeps finding ways to keep himself in my starting lineup. In the top of the 1st he launched a two-run homer over the Green Monster.
The Sox tied it in the bottom of the 4th with a Petrocelli two-run homer off our SP, the LH 9L Bob Meyer. They took the lead in the bottom of the 5th with a two-out Smith RBI single. Petrocelli hit his second homer, a three-run shot, immediately after to make it 6-2 Sox. Our pitching was so bad today that in the bottom of the 8th SP Culp had his own three-run homer. Culp ended the day with 10 strikeouts and we managed only 4 hits total.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Kansas City Royals 0 @ Baltimore Orioles 2
Mike Cuellar had complete control over the Royals today. He threw a no-hitter today! Cuellar walked 2 royals and struck out 6.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Red Sox got to us in the bottom of the 2nd, scoring two runs. However Steve Hovley hit a clutch double that scored two runs, and he rounded the bases thanks to an E2 by CF Smith. Just like that we got the 3-2 lead.
Poor Smith just couldn't catch a break tonight. He batted into a double play in the bottom of the 3rd. In the top of the 4th he misplayed a SP Diego Segui F3 with the bases loaded and no out, resulting in two more runs for us. Tommy Harper added a RBI single to make it 6-2, knocking SP Siebert out of the game.
Unfortunately our pitching fell apart. After we scored two more runs, the Red Sox patiently got timely hits off us and tied the game in the bottom of the 7th, 8-8. However our batters took advantage of bad pitches by RP Lee and were able to get a RBI single by Don Mincher to win back the lead.
Unfortunately again in the bottom of the 9th Jim Bouton blew the save, giving up a RBI single to Petorcelli. He tried to pitch around George Scott after two outs, but Scott blasted a solo homer to right-center field for a big win for the Red Sox. We started the game very, very well and it was disappointing that our pitching fell apart in the end.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
New York Mets 12 @ Cincinnati Reds 7 (Game 2)
Ken Boswell of the Mets starred today with a 5 for 6 and 4 RBI effort. The most remarkable part about this game was that the Mets scored all of their 12 runs in the 5th innings!!!
·Full game report.
MLB Notes
New York Mets 0 @ Cincinnati Reds 3
The Reds had a second consecutive outstanding pitching performance today. This time it came from Gary Nolan. He threw 8 innings of no-hit ball until he gave up a single to Cleon Jones. That was the Mets' only hit of the game.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the 2nd inning Fred Stanley started us off on the right foot with a grounder to SS Michael that scored Mike Hegan from 3B. Hegan had stolen 2nd and taken advantage of catcher Gibbs' wild throw to the outfield. For the 4th inning, Wayne Comer extended our lead to 3-0 with a 2-run homer.
In the 5th inning Don Mincher added a RBI S= to center field. Dick Simpson immediately forced an E2 to Michael for two more runs. Mike Hegan immediately hit a 2-run homer.
SP John Gelnar threw 5.2 no-hit innings, but RP McDaniel barely hit a split double to ruin a potential no-hitter! I left Gelnar in there until the end for an easy complete game. All of our batters except for Gelnar himself had a run or a RBI.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago White Sox 0 @ Detroit Tigers 2
Mickey Lolich pulled off one of the best starts in the majors this season. He threw a 3-hit shutout and struck out 15 White Sox.
·Full game report.
Cincinnati Reds 2 @ Philadelphia Phillies 0
Jim Maloney has been one of the best starters in the majors this summer, and today's game was another example of his brilliance. He threw a 2-hit shutout for the Reds.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The game pretty much got away from us in the 1st inning, when 3B John Kennedy committed two consecutive errors. Our offense was a bit more active than usual with Jim Pagliaroni hitting a solo homer late in the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The Bob Meyer as Starter experiment is drawing to a conclusion, as he had another poor start. He is definitely best suited for lefty-against-lefty relief. The Yankees scored early and often and had a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the 5th, when I pulled him for PH Tommy Davis after a Ray Oyler 2-run homer cut the deficit to 5-3. Wayne Comer hit a big sacrifice fly to CF for one more run. John Kennedy hit a clutch 2-run S= to give us a 6-5 lead and knock SP Kekich out of the game.
In the bottom of the 7th Harper easily stole two bases and Comer knocked in a second sacrifice fly. John Kennedy had another clutch RBI hit with a triple to score Greg Goossen and extend our lead to 8-5. In the top of the 9th the Yankees wore down RP Bob Locker and forced me to bring in CL Jim Bouton. We managed to get that last out with the bases loaded to break our home losing streak.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Atlanta Braves 3 @ New York Mets 0
The Braves' Bob Stone nearly threw a no-hitter today. After a 2-out single by Donn Clendon, he buckled down and did not give up a hit for the rest of the game. He finished the day with a 1-hit shutout, 4 walks, and 7 strikeout. Hank Aaron and Orlando Cepeda drove in all three of the Braves' runs.
·Full game report.
Washington Senators 2 @ California Angels 10
Angels leadoff hitter Sandy Alomar went 6 for 6 (all singles!) and finished the day with 4 RBIs. The Angels won big over the Senators.
·Full game report.
One other standout game today came from Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals. Gibson threw a 10-inning 4-hitter and struck out 11 Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cardinals finally scored a run in the bottom of the 10th off a walk-off G3 by Lou Brock that scored Julian Javier from 3B.
Manager's Notes
We improved tonight, getting 4 hits instead of 3 against SP Cox. We even scored a run, a solo shot by Dick Simpson. We got swept by the Senators and hope to at least do better against the visiting New York Yankees next.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Los Angeles Dodgers 0 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 13
Moises Alou went 5 for 5 and scored 3 runs to pace the Pirates' offense today. Gene Alley had 4 RBIs and both Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell had 3 each. Steve Blass threw a 6-hit shutout.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Another night, another 3-hitter by a Senators starter. Our pitchers kept giving up 2-out hits but our batters couldn't get the job done either.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Sonny Siebert also threw a 3-hitter as the Boston Red Sox shut out the California Angels 4-0. Today's best offense performance came from the Chicago White Sox in their 14-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. The South Side totaled 21 hits. Ken Berry enjoyed a 3 double and 4 RBI day.
Manager's Notes
We were frustratingly bad today, managing only three hits against Bosman. We were only behind 1-0 (no thanks to some bad managing by me that blew a man on 2nd with 0 out - twice). Fortunately RP Gene Brabender bailed me out with a disastrous 9th inning after 8 great innings by SP John Gelnar. Gene gave up a Howard homer and a few too many hits to put the game out of reach of our anemic offense.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Montreal Expos 1 @ Cincinnati Reds 7
Reds SP Jim Maloney had a no-hitter until the 7th inning, when the Expos' Coco Laboy hit a solo homer. Maloney finished the day with 2 hits. For good measure the .278-batting Maloney added two RBIs of his own to lead the Reds to a win. Bobby tolan added 4 hits of his own.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Red Sox jumped to a 1-0 start thanks to a 1st inning Andrews homer. In the bottom half Mike Hegan hit a RBI S=. A Stange pitch that went past CA Gibson immediately after scored Don Mincher from 3B... no need for a Fred Stanley squeeze play. Wayne Comer smashed a two-run homer to extend our lead to 4-1.
In the top of the 3rd Smith smashed a 2-run homer to cut the lead to 4-3 for the Sox. In the 4th inning Andrews hit a RBI single to tie the game. SP George Brunet ran out of gas in the top of the 4th and Gene Brabender took over to end a bases loaded 2-out scoring threat.
T. Conigliaro tried to get the lead in the next inning with a home run, but CF Dick Simpson just managed to rob it. In the bottom half of the 5th 2B Andrews threw away the G1 to enable our runners to score from 3rd and 2nd for a 6-4 lead. The Sox scored a single past 2B Tommy Harper and threatened with the bases loaded and two outs, but B. Conigliaro struck out against new RP Bob Locker. Locker pitched poorly (for him) in the top of the 8th inning, but escaped a bases loaded jam with a 6-5 lead.
In the bottom of the 8th Wayne Comer hit his second home run of the game. PH Greg Goossen smashed a 3-run homer as the game got away from the Red Sox's relief corps. We won 10-5 as the Red Sox left 14 runners on base compared to our 7.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Cincinnati Reds 2 @ New York Mets 0
Reds SP Clay Carroll tossed a 2-hitter and also hit a leadoff homer in the top of the 6th inning to handle the Mets.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We had a frustrating start. In the 1st and 2nd innings we had men on 3rd with less than two outs but couldn't get him home. However before the 2nd inning ended, Steve Hovley came through with a clutch 3-run homer with two outs to counter the Sox's Petrocelli solo homer from earlier in the inning. We had timely hits to score two runs in the 7th and one run in the 8th. The Sox's Smith hit a solo homer in the top of the 9th but Boston couldn't do further damage against SP Diego Segui, who enjoyed an easy complete game tonight.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Montreal Expos had a rare excellent win. Today it was over the Atlanta Braves 7-0. Gary Waslewski carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning and ended the day with a 4-hit shutout. Coco Laboy hit 2 home runs and totaled 4 RBIs.
Manager's Notes
We had a couple of homers early in the game. Don Mincher did it in the bottom of the 1st and Dick Simpson, who I am trying out as a starter against righties, took advantage of an awful Siebert pitch for another solo homer for us.
Unfortunately in the top of the 3rd the Sox batters got red hot and we couldn't get anyone out. Syd O'Brien hit a bases loaded triple off our best reliever, Bob Locker, and all of a sudden the Sox were up 3-2.
In the bottom of the 8th Fred Stanley hit a RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-3, but O'Brien hurt us again with a solo homer in the next inning. Don't let the scoring fool you - our hitting were awful again tonight, getting only 4 hits total.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Francisco Giants 0 @ St. Louis Cardinals 2
Steve Carlton started the game with 4 no-hit innings. After a Giants single, he picked up where he left off and the rest of the game was a no-hitter. Carlton also racked up 11 strikeouts. Tim McCraver pretty much won the game for the Cardinals with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 4th.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Red Sox got the early 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. Sp Culp was unhittable until the bottom of the 6th, when a John Gelnar bunt for a hit and a RBI single by Steve Hovley gave us our first run of the game. Don Mincher saw a pitch he liked but deep flied out, ending our rally.
In the bottom of the 7th Wayne Comer nearly hit a heroic two-run homer, but Yastrzemski caught it at the wall. PH Greg Goossen got another hit for us, but that was it. We could do nothing else against 5-14 Culp, who improved his record thanks to tonight's low-scoring contest.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 0
Pirates SP Bob Moose had a no-hitter until the top of the 9th inning, then he ran out of gas spectacularly. He gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. RP Joe Gibbon then walked Ollie Brown to score the game's only run. On the other hand, Padres SP Dick Kelley was able to pitch the full game for the Padres, striking out 8 Bucs in a 6-hit shutout.
·Full game report.
Kansas City Royals 1 @ Detroit Tigers 14
The Tigers' Jim Northrup hit 3 homers and totaled 7 RBIs. SP Denny McLain led the defense in an easy win over the Royals.
·Full game report.
Another notable performance came from Philadelphia Phillies SP Grant Jackson. He threw a 11-inning 4-hitter against the Houston Astros. Jackson even scored the game's only run in the top of the 1st after fellow SP Larry Dierker threw a wild pitch to allow the former to score from third.
Manager's Notes
I don't have a Pilot and I was too tired to play a meaningless game, so I just watched and enjoyed myself. :-) In the last daytime All-Star Game, the NL scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st. In the bottom of the 3rd Reggie Jackson and Frank Howard hit back-to-back homers to tie the game for the A.L.
In the 5th inning Hammerin' Hank Aaron followed up his 1st inning RBI with a 2-run homer for the 5-3 lead. A bases-loaded error by 3B Harmon Killbrew led to another N.L. run. Good thing he can rake. In the bottom half SP Bob Gibson lost his control and allowed a hit and two walks to load the bases wit two outs, but Frank Howard struckout.
In the bottom of the 7th Gibson tired again but refused to tell the manager that he needed to be pulled out when checked. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Boog Powell that scored Killbrew. Fortunately for him Mike Andrews flied out to end the scoring threat.
In the bottom of the 8th Killbrew came through with a S= to score another run and put men on 2B and 3B with two outs. Reliever Dock Ellis forced Howard to fly out deep in LF for the third out.
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The problem with our All-Star Game was that the software didn't really select anyone who could close games. The computer manager chose Nolan Ryan to close the game for the N.L. but he wasn't up to task, and the only possible closer was Fergie Jenkins with a CL rating of 0. Right after I typed that... Jenkins was put in with the bases loaded and one out! The A.L. countered with PH Carlos May, who hit a clutch single. Rico Petrocelli was then walked to win the game in dramatic fashion for the American League, 7-6! Next time I will check if closers are selected so I know whether to turn Closer Rule off. :-P
My pick for the ASG MVP honors goes to Hank Aaron for the N.L. He went 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, and he also made a great catch in the outfield early in the game.
· Full game report
2017 A.L. All Stars
2017 N.L. All Stars
Here are the leaders for the All-Star Break. Click on the image to see all the WebBuilder stats in detail.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st Oliva and Killbrew hit back-to-back homers and the Twins started 4-0. In the top of the 3rd Oliva hit a single and SP Diego Segui beaned Killbrew, LOL. That seemed to inspire our batters, as in the bottom half Greg Goossen hit a 2-run shot to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Earlier in the game Jim Pagliaroni grounded into a double play with men on 2nd and 1st. In the bottom of the 4th he did not screw up again, hitting a RBI single. We wore out SP Hall but couldn't convert on a bases loaded situation. In the bottom of the 6th John Kennedy tied the game with a solo homer.
We both fought hard for the rest of the game, but could not overcome each other's relievers. The Twins ended up leaving 10 men on bases and we left behind 12. Finally in the bottom of the 11th Jerry McNertney, who doesn't start against righties, smashed a deep fly off RHP Woodson. It barely went over the CF wall for the walk-off home run! What a way to go into the All-Star break! We are now 55-42, good for 2nd place in the A.L. West 2 games behind the Oakland A's.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were two 4-hit shutouts thrown today. Joe Niekro did it for the San Diego Padres in their 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Steve Hargan also did it for the Cleveland Indians in their 7-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. In Game Two of a doubleheader, the Chicago Cubs' Dick Selma fanned 14 Philadelphia Phillies en route to a 5-2 win. Finally, the Washington Senators go into the All-Star break with 8 consecutive wins after defeating the New York Yankeees 4-3.
Manager's Notes
Early in the game Killbrew and Tovar each hit RBIs for a 2-0 lead. Fred Stanley hit a RBI triple in the bottom of the 2nd to cut the deficit to 2-1. Wayne Comer laid down a great squeeze bunt to tie the game.
In the bottom of the 5th Steve Hovley hit a RBI single to give us the lead. In the top of the 8th Mitterwald hit what should have been a game-tying RBI double, but 3B John Kennedy guarded the line and secured a ground out.
Unfortunately in the bottom of the 9th CL Jim Bouton gave up the game-tying homer to Renick. He has not been closing well lately. He made up for it in the bottom of the 9th as his sacrifice bunt forced a 2-bases error and Wayne Comer to 3B. Backup catcher Jerry McNertney, a very good bunter, laid one down and the speedy Comer beat the throw home. We win 4-3!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Oakland Athletics 17 @ California Angels 0
Blue Moon Odom may just have had the greatest performance by a single player in any baseball game, real or simulated! He threw a 6-hit shutout with 8 strikeouts. In addition, he went 5 for 5 with 5 runs, 4 consecutive home runs!!!, and 8 total RBIs! Games like this come only once in a Blue Moon Odom, eh?
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the 1st inning Killbrew hit a RBI double to start the Twins up 1-0. In the bottom half Mike Hegan did one better and hit a RBI triple to tie the game. In the third inning Hegan added a RBI to make it 2-1. In the 5th inning Hegan did it again! RBI double. Tommy Davis immediately added a 2-run double.
In the bottom of the 6th Hegan added a 2-run double! Davis followed up with a RBI single. We led 8-1 by the end of the 6th inning. The Twins had a couple of home runs but our lead was just too big. SP Bob Meyer enjoyed an easy complete game. Hegan ended the day with 5 RBIs.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
SP Gene Brabender got himself into a bases loaded jam with one out, but we had a RP in which 3B Kennedy fielded a G1, threw to 2B, and Killbrew was called for interference for breaking up a double play.
We scored a run in the bottom of the 1st but couldn't convert a bases loaded situation, either. Brabender ran out of gas in the 6th inning and the Twins were able to score two runs. In the bottom half Steve Hovley was able to hit a sacrifice RBI.
After a Reese HR in the top of the 8th, PH Greg Goossen countered with his own solo homer in the bottom of the 9th for a 4-3 deficit. Unfortunately we ran out of outs and the Twins take the nightcap.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Andy Messersmith had a big complete game for the California Angels over the Oakland Athletics. He not only pitched the whole game, he also hit a double in the bottom of the 9th. That double led to him scoring the game-winning run for a 3-2 victory.
Manager's Notes
We just can't beat the A's in our home. Oakland led by as much as 10-0 as they feasted on our starter and mop-up guys. We fought back in the bottom of the 8th by scoring 5 runs but the A's had done too much damage. Roof led the way for Oakland with two 3-run home runs and 6 total RBIs. The A's have won 7 consecutive games to seize 1st place in the A.L. West.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In the 1st inning Tommy Davis and Fred Stanley each hit a RBI single to start us 2-0. That held until the top of the 6th, when Monday tied the game with a 2-run shot. Unfortunately SP John Gelnar immediately gave up another home run to Green. Oakland got 2 more runs in the of the 8th and we couldn't convert a bases loaded situation in the bottom half. We just could not hit much after that 1st inning.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Pittsburgh Pirates 6 @ Montreal Expos 8
The Pirates' Gene Alley hit three solo home runs, but his efforts were wasted today. The Expos scored early and held on to snap a 7-game skid.
·Full game report.
Paul Blair had a huge day in today's doubleheader for the Baltimore Orioles. In Game 1 he hit the game-winning grand slam for a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. In Game 2 he hit two home runs and totaled 5 RBIs for another win, 14-3.
Manager's Notes
Early in the game I had an opportunity to squeeze home Steve Hovley (after a triple) but I decided to have Don Mincher swing away instead. I was denied a score. The A's got a solo HR by Green in the top of the 4th and an Odom triple led to two more runs in the top of the 7th.
We scored a run in the bottom of the 8th but PH Jerry McNertney grounded out on a pitch he liked with men in the corners to kill our rally. We couldn't get the hits when we needed them. For example in the bottom of the 9th PH Jim Pagliaroni's homer was robbed at the CF wall.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Boston Red Sox's Reggie Smith enjoyed a good day at the plate today against the New York Yankees. In the second game of today's doubleheader, he hit two homers and totaled 5 RBIs. That contributed greatly to the Red Sox's 8-5 win.
Manager's Notes
The Pilots wasted no time at the start of the game. A Steve Hovley triple and a Don Mincher single scored our first two runs. In the top of the 4th Fred Stanley added his own RBI single.
In the bottom of the 4th Oliva cut the lead to 3-2 with a 2-run homer. New CA Wayne Comer won't impress anyone with his 5 rating and +2 arm, but in a span of two innings he threw out Tovar and Killbrew trying to steal second base.
In the top of the 9th PH Greg Goossen added a RBI double. In the bottom of the 9th CL Jim Bouton gave up too many walks and hits and gave up an unearned run on a wild pitch. He was fatigued and the bases were loaded with one out, and Carew was up at bat. I put in LHP John O'Donoghue and he didn't disappoint, getting Carew to hit into a 6-4-3 double play for our win! I used more pitchers than I wanted to for the first game. Hopefully we will have enough arms to get through the second game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
SP Marty Pattin had a shaky start and Minnesota scored a single and a sacrifice fly off him in the 1st inning. In the top of the 6th we finally got runs on the scoreboard thanks to a Mike Hegan RBI double. Tommy Davis immediately hit a RBI single to tie the game. After another single, Wayne Comer mashed a 3-run homer. The manager took out SP Miller, but RP Grzenda immediately gave up a solo homer to John Kennedy. 6-2 lead.
In the botom of the 6th the Twins got something going with an Oliva homer and the bases loaded with one out, but Roseboro grounded into a double play against RP Steve Barber. In the next inning with men in scoring position and one out, Hegan hit a S= for two more RBIs. Tommy Davis rewarded Hegan with his first homer of the season that barely cleared the LF fence. 10-3 lead and the game had pretty much gotten away from the Twins at this point. Barber picked up a nice 3 2/3 inning save performance.
*Fun fact: in the bottom of the 7th inning the trivia question asked me how Rod Carew batted. LOL I'm playing against him today.*
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
California Angels 0 @ Oakland Athletics 3 - Game 1
Catfish Hunter had a marvelous start today. He carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning and ended up with a 1-hit shutout.
·Full game report.
Cleveland Indians 3 @ Detroit Tigers 14 - Game 2
How could one man do so much damage? Tigers catcher Bill Freehan went 5 for 5, scored 5 runs, bashed three home runs, and totaled 6 RBIs today!
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Top of the 2nd. Bases loaded and two outs. SP Gene Brabender up at bat. He somehow comes through with a 2-run OF single to start us off 2-0. Unfortunately in the next inning Gene couldn't stop Minnesota from hitting and walking. He let the Twins tie the game 2-2.
In the top of the 3rd John Kennedy hit a big RBI double to score Wayne Comer from 1B. In the bottom half the very annoying Uhlaender walked for the 3rd time and nearly scored from 2B off a Carew single, but got gunned down at home plate by CF Steve Hovley. That preserved our 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 6th Brabender ran out of gases and left the game with men in scoring positions and no out. RP Steve Barber couldn't keep the Twins at bay and they took the 4-3 lead thanks to a wild pitch and a squeeze play.
In the top of the 8th 0-for-3 Don Mincher came up to bat. I decided against pulling him and told myself, "All we need is one home run." He came through for his 20th homer of the season! 4-4 game. Fred Stanley followed up with a triple with 2 outs, but Wayne Comer grounded out to end that threat.
In the top of the 9th PH Greg Goossen nearly hit the go-ahead homer, but it fell just short of the LF fence. In the bottom half 0-for-4 Harmon Killbrew was up with two outs and he did not disappoint the home fans, launching the walk-off two-run dinger that went just far enough to clear the fence. It was another nice winning streak while it lasted!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
Tonight was an exciting, although low-scoring, game. Fred Stanley hit a RBI single in the top of the 1st. Unfortunately PR Tovar gave us fits and he stole 2nd and 3rd, and eventually scored on a gbB. Jim Bouton blew the save but was able to stop the Twins from scoring.
In the top of the 11th inning against tiring RP Worthington Dick Simpson, of all people, mashed a 3-run home run. In the bottom half Reese hit a lead-off homer against Bob Locker, but the next three batters couldn't keep the momentum going. 10th consecutive win!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Philadelphia Phillies 0 @ Chicago Cubs 7
Ken Holtzman enjoyed his best start for the Cubs this season. He 2-hit the Phillies, struck out three of them, and walked no one. He even contributed a 2-run double in an easy day for the Cubs offense.
·Full game report.
There were several other great performances today. Tom Griffin pitched a 3-hit shutout for the Cincinnati Reds' 4-0 win over the Houston Astros. The New York Yankees and washington Senators had a shutout duel until the bottom of the 9th, when Mike Epstein hit the walk-off solo homer. Dick Bosman 4-hit the Yankees while his counterpart Mel Stottlemyre gave up only 6 hits himself until that home run. Finally, Bill Melton enjoyed a 2-HR 5-RBI day for the Chicago White Sox's 9-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. SP Gary Peters carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning and ended the day with 3 hits.
Manager's Notes
It didn't take long for runs to score. In the 1st inning Fergosi hit a solo homer to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. In the bottom half Steve Hovley had a big double with the bases loaded for two runs, and CA Azcue blocked Mike Hegan from scoring a 3rd run. Hegan got his revenge in the next inning when his assist from RF prevented the Angels from scoring off a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the 5th Hovley came through again with a big 2-run homer for a 4-2 lead. Unfortunately we couldn't hold onto that lead and the Angels scored runs in the 6th and 7th innings to tie the game. We won in the bottom of the 10th when Hovley hit a big single to put Hegan on 3B. John Kennedy hit a single to LF for our 2nd consecutive sweep and 9th consecutive win!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago Cubs 5 @ New York Mets 0
Dick Selma threw a 2-hit shutout today. He struck out 6 Mets and walked only 2 batters.
·Full game report.
Rico Petrocelli totaled 5 RBIs in the Boston Red Sox's 9-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Jerry Adair also had 5 RBIs in the Kansas City Royals' 22-hit 14-4 rout of the Minnesota Twins.
Manager's Notes
We struck early with a squeeze play bunt by Jerry McNertney in the 1st inning. The well-pitched 1-0 lead was lost by a Spencer solo dinger in the top of the 5th. In the next inning Reichardt nearly hit a 2-run homer for the lead, but the ball didn't have enough distance to go over the LF wall.
In the bottom of the 6th Ray Oyler hit a S= and Greg Goossen was barely able to beat out CF Johnstone's throw for a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 8th Alomar extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a RBI double. Both teams refused to score again until the bottom of the 14th, when Don Mincher ended the game with a walk-off solo homer!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar threw a 4-hit shutout as the O's got by the New York Yankees 2-0. In a game that was the complete opposite, the Washington Senators embarrassed the Cleveland Indians 19-0. Casey Cox also threw a 4-hitter and Ken McMullen totaled 4 hits and 5 RBIs.
Manager's Notes
The Angels had a good 4-0 lead in part thanks to a 2-bases error by new catcher Wayne Comer and a 2-run homer by Morton. In the bottom of the 7th the bottom half of our lineup got to work and we scored 4 runs off three singles, including a 2-run single with an E2 by LF Reichardt to tie the game. I tried to squeeze Comer home with PH Jerry McNertney, but Comer was thrown out at 3B.
In the next inning Steve Hovley hit a deep double to CF. Johnstone threw the ball away trying to stop Don Mincher from scoring from 1B. We lead 5-4! CL Jim Bouton picks up yet another save by inducing a game-ending double play. We are red-hot again as we picked up our 7th consecutive win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Atlanta Braves 7 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 0
Pat Jarvis cruised to a 2-hit shutout today for the Braves.
·Full game report.
The Oakland Athletics won both games of their doubleheader today to pull to a tie with the Seattle Pilots for 1st in the A.L. West. The Minnesota Twins are only a half game behind. As for the doubleheader, the Athletics won the first game over the Chicago White Sox 6-5. The winning wun was scored thanks to two consecutive hit batters. The Game Two win was more convincing, 8-5. Reggie Jackson did his part with two homers and a double.
Manager's Notes
The Angels struck early in the top of the 1st, scoring a run. We came back in the 2nd with a Mike Hegan RBI single and SP John Gelnar's squeeze bunt base hit. However Gelnar was not able to stop the onslaught of hits in the top of the 3rd and gave up another run for a 2-2 tie.
In the bottom of the 4th Greg Goossen and Jerry McNertney each hit a RBI. Good relief pitching by John O'Donoghue and Bob Locker led to another win for us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Tony Perez had a great game for the Cincinnati Reds today. He ended up with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs total. Unfortunately his team's pitching let the Reds down against the hometown San Diego Padres in a 8-9 loss.
Manager's Notes
Bad fielding by us gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. However in the top of the 3rd two S2's to CF Oliver eventually led to a 2-2 tie.
In the next inning a Don Mincher solo homer gave us the 3-2 lead. Unfortunately the Royals quickly tied the game. They then tried a double steal (something I don't see the computer manager doing often!) but it was with two out and Piniella was easily thrown out at 2B.
In the top of the 8th Jim Pagliaroni hit a clutch RBI single for a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of 8th and 9th K.C.'s 1st base runner got too aggressive and got thrown out both times! That took the wind out of their sails. CL Jim Bouton picked up his 15th save of the season and we enjoyed a well-deserved away sweep. We are now back in 1st place in the A.L. West. It is time to celebrate by pounding some Buds!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Game 1 - Chicago Cubs 0 @ St. Louis Cardinals 1
Bob Gibson is not as strong this season as he was in 1968, but that doesn't stop him from trying. He pitched a masterful no-hitter today. He struck out 5 Cubbies and walked only one.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We had a big near miss in the bottom of the 4th inning when we had men on 2B and 3B and one out, but couldn't score. The first out of that inning was Tommy Harper getting thrown out trying to score from 2B.
The Royals led 1-0 in the bottom of the 5th thanks to SP Rooker's solo homer. Jerry McNertney hit a solo shot in the top of the 7th and Fred Stanley hit a clutch double that scored Ray Oyler from 1B.
A solo homer by Wayne Comer made it 3-1 in the top of the 8th. In the bottom of the 9th RP Bob Locker put Royals on 2B and 1B with no out, so I called Jim Bouton in to close the game. A run scored and there were men in the corners with two outs. Bouton launched an ugly knuckleball to McNertney, but fortunately Hernandez went for that pitch. He dribbled it right in front of home plate and Jerry was able to throw him out at 1B for the save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were a couple of strong shutouts today. Juan Marichal gave up only 5 hits in the San Francisco Giants' 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Dick Bosman had one fewer hit en route to the Washington Senators' 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Manager's Notes
The 2nd inning saw a pair of single runs thanks to a solo homer by Mike Hegan, but also a RBI single by Adair.
SP Diego Segui broke a 1-1 tie with a squeeze play and Jim Pagliaroni's second extra-bases hit of the game scored a RBI to break a 2-2 tie. John Kennedy hit a 2-run single for a 5-2 lead.
There was a single run by each team but in the end Segui ended with a nice complete game. He gave up six hits, walked no one, and struck out seven Royals.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Steve Hovley started the game well for us with a 2-out RBI single. Unfortunately the Royals scored two runs in the bottom of the 2nd and there were no other scores for most of the contest.
With two outs in the bottom of the 8th our batters sprang to action. PH Greg Goossen forced a walk. Steve Hovley went 4 for 4 with a S=. Fred Stanley forced a wild pitch from SP Drago for a huge tying run
Things looked good for K.C. in the bottom of the 9th when Rodriguez hit a outfield single, but he rolled a RP and got thrown out after falling down trying to advance to 2B. Extra innings.
In the top of the 11th Hovley continued his amazing game by going 5 for 5 with a single. He scored from 2B thanks to John Kennedy's double.
RP John O'Donoghue just keeps getting better. He took advantage of the Royals' issues hitting against lefties and pitched our last 3 2/3 innings. He gave up only one hit and struck out 4 to earn the win. Time to enjoy some fireworks tonight!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Washington Senators 4 @ Boston Red Sox 0 - Game 2
In the previous game the Red Sox won easily 13-2 behind two 2-run home runs by Tony Conigliaro. However in the second game Barry Moore had a huge game for the Senators. He had a no-hitter until the 9th inning and ended the day with one hit and 5 walks. Syd O'Brien broke up the no-hit bid with a single.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
A Tommy Davis triple led to a couple of quick runs in the top of the 1st inning.
The A's quickly tied the game, but Don Mincher hit a RBI double in the top of the 4th to make it a 3-2 game. However a Bob Meyer wild pitch tied the game again for the A's in the bottom of the 5th. Before the inning could end, Bando hit a solo shot to take the 4-3 lead.
In the top of the 7th Steve Hovley hit what looked like a 2-out RF fly out to Jackson, but he committed a huge E3, allowing Hovley to get to 3B. PH Ray Oyler hit a clutch single to tie the game at 4!
We were able to force a bases-loaded situation with 0 out against RP Fingers. Don Mincher hit a clutch sacrifice fly to make it 5-4. Hovley added a RBI single. Setup man Bob Locker looked great today and I kept him to close the game just to make sure the A's didn't pull off any heroic comeback.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The game started with a RBI single by Mike Hegan, but unfortunately also a 2-run homer by Jackson. In the top of the 3rd with two outs SP Odom's control deserted him and he walked three consecutive batters to score a run and tie the game for us. He then threw a passed ball to give us a 3-2 lead!
In the bottom of the 5th with two outs RF Hegan couldn't catch a double shot by Jackson, scoring Odom from 2B to tie the game 3-3. We were able to load the bases in the top of the 8th but with two outs Tommy Harper choked in the clutch.
In the bottom of the 10th with men on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, we gave up a single to Jackson to load the bases. I tried to put in RP Marty Pattin to try to strike out Bando, but unfortunately he walked for the walk-off walk win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes There were several shutouts today but the Boston Red Sox's Mike Nagy probably had the best one. He threw a 3-hitter in a win over the Detroit Tigers.
Manager's Notes
Oakland got a run early in the game, but in the top of the 3rd a sacrifice grounder by Tommy Davis and a successful squeeze play by Don Mincher put us ahead 2-1. Unfortuntely in the next inning SP Hunter hit a leadoff homer to tie the game.
However the next inning Tommy Harper hit a clutch 2-out 2-run homer for a 4-2 lead. Steve Hovley added a RBI triple in the top of the 5th. The A's scored 2 more runs in the bottom half, including a Jackson solo homer. RP George Brunet was fatigued but he was able to force a groundout to at least be eligible for the win.
We tried to make winning a bit easier with a big outfield single by Hovley in the top of the 7th. John Kennedy added a sacrifice grounder for the 7-4 lead. The A's Jackson nearly got a 2-run homer with another deep fly to RF, but it didn't have the distance and it was caught. Now #6 starter Steve Barber had a great 3-inning relief stint and Jim Bouton picked up another save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Boston Red Sox 9 @ Detroit Tigers 0
The Red Sox had a big offensive day to back up SP Ray Culp's 2-hitter.
·Full game report.
MLB Notes
The Washington Senators blanked the Cleveland Indians today 3-0. Dick Bosman threw a 3-hit shutout.
Manager's Notes
Mike Hegan did a nice job bunting with men in scoring positions in the top of the 1st inning. He forced a wild pitch from Kealey to score Tommy Harper, and then he forced a catcher's error to score Don Mincher.
In the 4th inning, John Kennedy singled home Tommy Davis from 2B to extend the lead to 3-0. Steve Hovley and Mincher forced a 2-outs bases loaded walks to make it 5-0. Kealey was yanked and RP Priddy nearly gave up a bases loaded grand slam to Hegan, but CF Johnstone was able to rob it easily, rolling a 20.
Our pitching could not maintain that 5-0 lead. Gene Brabender gave up 3 runs and Bob Locker, in a long stint to protect a 2-run lead, gave up a RBI double to Johnstone but CF Steve Hovley was able to gun down Alomar to preserve our lead.
California threatened in the bottom of the 8th when Rodriguez hit a double to CF. Unfortunately he forgot to touch 1st base! That made up for a RP we rollied when Jim Pagliaroni singled to OF, then got thrown out trying to return to 1B.
This crazy game ended when Mincher added a solo shot off Wilhelm in the top of the 9th for a 6-4 lead. Jim Bouton had a rare closing opportunity and made the most of it for his 12th save of the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Game 2 - St. Louis Cardinals 9 @ Chicago Cubs 4
3B Mike Shannon had a big day at the plate. He went 5 for 5 and hit 4 RBIs to lead the Red Birds to a big win over the Cubs. The offense made up for a 2-0 Game 1 loss, in which Steve Carlton struck out 12 Cubs in 7 innings but the Cards were shut out by Bill Hands' complete game.
·Full game report.
In a big matchup between the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles, Denny McLain threw a 4-hitter for a 1-0 Game 2 shutout win. Tom Tresh accounted for the game's only run with a solo homer.
Manager's Notes
SP Diego Segui suffered through a disastrous 2nd inning, giving up 4 hits, including an outfield single that scored three runs. We were able to force a bases loaded walk for our only run of the game. Segui gave up only one hit the rest of the night, but our offense left 12 men on bases and couldn't bail Diego out. SP Messersmith had a great game today, striking out 10 Pilots.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
New York Yankees 1 @ Cleveland Indians 2
Sam McDowell had an excellent 2-hitter as he struck out 10 Yankees. SS Larry Brown hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 5th to break the tie and help McDowell get his win.
·Full game report.
The Chicago White Sox got into a real slugfest with the Oakland Athletics today. The Sox scored 7 runs in the top of the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie. However, the A's made a furious comeback in the bottom half to tie the game. Tommy McCraw made the game-winning single for the Sox in the top of the 9th and CL Wilbur Wood earned his Majors-leading 16th save. The White Sox have won 6 consecutive games. If you wanted to read about dominant pitching, how about Bob Gibson for the St. Louis Cardinals today? Gibson struck out 14 Chicago Cubs en route to a 4-1 win.
Manager's Notes
It sure is fun not to play against the White Sox. In the top of the 2nd Mike Hegan was able to score off a John Kennedy single. Steve Hovley and Fred Stanley added their own RBI singles in the two innings after that. Kennedy got another RBI with a squeeze play.
The Angels made a nice comeback in the bottom of the 5th and forced SP John Gelnar to exhaustation. After three runs, the Angels had runners in the corners and two outs. Rodriguez blasted a shot to CF, but Hovley was barely able to rob it to prevent the Angels from taking the lead. However in the bottom of the 7th the Angels tied it off RP John O'Donoghue and Spencer hit a 3-run homer. We lost our 6th consecutive game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We again started well when Greg Goossen hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st inning. Jim Pagliaroni added a solo shot in the next inning. Goossen launched yet another 2-run homer in the top of the 3rd, and he scored his same teammate (Wayne Comer). In the top of the 4th Goossen got his 5th RBI with a sacrifice to CF. In the next inning SP Bob Meyer hit a clutch 2-out single for a RBI. After that it pretty much got out of hand for the Angels.
Bob Meyer, making his first start of the season in my effort to shake the rotation up, let the Angels outhit us 12 to 11. However he took advantage of our big lead and got the complete game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Today's doubleheader for the San Francisco Giants at the Cincinnati Reds had two high-scoring games. In Game 1, the Giants won 14-4 behind Willie McCovey's 2 homers and 5 RBIs. In Game 2 the Reds' Alex Johnson led the Reds to a 15-5 win. He had a home run and 6 RBIs.
Manager's Notes
Our nosedive continues as the White Sox once again swept us. Our starting pitching was finally better but we could only manage one run and couldn't complete a comeback rally against MLB-leading closer Wood. The Sox are now tied with us for 3rd in the A.L. West. Sorry I was tired and I forgot to save the game result, but you can read about it in the Daily Report.
·Pre-game notes. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
I can take heart knowing that the Cleveland Indians lost worse than we did today. In the bottom of the 9th inning RP Horacio Pina walked four consecutive Red Sox to break a 8-8 tie. Poor guy!
Manager's Notes
The good news was that we scored 9 runs today. The bad news was that SP Steve Barber gave up 12 runs in the top of the 2nd inning to give the White Sox yet another win over us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Gaylord Perry had today's best pitching performance. He threw a 3-hit shutout to help his San Francisco Giants win over the Houston Astros 5-0.
Manager's Notes
This was, so far, the worst game of the season for us. SP Gene Brabender and mop-up pitcher Garry Roggenburk could not get anyone out for the first two innings. After the third inning we played our game but the Sox did too much damage.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Los Angeles Dodgers 6 @ Atlanta Braves 5 (14 innings)
RF Andy Kosco smashed 3 home runs, including the game-winner in the top of the 14th, and totaled 5 RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Our bats got to work early as Tommy Harper and Dick Simpson scored early runs. Even better, Harper, Simpson, and John Kennedy stole 4 bases in the bottom of the 1st against SP Nyman. Jerry McNertney added a RBI single and hustled to 3B thanks to a May error.
In the top of the 4th, SP John Gelnar threw the lead away when he beaned Hermann with the bases loaded and no out, then gave up a 2-run single to Knoop. Good defense kept the White Sox from breaking the 3-3 tie.
In the bottom half, Dick Simpson finally got his first hit of the season with a big RBI double. He stole his second base of the game for good measure. Greg Goossen celebrated that with a 2-run homer to extend our lead to 6-3.
Unfortunately Gelnar fell apart again, giving up 4 runs the next inning with no out. Behind 8-6 in the bottom of the 8th, Wayne Comer hit a huge inside-the-park homer, but the next inning RP Mike Marshall gave up a 2-run homer to Knoop. That spoiled an otherwise good relief outing for Marshall. CL Wood kept us from mounting a 9th inning comeback.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP George Brunet gave up a Foy homer in the top of the 2nd. After a few very well pitched innings, Jim Pagliaroni got us on the scoreboard with a deep sacrifice fly. Immediately after Wayne Comer made a perfect squeeze bunt to score Ray Oyler from 3B for the lead.
Royals SP Rooker nearly hit a solo homer the inning after, but new starting CF Dick Simpson robbed it easily. Unfortunately the Royals hitters had Brunet figured out and Piniella hit a 2-run triple for the 3-2 lead. A Brunet balk scored Piniella from 3B. We gave up one more run off another Piniella triple (3 RBIs for the day). We just couldn't get our 2nd hit until the bottom of the 9th. Rooker threw a fine 2-hitter as the Royals prevented a sweep at Seattle.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Oakland Athletics RP Juan Pizarro had a nice doubleheader today. In the first game he pitched 4 innings of relief and got the 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins thanks to a tie broken up by Dick Green's 2-run single. In Game Two Pizarro picked up his 3rd save of the season as the A's won again 7-3 thanks to a 5-run 7th inning. For the hitting fans out there, the Houston Astros walloped the San Diego Padres 8-2. Jim Wynn had 2 homers and 5 RBIs for the Astros.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st inning the Royals worked over SP Diego Segui by getting a 2-run homer by Fiore and another run. After a couple of painful double plays, in the bottom of the 5th, John Kennedy, who really hurt us with one of them earlier in the game, made up for it by finally getting a hit with a 2-run homer. He had gone 34 previous at-bats without a hit. Unfortunately we hit into our third double play of the game to ruin Segui's 1-out bunted base hit.
In the bottom of the 7th Kennedy hit a solo homer! Unfortunately the Royals had gotten one more run in the top half, so it was still a one-run deficit. I decided not to sub out 0-for-3 Tommy Harper and he responded with a deep double RBI double. We had men in scoring position and only one out. I pulled Steve Hovley for Wayne Comer for LH RP Burgmeier and the latter threw a wild pitch, scoring Greg Goossen! Comer got a RBI single to make it a 6-4 lead.
We beat up the Royals by adding two more runs in the bottom of the 8th. K.C. tried hard to come back by scoring two runs in the top of the 9th, but CL Jim Bouton was able to get the last two outs for the save. We managed 15 hits and I feel that was a huge difference as those hits overcame the 4 double plays our batters committed tonight.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Houston Astros' Jim Ray struck out 12 San Diego Padres, but the Friars' Clay Kirby held the 'Stros to only 4 hits. Kirby earned the shutout in the Padres' 3-0 win.
Manager's Notes
Awful fielding by RF Mike Hegan actually let SP Hedlund score an inside-the-park home run and Kansas City jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 2nd. We finally remembered how to score with men on bases when Jim Pagliaroni hit a 3-run blast with two outs in the bottom half to tie the game.
After many, many, many struggles against Hedlund, we finally broke through in the bottom of the 8th. Hegan made up for his error with a deep outfield triple that scored Don Mincher. Tommy Davis immediately added a RBI single. We put in our best fielders for the top of the 9th. Jim Bouton loaded the bases with no out, but only gave up a run and we eked out a 5-4 win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The second batter of the game, Fiore, hit a solo homer off 6th starter Marty Pattin. That was essentially all the offense we had today, although there were a few close calls like RP Bob Meyer getting out of a 1-out bases loaded jam in the top of the 7th.
We finally hit pay dirt when 0 for 3 Fred Stanley, who I couldn't even pull out because I didn't have another 2B available, saw a pitch he loved and hit a deep single to score Tommy Davis from 1B. John Kennedy, 0 for the last 33 (!!!), tried to squeeze Stanley home for the win. Unfortunately it didn't work. Extra innings.
RP John O'Donoghue has improved a lot since his awful start to the season. He pitched the last three innings of the game and gave up only one hit and one walk. In the bottom of the 11th inning Don Mincher came through with a solo walk-off homer to help us take both games of the doubleheader.
We now have a 3-way tie for 1st place in the A.L. West along with Minnesota and Oakland. Chicago is 4th, 3 games out.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 4 @ Cleveland Indians 2
Jim Palmer pitched a marvelous game today, carrying a no-hitter into the 9th inning. After one out, he unfortunately gave up a 2-run double to Jose Cardenal. Palmer was able to finish the game with a one-hitter, though.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We lost our 5th consecutive game today and the away series at Comiskey Park. We managed only two hits against SP Edmondson, who pitched great even tough he gave up 8 walks. We just could not hit in clutch situations, leaving 9 men on base and going 0 for 4 with RISP. We will be going back home to host the K.C. Royals. Let's hope we can win at least two to break this downturn.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were a couple of other outstanding shutouts today. The San Francisco Giants' Juan Marichal threw a 4-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, winning 4-0. Larry Dierker was even better today for his Houston Astros' 9-0 win over the San Diego Padres. He gave up only 3 hits and struck out 10 Friars.
Manager's Notes
The White Sox beat up SP John Gelnar for the first two innings and led 4-0. In the top of the 8th, after SP John held us to two hits, our bats finally came to life. Greg Goossen was able to hit a RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-1. Unfortunately the manager put in CL Wood to stifle our rally. We continue to slump badly and are now 2-8 in our last 10 games. The Oakland A's now own sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West and we tumble to 3rd place.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Oakland Athletics 3 @ Kansas City Royals 0
The is probably the best pitching performance I have ever seen out of a SOM replay. It was so good I just had to watch it in GameReplay! The Royals' Bill Butler had a monster strikeout day as he mowed down 14 Athletics. His only major mistake was a 2-out 3-run homer in the top of the 8th that scored fellow SP Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Sal Bando. Hunter was actually the better pitcher today, as he threw a no-hitter!!! He walked only 3 Royals and his biggest threat was a Lou Piniella line drive in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs. Congratulations to both pitchers for those outstanding performances. Unfortunately only one team could be the victor!
·Full game report.
Here is one more star pitching performance: the Cleveland Indians' Sam McDowell held the Boston Red Sox to only 3 hits in a 1-0 shutout win. Lou Klimchock helped McDowell get the win with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
Manager's Notes
The game was a scoreless affair until the top of the 4th, when Jerry McNertney squeezed home Greg Goossen for a 1-0 start. Unfortunately the White Sox tied the game in the same inning with a May homer. Later that inning the White Sox tried to take the lead as Pavletich rounded third, but LF Goossen was able to gun him down for the 3rd out.
SP George Brunet was able to hold the tie until the bottom of the 6th, when Melton hit the go-ahead solo homer. Melton scored another run in the bottom of the 8th thanks to an error. We left 9 men on bases and was 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Our batting has been just awful lately. The Oakland A's just won today so we are now tied for 1st in a competitive A.L. West.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
In the second game of a doubleheader, the Los Angeles Dodgers topped the San Diego Padres 3-2 in 12 innings. The game was tied 1-1 and each team scored a run in the 10th inning. Maury Wills, not famous for swinging a big bat, hit a lead-off homer in the bottom of the 12th to give the Dodgers the walk-off win.
Manager's Notes
The White Sox' starter, Wynne, starting only his second game of the season, pitched a gem of a complete game shutout as our batters could not do much damage against him. Our SP Diego Segui pitched poorly in the first three innings but righted his ship for the rest of the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Cincinnati Reds 10 @ San Francisco Giants 3
Alex Johnson had an amazing day at the plate. He went 4 for 4 and all 4 hits were solo home runs!
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Yankees walloped SP Steve Barber with 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. We were not able to get a hit until the top of the 4th, when Mike Hegan blasted a RBI triple to cut the deficit to 4-1. He added a RBI single in the top of the 6th, but the Yankees had scored 2 more runs and their lead was 6-2. We were not able to get much going offensively this afternoon. SP Stottlemyre overcame 8 walked Pilots to get a complete game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 7 @ Chicago White Sox 0 (Game 1)
Jim Palmer threw a masterpiece today. He had a 2-hit shutout and gave up only two walks. He struck out only one Sox, so he had a good defense backing him up.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Yankees started well. They had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. Mike Kekich had a no-hitter until the 5.2th inning, when SP Gene Brabender hit a bloop single to CF. Tommy Harper immediately followed with a RBI single to score Ray Oyler from 3B to tie the game.
1B Jim Pagliaroni had a defensive gem in the bottom of the 6th when he scooped up a G3 by Pepitone and threw out White from 3B to keep the game tied.
It looked like a disaster when Brabender was more tired than I thought and gave up a RBI single in the bottom of the 7th to Clarke. However in the next inning Greg Goossen, 0 for 3 so far but the hottest hitter on the team, saw a pitch he loved and launched a 2-run homer for a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately in the bottom half two silly errors by us wasted a series of good lefty-lefty matchups for RP Bob Meyer. A double play grounder with the bases loaded allowed the Yanks to tie the game 3-3.
In the top of the 11th with the bases loaded and two outs, SS Michael mishandled a hard grounder by Wayne Comer, enabling Mike Hegan to score from 3B. The bottom fell out of tired RP McDaniel as Goossen mashed a hard double to the LF line to score all three teammates! He ended the day with 5 RBIs and we got the win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The Yankees scored in the bottom of the 1st, but Greg Goossen countered with a 2-run homer in the top of the 3rd. Jim Bouton's "buddy" Pepitone took the lead with his own 2-run dinger in the bottom of the 4th.
We had a great chance to tie the game with men in scoring position and only one out in the top of the 7th, but two consecutive pop outs ruined that plan.
SP Peterson pitched the entire game and we couldn't do much damage against Bouton's former roomie. Our SP John Gelnar pitched very well too but we couldn't give him enough offense tonight.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The New York Mets crushed the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2. Ken Boswell was a home run shy of a cycle. He totaled 4 hits and 5 RBIs. Tom Seaver had an easy complete game for the Mets. In another nice pitcher's performance, Gaylord Perry pitched a complete game in the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 win over the Montreal Expos. He hit a three-run double in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
MLB Notes
Mack Jones had a big day on a big offensive day for both the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres. Jones had 3 hits and 5 RBIs as the Expos prevailed over fellow expansion team Padres 9-7.
Manager's Notes
In a fun start Northrup hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd, but Ray Oyler in the next inning hit his own 2-run dinger that barely went over LF Northrup's glove!
In the bottom half of the 3rd Cash hit a RBI single with the bases loaded to the OF to score a run, but CF Wayne Comer gunned down a potential second run to keep the Tigers' lead to 3-2. In the very next inning, Jim Pagliaroni hit a 2-run homer to give us the 4-3 lead. Unfortunately in the next inning Cash hit another RBI single to tie the game.
We had a couple of clutch plays late in the game. In the bottom of the 7th Cash had a single and then stole 2nd, but SP Diego Segui caught him napping and picked him off. In the top of the 8th Tommy Harper walked, then stole 2nd and 3rd before scoring off Comer's single. Unfortunately in the bottom half McAuliffe hit a RBI single before getting himself thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double.
We loaded the bases in the top of the 10th with two outs but couldn't score a run. In the bottom of the 10th Cash hit a walk-off triple to score Kaline from 1B and win the game for the Tigers 6-5.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP George Brunet didn't pitch tooo badly, but he gave up a couple of homers that hurt us: a solo shot for Cash in the bottom of the 2nd and a two-run blast by Horton in the 4th.
Greg Goossen countered with a solo homer in the top of the 6th. Two batters later, Jerry McNertney hit a huge two-run dinger to tie the game at 3-3. The very next batter, Jim Pagliaroni, hit a solo homer to give us the lead! Three homers in one inning against SP Lolich!
Unfortunately our joy was short-lived as Kaline led off the bottom of the 6th with a solo shot to tie the game. However John Kennedy responded in the top of the 8th with a solo homer to get us the 5-4 lead in the top of the 8th. PH Don Mincher nearly got us a three-run homer, but his shot was caught at the warning track.
I did tonight exactly what I should have done last night: setup man Bob Locker for the 8th inning and Jim Bouton to close the 9th inning. It worked as the Tigers managed only one baserunner for the last two innings. It was a fun game tonight as all the runs came as a result of home runs.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
In an unusual ending, the Minnesota Twins rallied in the bottom of the 9th inning to score 4 runs and tie the Boston Red Sox 6-6. In the next inning Harmon Killbrew smashed a triple to score teammate Tony Oliva from 1B for the 7-6 win.
Manager's Notes
Don Mincher got us started with a solo homer in the top of the 1st. He tried to break up the 1-1 tie in the top of the 4th by scoring from 2B off a Steve Hovley infield single, but CF Stanley easily threw him out at home plate. In the bottom half of the inning, McAuliffe hit a solo homer to put the Tigers ahead 2-1.
Detroit had a couple of good hits in the bottom of the 5th to lead 4-1. Steve Hovley made a big RBI double the following inning to cut the deficit to 4-2. John Kennedy made a HUGE RBI single to score two runners and tie the game.
In the top of the 8th Hovley hit another RBI to score Mincher from 2B. Unfortunately lefty RP Bob Meyer fell apart against three consecutive lefties and gave up two runs for the Tigers to take the 6-5 lead. I should've used my usual setup man, Bob Locker. We ended up losing.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
The Orioles scored twice - in the 4th and 5th innings. 4th was a sacrifice fly and 5th was an awful E2 by SS Ray Oyler that scored an Oriole from 2B. SP Cuellar was brilliant for the Orioles today. He pitched a 98-pitch 3-hit shutout, struck out 9 pilots, and walked only one. He now has an 1.80 ERA!!! Our starter Steve Barber didn't do too badly, striking out 9 O's in 6 1/3 innings.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 @ Atlanta Braves 0 (Game 2)
Both starting pitchers (Bob Veale and Milt Pappas) went the distance. Veale had the much better game as he no-hit the Braves until the 1st out of the 8th inning. He ended up with a 2-hitter. Willie Stargell has 3 hits today but his best one was the game-winning 2-run homer in the top of the 4th.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
There were several defensive gems in the first half of the scoreless game. Catcher Jerry McNertney rolled a 20 to gun down a base stealer, CF Blair robbed Wayne Comer of a 3-run HR, and SS Ray Oyler chased down a G3 to get the last out and prevent the first run from scoring from 3B. In the top of the 5th Tommy Harper hit a sacrifice fly to score the game's first run.
We were rewarded for several excellent infield defense in the top of the 8th, when John Kennedy mashed a 2-run homer. RP Richert suffered the embarrassment of a wild pitch with 2 outs and a man on 3rd and a pitcher, SP John Gelnar, at bat.
Gelnar was truly brilliant tonight. He pitched a shutout (his 2nd this season), gave up 5 hits, struck out 4, and walked none with 106 total pitches. Once again he had great support from our infielders. We were a digit away from several possible errors, but we ended up playing possibly our best defense of the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Grant Jackson pitched an even better game for the Philadelphia Phillies today. He threw a 3-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Even more amazing is that he scored the game's only run, a solo homer (as a .098 batter) in the top of the 3rd inning. In other news, the St. Louis Cardinals won their 10th consecutive game by scoring 5 runs in the top of the 11th inning to prevail against the Houston Astros 7-2.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st, Jerry McNertney easily scored John Kennedy from 3B with a deep RBI double. However in the bottom of the 6th Buford tied the game with a solo HR that barely cleared the wall. Powell added a homer of his own to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. The start got away from SP Diego Segui and he gave up a deep RF RBI single, but Mike Hegan was able to gun down Brooks Robinson at home plate. Segui couldn't get a 3rd out and gave up a 2-run double.
Orioles SP McNally was excellent tonight, striking out 10 Pilots and issuing only one walk. Let's hope we get more offense going tomorrow.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The New York Mets won over the San Diego Padres 5-0 today. Nolan Ryan pitched a 3-hitter and also struck out 12 Padres in the process.
MLB Notes
Bob Gibson pitched a complete game as the St. Louis Cardinals won over the Houston Astros 7-2. The Cards have won 8 consecutive games and counting.
Manager's Notes
The bottom of the 1st inning was a power display as Wayne Comer hit a solo shot, Greg Goossen a double, and John Kennedy a triple that didn't quite clear the wall. An mishandled grounder by SP Paul caused Kennedy to score from 3B. The third error of the game for the Indians scored Greg Brabender from 2B in the bottom of the 2nd.
SP Brabender had a stupendous start. He had a no-hitter for the first five innings with the highlight being three consecutive strikeouts in the top of the 5th. In the bottom half Brabender celebrated with a 2-run homer!!!
Actually, Brabender totaled 7 no-hit innings! After I put all my best fielders in for the top of the 8th, Klimchock hit a single for the Indians' first hit. The Indians added another walk, but good fielding ended their rally. Gene finished the game with a one-hitter... I believe my first one as a SOM manager. With a day off tomorrow, we will most certainly pound those Buds tonight!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We scored early in the game in the 2nd, when Mike Hegan hit a solo homer and a John Kennedy bunt to CA Fosse resulted into an ER and scored Steve Hovley from 2B.
In the top of the 5th SP Tiant hit a double and then scored off a Cardenal single. In the bottom half Don Mincher singled Tommy Harper home from 2B. Steve Hovley added a sacrifice fly to score Mincher and extend our lead to 4-1. Fred Stanley went 3 for 3 with a clutch RBI single for another run.
In the top of the 8th star hitter Horton hit a 2-run HR to knock SP Steve Barber out of the game. However CA Jim Pagliaroni responded with his own two-run knock to keep us 4 runs ahead, 7-3. RP Bob Locker pitched the last 1.2 innings to pick up a save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
In a game for the ages, the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins dueled for 20 innings!!! The game was tied 3-3 after 9 innings. In the top of the 20th the Yankees jumped ahead when Horace Clarke singled and eventually scored on a Bobby Murcer single. However Cesar Tovar singled a run and Leo Cardenas added a walk-off single to give the Twins a dramatic 5-4 win. The Twins totaled 23 hits and the Yankees had 19. Speaking of hits, Steve Carlton gave up only three in a shutout performance for his St. Louis Cardinals in their 4-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Cards have won 6 consecutive games.
Manager's Notes
Both SPs John Gelnar and McDowell had good starts and there was not much hitting until the bottom of the 6th, when Jerry McNertney hit a RBI single to score Wayne Comer from 2nd. Ray Oyler forced 3B Klimchock to make an error to score one more run. That was it.
Gelnar came out ahead in this pitcher's duel. He threw only 95 pitches, walked only one Indian, and had three strikeouts. McDowell and Williams held us to only two hits but the Indians' offense couldn't come through tonight.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP Diego Segui gave up three early runs (two of them solo homers) before Jerry McNertney got us on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the bottom of the 4th. However our pitching fell apart and the Tigers got two more runs in the top of the 5th. In the top of the 9th Cash hit a grand slam off our mop-up guy Garry Roggenburk.
Lolich dominated us with seven strikeouts and only three hits. Our batters just couldn't keep up with theirs.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 0 @ Montreal Expos 1
Expos SP Gary Waslewski picked up his first win after starting 0-5, and it was a doozy. He carried a no-hitter until the 7th inning, when Ollie Brown sneaked a single past him. Waslewski even scored the game's only run in the bottom of the 8th inning when Mack Jones singled him home with two outs. Waslewski struck out 7 Friars, walked three batters, and needed only 107 pitches.
·Full game report.
Baltimore Orioles 11 @ California Angels 2
Frank Robinson and catcher Elrod Hendricks both got five hits today as the O's routed the Halos. Hendricks hit two doubles and Robinson hit two homers.
·Full game report.
Yet another big game from today was the San Francisco Giants at the New York Mets. The Giants had a 1-0 lead going to the bottom of the 8th, but the Mets scored three runs to lead 3-1. In the top of the 9th Bobby Bonds mashed a grand slam to take the 5-3 lead! Frank Linzy earned the save for the Giants.
Manager's Notes
The start to this game was well pitched for both teams. Detroit had a RBI single in the top of the 2nd but Don Mincher tied the game for us in the bottom of the 5th with a RBI single to score Tommy Harper from 2B.
The Tigers took back the lead on the top of the 6th thanks to a sacrifice fly. In the bottom half Fred Stanley hit big triple, but John Kennedy couldn't squeeze him home to tie the game. In the top of the 8th RP Marty Pattin gave up three consecutive solo home runs (to Cash, Horton, and Freehan) to let the Tigers pull away 5-1. SP McLain struck out 8 Pilots today and pitched the entire game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 0 @ Montreal Expos 6
Expos SP Jerry Robertson had a great game at Jarry Park today. He threw a 2-hit shutout and struck out 8 Padres.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The defending World Series champs enjoyed a leadoff homer by Stanley to start the game, but in the bottom of the 1st Greg Goossen countered with a solo homer of his own. Jim Pagliaroni nearly got a homer over the CF wall, but Stanley made a great leaping catch to keep it a tie game.
SP Greg Brabender's batting card against lefties has a 1 column with only one HR chance and almost everything else strikeouts. Two men on bases in the bottom of the 2nd and two outs, and what did he do? HOME RUN!
Stanley annoyed us with a second consecutive homer in the top of the 3rd, but Jerry McNertney hit a 2-run shot in the bottom half. 6-2 lead.
In the top of the 7th, poor defense by 3B John Kennedy (2nd error of the game) put two Tigers on bases. Thresh launched a 3-run homer to cut the deficit to 6-5. RF Wayne Comer threw away a potential assist and the Tigers scored a sacrifice fly to tie the game 6-6.
In the bottom of the 7th Goossen wasted no time being the hero again, hitting a deep double to score Tommy Haprer form 2B. SK Kilkenny intentionally walked McNertney to bring up Kennedy, but the latter hit a big-time clutch triple to score two more runs. He sure made up for those two errors! Ray Oyler added his own clutch hit, a RBI single to score Kennedy. PH Tommy Davis added a 2-run double.
John O'Donoghue has been improving a bit in relief pitching lately. He gave up only one hit in two innings to help Bob Meyer earn the win after blowing a 7th-inning save situation.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Today's star pitcher was the Chicago White Sox's Gary Peters. He threw a 4-hit shutout. The Washington Senators and the Sox both got 4 hits but the Pale Hoses prevailed 3-0.
Manager's Notes
Baltimore drew first blood with a RBI single in the top of the 1st. We managed to load the bases with two outs in the bottom half and Fred Stanley rolled a S= for a RBI, but Mike Hegan was thrown out at home thanks to a perfect 20 roll by CF Blair.
The game got away from us and Baltimore scored 6 more runs to take a commanding 7-1 lead. In the bottom of the 9th Don Mincher and Steve Hovley hit back-to-back solo jacks. We then got three straight outs as Palmer pitched a complete game tonight.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Kansas City Royals are hot and have won 4 straight games to move up to 2nd place in the A.L. West standings. Jim Rooker pitched a 3-hit shutout against the Boston Red Sox for a 5-0 win. Ed Kirkpatrick had 2 hits today and has been batting .435 with 13 RBIs over the last 10 days.
Manager's Notes
Baltimore scored an early run in the top of the 3rd, but we countered in the bottom half with a 2-run double by Wayne Comer. In the bottom of the 4th Ray Oyler hit a monster 2-run dinger to extend our lead 4-1. Jim Pagliaroni continues to make the most of his starting job by immediately hitting a homer after.
Steve Barber pitched well tonight and even contributed a single and a run. He got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 5th by striking out F. Robinson and then Powell to ensure the O's didn't score. Barber ran out of gas in the top of the 8th and RP Meyer gave up a 2-run homer to B. Robinson to cut the lead to 5-3.
Things looked bad when CL Jim Bouton rolled a leadoff HR to Belanger, but fortunately Belanger had W power so only singled... and Bouton surprised him by picking him off with hard-hitting Salmon up for the tying home run. Bouton's Super Knuckler caught Salmon swinging at air. Bouton walked Buford but struck out Blair to get out of trouble twice in one inning and pick up a save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We got something going against maybe the best pitcher in the A.L., Cuellar, with a 2-run Greg Goossen homer in the bottom of the 1st. SP Diego Segui added a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 2nd for a nice 3-0 start. New starting 1B Jim Pagliaroni hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 4th. Mike Hegan hit a 2-run dinger in the bottom of the 5th.
The Orioles pressured Segui in the 6th and 9th innings, but could only get one run off him both times. Segui fanned an amazing 13 Birds and held the O's to only 5 hits total in a complete game effort.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In an absolutely putrid game for the Pilots, we got swept by a third consecutive complete game by an Indians starter. This time it was McDowell, who held us to only 5 hits. Our pitchers kept giving up home runs and extra-base hits. Let's hope the day off tomorrow snaps our players out of the team funk. We will be playing the best team in the American League, the Baltimore Orioles, for the first time this season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were many good games today but the most interesting one was the Kansas City Royals' 2-1 win over the Washington Senators. Ed Kirkpatrick hit two solo dingers, including the game winner in the top of the 10th inning.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 4th inning Ray Oyler hit a RBI single to cut Cleveland's early lead to 2-1. Bad LF fielding by Greg Goossen resulted in two runs and it was a 3-1 lead after the bottom of the 4th.
Wayne Comer had a RBI double that almost went over the fence in the top of the 5th inning to cut the deficit to 3-2. John Kennedy went for the squeeze but SP Ellsworth threw the ball away for a 3-3 tie. Unfortunately a tiring SP George Brunet allowed the Indians to get a RBI single and the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 5th.
In the top of the 7th Goossen made up for those two runs with a deep sacrifice fly to score Tommy Harper from 3B. Unfortunately RP Marty Pattin and bad fielding couldn't stop the Indians from loading the bases. Fosse hit a 2-run single for the 6-4 lead. We couldn't score anymore and contain the Indians' all-righties lineup.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
It was a great pitcher's duel for the first 5 1/2 innings of the game, with many missed opportunities by both teams to score runs. Our defense gave the game away with a few errors and our offense was mostly cold today. Tiant enjoyed a shutout for the Indians.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Frank Howard hit two 3-run home runs as his Washington Senators destroyed the Kansas City Royals 15-1. On the opposite end of the hitting spectum, Fritz Peterson held the Minnesota Twins to four hits for his New York Yankees' 4-0 win.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st inning Wayne Comer got a RBI single to score Tommy Harper from 1B. Washington had a good threat to tie the game in the bottom of the 3rd, but with men in the corners and no out, Epstein grounded into an inning-ending double play.
In the top of the 4th SP Diego Segui helped his own cause with a clutch bases loaded two-run single. Harper immediately got a RBI single past 1B Epstein. We ran up the score with a sacrifice bunt by Jerry McNertnety, a 3-run HR immediately swung by John Kennedy, and a solo shot by Ray Oyler.
Segui once again pitched brilliantly today. He kept getting himself out of jams as the Senators were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. We turned in three double plays that killed potential rallies.
Fast forward to 2018, I will be taking several days off from this replay for the holidays. I hope you find yours as enjoyable as mine will be!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Denny McLain pitched a 3-hit shutout for the Detroit Tigers in their 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Manager's Notes
The hot hitting of Don Mincher continued with a 1st inning single, and he scored off Mike Hegan's RBI triple. The Senators quickly tied the game with a sacrifice double play to score their man from 3B.
The Senators took the lead on Allen's solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd, but we countered with a Tommy Harper solo HR in the top of the 3rd to tie the game. In the bottom half Maye tried to stretch a CF double into a triple, but Steve Hovley's -1 arm gunned him down at 3B.
Our small ball worked to perfection in the top of the 4th when Hegan advanced to 2B off Hovley's sacrifice bunt. Fred Stanley immediately bashed a RBI double. In the bottom of the 5th Howard tied the game for the Senators with a RBI single. I took out SP Gene Brabender in the top of the 6th with one out to try to score in a bases loaded situation, but PH Greg Goossen couldn't get a single past 2B Allen.
In the bottom half our fielding (3B4 Comer and SS4 Stanley) bit us in the butt with two clutch RBI singles by the Senators. The RP who replaced Brabender, John O'Donoghue, also gave up a solo homer to Howard. He can't be blamed for the loss. Our team sacrifice fielding for offense and today was one of those games where when we have a weakness, it can be exploited for losses. Our offense couldn't score in the final five innings to keep up with the Senators' offense. It was a nice 11-game winning streak with plenty of Budweisers pounded while it lasted!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Today's star performer was the Kansas City Royals' Roger Nelson. He gave up 3 hits and walked no one in a shutout win over the Cleveland Indians 4-0.
Manager's Notes
In our first visit to RFK Stadium this season, we got 3 runs in the top of the 3rd thanks to a Tommy Davis RBi double and a Don Mincher homer that barely cleared the RF wall. The Senators scored two in the bottom of the 4th when Epstein hit a 2-run HR after Howard got the Senators' first hit off SP John Gelnar.
After getting a HR denied because he has W power and rolled on a pitcher's card, Steve Hovley hit pay dirt again in the top of the 6th. He hit a 2-run homer off his batting card to extend our lead 5-2. In the bottom half Gelnar gave up a RBI hit-and-run double off Maye, but was able to get Howard and Epstein out to escape with a 5-3 lead.
A tiring Gelnar gave up another 2-run HR to Epstein in the bottom of the 9th, but fortunately in the top of that inning we had added an insurance run thanks to a RBI single by Davis. Closer Jim Bouton's Super Knuckler fooled PH Alyea, who was trying to swing for the fences to tie the game. It wasn't easy tonight, but we got our 11th straight win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We scored early in the game with a RBI double by Don Mincher and a grounder turned into an E2 by Steve Hovley. In the next inning Mincher hit a grand slam out of the park for a 6-0 lead! We nearly had our second grand slam of the game in the top of the 9th but Jim Pagliaroni hit a sacrifice fly intead.
Steve Barber proved he is our #1 starter with a complete game and only one walk and one solo homer. He has a 1.90 ERA (3rd best in the A.L.) and we have won our 10th consecutive game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Washington Senators 3 @ Chicago White Sox 0 (Game 2)
Jim Hannan made the most of his start today for the Senators. He threw a 2-hit shutout despite walking 6 White Sox. Frank Howard hit a 2-run homer that was more than enough for the Senators to win.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
The Red Sox led early 2-0, but a Mike Hegan double in the top of the 6th plated two runs for us and tied the game. Fred Stanley hit a clutch bases-loaded single to give us the 3-2 lead. The Sox manager tried to take advantage of Wayne Comer's weakness against lefties by putting in RP Lee. Comer made him pay with a grand slam! 7-2!
The Red Sox managed to score one more run late in the game but our 7-run 6th did the damage. 9 straight wins for us!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago Cubs 3 @ Houston Astros 19
The Astros gave the Cubs quite a walloping today. Don Wilson enjoyed an easy complete game with 9 strikeouts. SS Denis Menke went 5 for 6 and drove in 5 RBIs to lead the Astros' offense.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st Mike Hegan was able to get a sacrifice grounder to score Tommy Harper from 3B. Unfortunately in the bottom half a passed ball by CA Jim Pagliaroni set up the Red Sox's tying run.
In the top of the 4th Steve Hovley hit a big double to score Hegan from 2B. The Sox tied the game again in the bottom half. SP George Brunet got himself into deep trouble by loaded the bases but fortunately struck out SP Nagy to end the threat. Unfortunately in the next inning Brunet gave up a sacrifice fly to Smith to give the Red Sox the lead.
In the top of 8th Fred Stanley came through HUGE with a 2-run triple to give us the 4-3 lead. The Red Sox put in Lyle but our next batter, Jim Pagliaroni, likes lefties and punched through a RBI single. In the next inning Hegan came through again with a RBI single for a 6-3 lead.
John Gelnar, our #4 starter who will not start in this series anyway, had an excellent long relief effort to pick up the win. He pitched the last 4 1/3 innings of the game and only gave up two hits. The real life Pilots' best winning streak was 5 games. Our streak is now at 8 games and counting!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Bob Gibson was Bob Gibson for the St. Louis Cardinals' 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres. Gibson gave up only three hits. Joe Torre scored the game's lone run from 3B on a fielding error. Sam McDowell was also very good for the Cleveland Indians' 5-0 win over the Oakland Athletics. He struck out 10 A's and gave up only 4 hits. Finally, the Cincinnati Reds' Lee May hit in his 27th consecutive game and he won the game with his 4th hit - a walk-off 3-run homer. The Reds triumphed over the New York Mets 7-5.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 5 @ Minnesota Twins 1
The O's have been doing the little things and winning 10 consecutive games. Today SS Mark Belanger went 5 for 5, scored 2 runs, and drove in 2 more to lead the Orioles offense. Jim Palmer earned a complete game.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
If only Greg Goossen hit against righties like he does against lefties. In the bottom of the 2nd he led off with a solo homer. John Kennedy immediately homered too.
Gene Brabender had an excellent start, going six innings with only one hit and inducing three double plays. White had his number in the top of 7th with a solo homer to cut the decific to 2-1. He nearly got the complete game but gave up a triple to White with two outs. Jim Bouton, Yankees SP Peterson's old buddy, came in and got the popout and majors-leading 6th save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Boog Powell hit 2 HRs and 5 RBIs to lead the Baltimore Orioles past the Minnesota Twins 10-1. Mike Cuellar earned his majors-leading 9th win of the season. Dock Ellis pitched a 4-hit shutout and Manny Sanguillen hit a sacrifice grounder to score Roberto Clemente for the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. The most impressive game may have been the Cincinnati Reds' 12-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. SP Jim Maloney pitched a complete game, and he also hit two homers and 4 RBIs.
Manager's Notes
The Yankees led early 2-0. In the bottom of 3rd Tommy Davis hit a sacrifice fly to score Tommy Harper. We tied the game with a clutch RBI single by Mike Hegan. In the bottom of 5th Don Mincher hit a 2-run shot to give us the 4-2 lead. Steve Hovley added a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th.
Closer Jim Bouton gave up two consecutive home runs (Pepitone and Fernandez) to let the Yankees score two runs. PH Munson added a solo homer off Bouton's knuckleball, which was awful tonight. Three straight solo homers to blow the save!
Fortunately we got two more outs and our batters came through in the bottom of the 9th. PH Greg Goossen got 3B Cox to make a bad throw to 1B, resulting in an E2 with one out. Tommy Harper hit a single to CF, and Goossen beat out CA Fernandez's plate blocking by just one dice digit! We won 6-5 to win our 6th consecutive game!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Nolan Ryan pitched a 3-hit shutout for the New York Mets in a 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Mets didn't score until the bottom of the 8th, when Art Shamsky hit a solo home run to ruin SP Ron Reed's game. Ryan threw 13 strikeouts. In another interesting game, the Washington Senators overcame the California Angels' 11 runs, 21 total hits, and a 8-run bottom of 3rd (10-3 lead) to win in the top of the 10th inning, 12-11. Ed Brinkman hit the game-winning single to score Del Unser.
Manager's Notes
In the bottom of the 1st with two outs the Yankees intentionally walked Greg Goossen with Tommy Harper on 2B and two outs. Big mistake. John Kennedy nearly hit a homer but he hit the ball deep enough for a 2-run triple.
In the next inning Wayne Comer forced SS Michael to make an E2 to score SP Diego Segui from 2B. Jerry McNertney added a RBI single. Goossen launched a 3-run homer. 7-0 lead already as SP Kekich could not get anyone out.
Segui controlled the Yankees for most of the game and did just enough to collect the complete game. Our batters were dominant tonight and no Yankee pitcher was able to last three innings.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
There were a couple of low-hit shutouts thrown today. Chuck Taylor pitched a 3-hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The San Diego Padres' Al Santorini did one better, pitching a 2-hitter in his 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Manager's Notes
Our batters were at it again this afternoon. In the bottom of the 3rd Mike Hegan was able to force a bases-loaded walk with two outs to score our first run of the game. Jim Pagliaroni immediately added two runs with a single. In the next inning Wayne Comer launched a solo homer to make it 4-0. Fred Stanley punched in another RBI single the inning after for a 5-0 lead.
We got one more run. John Gelnar and Bob Meyer combined to shut out the Senators for a big sweep for us. We are now back in 1st place in the A.L. West.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In the first inning, SP George Brunet gave up a 2-run homer. However in the bottom of the 4th an error off a John Kennedy squeeze play gave us our first run. Wayne Comer immediately followed with a sacrifice grounder to tie the game. In the next inning Jerry McNertney squeezed home Brunet, who helped his case with a leadoff double. 3-2 lead.
Don Mincher added a RBI single in the bottom of the 6th for a 4-2 lead. RP Bob Meyer and CL Jim Bouton combined for only two hits in three innings as we defeated the Senators.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We needed offense and were willing to sacrifice defense, so we called Tommy Davis back on the team a few days ago. He celebrated in the bottom of the 2nd with a RBI single for the first score of the game.
The Senators quickly tied the game when SP Steve Barber threw two consecutive wild pitches to move a baserunner from 1st to 3rd, and he scored on a RBI single. However Barber was able to get out of the inning with a tie in part thanks to striking out Howard with a man on 3rd and one out. Unfortunately Barber loaded the bases with no out in the next inning and gave up two sacrifice flies for a 3-1 Senators lead.
Davis and Barber came through for us again in the bottom half of the inning. Davis hit a RBI single stretched into a double. Barber hit an E2 past SS Brinkman to score two runners and take a 4-3 lead. Tommy Harper, Steve Hovley, and Jim Pagliaroni each added RBI singles to extend out lead and knock SP Cox out of the game. 6-run inning for a 7-3 lead. Poor fielding by us in the next inning cut our lead to 7-5.
Gene Brabender, currently our #5 starter with #1 starter Barber on the mound today, had a heck of a relief performance. In addition, he caused RP Higgins to throw a wild pitch and then a passed ball, allowing David (4 for 4 today!) to score from 2B. I was planning on having Jim Bouton close the game after a long layoff, but we scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th so I let Gene get the 4-inning save instead. Howard got a solo homer to try to get something started, but the rest of the Senators couldn't get more runs off Brabender.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 1 @ St. Louis Cardinals 5
Steve Carlton pitched a one-hitter today! The only hit, and run, he gave up to the Padres was a solo homer by RF Ollie Brown after 7.1 innings.
·Full game report.
Minnesota Twins 6 @ Detroit Tigers 8
The Twins' Rod Carew had a 5 for 5 day with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. Tony Oliva added 3 RBIs and both batters are hitting .318 so far. Unfortunately for them the Tigers scored 4 runs in the 7th and 3 runs in the 8th to come from behind and take the win.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Recently promoted catcher Jim Pagliaroni came through in a big way in the bottom of the 1st inning with a 2-out grand slam after SP Siebert walked two Pilots instead of getting the final out.
If that weren't enough, RF Wayne Comer made a perfect OF assist to get Scott out at home plate in the top of 2nd and prevent the Red Sox from scoring. However the Red Sox scored a RBI in the top of the 3rd past 1B3 Mincher to get on board. He made up for it with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning for a 5-1 score. Tommy Harper followed up in the next inning with a RBI double.
For the rest of the game we used the Red Sox for batting practice and scored 10 runs total. SP Diego Segui got the easy win to lower his ERA to 3.05. RP Bob Meyer finished the game to pick up a 2 1/3 inning save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes Baltimore Orioles SP Dave McNally destroyed the Chicago White Sox 3-0 with a 3-hitter. His ERA is now 1.01, the best in the American League.
Manager's Notes
Leadoff hitter Andrews started the game with a left center homer that barely went out of the reach of LF Mike Hegan's glove. At least it wasn't a throwing error this time. In the bottom half of the inning Steve Hovley tied it with his own home run.
The Red Sox led again in the next inning 2-1. SP Marty Pattin found a pitch he liked in the bottom half and hit a RBI single to tie the game.
In the third inning Smith hit a solo homer for a 3-2 lead for the Sox. In the next inning Pattin gave up his 3rd solo homer of the game to Scott for a 4-2 deficit. Smith his his second homer of the 5th inning. We would be winning if not for all those homers!
We had a nice rally going in the bottom of the 8th, scoring a run. Don Mincher had a good pitch with men in the corners and two outs, but popped up instead of hitting a home run. We found new life in the bottom of the 9th when John Kennedy hit a huge DO3 to score both men from the corners and cut the deficit to 7-5 against tired SP Culp. Fred Stanley hit a double that nearly went over the fence for a RBI. Unfortunately a popout and strikeout ended this exciting game as CL Romo earns the save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Dick Kelley threw a 3-hit shutout for the San Diego Padres in their win over the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. Bob Gibson was even better for the St. Louis Cardinals today. He threw a 11-inning 3-hit shutout and the Cards outlasted the San Francisco Giants 1-0 thanks to Tim McCarver's walk-off single. Finally, Mike Cuellar had a 5-hit shutout for the Baltimore Orioles. Boog Powell totaled 5 RBIs, including a grand slam, as the Birds won over the Chicago White Sox 9-0.
Manager's Notes
It was another game with unproductive bats for us. We had men on 3rd with less than two outs twice, but could not safety squeeze them home. Jackson hit a RBI single in the bottom of the 1st and SP Odom kept us at only one hit until the 7th inning.
CA Jerry McNertney may be slumping with his bat, but he isn't bad at picking off baserunners. In the bottom of the 7th he thwarted the Athletics' attempt to score runs when he got Odom out from 3rd on an attempted suicide squeeze and then followed up by throwing out Campaneris trying to steal second to end the inning.
We could manage only 4 hits total against Odom, but we had plenty of wasted scoring opportunities. We were 0 for 11 with RISP. For once we pitched a good game and got nothing to show for it.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
We finally led our opponent instead of the other way around thanks to a Don Mincher double that scored Tommy Harper from 2B in the top of the 3rd. John Kennedy had a successful squeeze play to bring Mincher home for a 2-0 lead.
Jackson has been breaking our hearts all weekend and he did it again in the bottom of the 3rd with a 2-run homer to tie the game. A Green sacrifice fly to CF with the bases loaded (no thanks to SP Gene Brabender's lack fo control) gave the A's the lead. It was Tommy Harper's turn to run SP Hunter's game when he tied it with an inside-the-park homer in the top of the 6th inning!
Our relievers fought the A's batters tooth and nail until I put in John O'Donoghue for a lefty matchup against Jackson in the bottom of the 8th, men on 2nd and 1st, and 2 outs. O'Donoghue threw the ball away trying to pick off Reynolds for a 2-base error. Our next pitcher, Bob Locker, balked to let Reynolds come home. What a bizarre way to lose a game. To our batters' credit they tried to fight back by loading the bases in the bottom of the 9th, but CL Fingers struck out PH Joe Pagliaroni to end the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 4 @ New York Yankees 0 (Game 2)
The best team in the A.L. beat took care of business with a 2-hit shutout by Dave Leonnhard. Boog Powell scored 2 RBIs with 2 swings of the bat to total 4 RBIs for the day.
·Full game report.
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 @ Cincinnati Reds 6 (Game 2)
There was another 2-hit shutout this afternooon. George Culver did it for the Cincinnati Reds today. Lee May totaled 2 home runs and 4 RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the bottom of the 4th one of us finally scored when Jackson hit a homer for the A's. Bando immediately followed after. We got our revenge in the next inning, though. Fred Stanley got our first hit of the game off Roland! :-o Unfortunately in the bottom of the 6th Jackson had another solo homer to make it 3-0 A's.
We finally got on the board when Stanley hit a RBI single in the top of the 7th. Wayne Comer rallied us in the next inning with a RBI single. Mike Hegan made a clutch 2-run single for the 4-3 lead!!!
I took out SP John Gelnar to try to play matchup, but it turned out to be a mistake. Garry Roggenburk loaded the bases with no out in the bottom of the 8th and Jackson made me pay with a 2-run single for the A's lead. Double by Monday. Grand slam by Roof. Game over.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
In an exciting game Jim Bunning was about to pitch a 3-0 shutout win for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Atlanta Braves had other ideas. They scored six unanswered runs in the bottom of the 9th, including Hank Aaron's walk-off grand slam!!! The Braves won 6-4.
Manager's Notes
First pitch of the game. Bam! Solo homer by Tommy Harper. It didn't take long for the A's to tie the game as Monday hit a RBI double in the bottom of the 2nd. SP Diego Segui got himself into trouble by loading the bases with one out, but a strikeout and a pop fly enabled us to escape with a 1-1 tie.
After many near misses by both teams, in the top of the 10th PH Ray Oyler hit to CF and Monday booted the fly ball for an E2. Unfortunately with men on the corners and no out, PH John Donaldson hit a gb(B)1B and Oyler was thrown out from 3B. Steve Hovley struck out and Don Mincher grounded out to SP Nash. Bases loaded with one out and no run. Just great.
In the next inning PH Jim Pagliaroni delivered, singling to score both men in scoring position with two outs against RP Sprague. A heroic X-chance play by SS Oyler with a man on 2B enabled Jim Bouton to pick up his 4th save of the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
We scored quickly when a Don Mincher bunt with men on 2nd and 1st surprised SP Boswell, who committed an E2, scoring tommy Harper. I messed up not having John Kennedy squeeze with a 55% success chance and he struck out. However Wayne Comer bailed me out with a RBI single and unfortunately Mincher got thrown out by Nettles. 2-0 start.
The Twins' 1B Reese followed up with a solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd. He punished us again in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-run triple that wasn't high enough to clear the right CF fence. He then scored off a Nettles sacrifice fly. Just like that, a 4-2 lead for the Twins. SP Gene Brabender could not get one last out and I had to pull him after one more run.
:-O SP Boswell could not get that one last out either in the top of the 5th. We loaded the bases and Comer launched a grand slam. 6-5 lead!!!
Could LHP Bob Meyer hold off the Twins' 6 left-handed starting lineup? Nope. He quickly gave up a 2-run homer to Harmon Killbrew. That was okay, as in the very next inning Mike Hegan launched a 2-run homer for the 8-7 lead. Mincher was soon up against LHP Grzenda. He rolled a 2HRfB and then a 1! Another two-run homer and a 10-7 lead!
Meyer ran out of gas and we turned to John O'Donoghue to get two last outs of the bottom of the 8th. He managed only one out as the Twins kept geting clutc hits. Reese hit a double and RF Hegan yet again threw the ball away to give Minnesota two more runs and a 12-10 lead. I'm going to move him away from RF as he hasn't been able to make one error-free throw so far!!!
We tried to rally in the top of the 9th but the 5-run 8th hurt our feelings too much. Minnesota now has sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 3rd inning John Kennedy rolled a DO2fb with two outs and amazingly rolled a 2, enabling runners on 2B and 1B to score.
Unfortunately in the next inning RF Mike Hegan once again threw the ball away ane enabled Twins on 3B and 2B to score from a sacrifice fly. Fortunately LF Wayne Comer made an outfield assist to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring from 2B.
The Twins scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 5th when SP Steve Barber threw away a Killbrew G3 to him to enable Carew to score from 2B.
RP Garry Roggenburk made his season debut and didn't do half bad, with his only run being a solo homer by Allison. Unfortunately our batters couldn't do much against SP Perry, who pitched a 2-hitter today as our batters' season averages continued to drop. We are now tied with the Twins for 1st in the A.L. West with 12-8 records.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
Scoring started early with a RBI single for the Angels in the top of 1st and a Wayne Comer solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd.
We almost got out of the top of the 7th with no runs. Unfortunately Alomar managed a S= to RF Mike Hegan. Hegan threw the ball away to enable the Angels' men on 2B and 1B to both score.
After getting only two hits in the first 7 innings, we finally got something going in the bottom of the 8th against SP Messersmith. Hovley picked up his second hit of the game and Don Mincher punched in a S2 past SS Fergosi. Unfortunately the Angels put in their CL Tatum and he got John Kennedy to fly out, ending the potential rally. Tatum nearly hit a HR18fb with two men on bases in the top of the 9th, but unfortunately he rolled a 20.
RP Mike Marshall couldn't get one last out and gave up a 3-run HR to Johnstone. He gave up a solo shot immediately after too. It didn't matter because our batters couldn't produce anything for the bottom of the 9th.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Dick Selma had a 3-hit strikeout for the Chicago Cubs in their 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. He also threw in 10 strikeouts.
Manager's Notes
Today was an exciting scoreless game for the most part, a rarity for a Seattle Pilots game. After a couple of missed opportunities for us, in the bottom of the 7th inning, Tommy Harper managed to get a RBI triple off RP Wilhelm for the first run of the game. Steve Hovley followed with a single that LF Reichardt couldn't field. With usual closer Jim Bouton resting, John O'Donoghue managed to get the last three outs after giving up two baserunners.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Houston Astros 7 @ Atlanta Braves 10
Braves leadoff hitter Felipe Alou went 5 for 6 and scored 4 runs to power the Braves' offense over the Astros.
·Full game report.
There were a couple of standout shutouts today. Luke Walker pitched a 3-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates's 5-0 win over Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Detroit Tigers snapped the Washington Senators' 8-game winning streak by winning 3-0 behind Denny McLain's 4-hitter.
Manager's Notes
It looks like Wayne Comer is snapping out of his terrible batting start as he hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st. He is probably our best outfielder so the more often I can keep him in games the better.
The A's totaled 4 runs in the 3rd and 4th innings thanks to a sacrifice fly by Jackson, a 2-run homer by Green, and a double by Reynolds. Very poor fielding contributed to three of those runs. John Kennedy did his part for us with a 2-run homer in the bottom half of the 4th. Don Mincher added a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 5th to tie the game 4-4.
Don Micher again came through for us in the bottom of the 8th inning with a solo homer for a 5-4 lead. Jim Bouton picked up his second consecutive save. He combined with John O'Donoghue (who didn't implode for once) and SP Diego Segui to retire the last 10 A's batters. Our ability to shut down their offense after the halfway point in the game enabled our offense to catch up. We now have sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West! Time to pound some Buds!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st, Gene Barbender was not able to prevent Jackson from scoring from 3B thanks to a 2-out bases loaded walk. However, the A.L.'s leading hitter (really!), Jerry McNertney, singled home Tommy Harper from 2B in the next inning to tie the game.
In the top of the 3rd Brabender loaded the bases again, this time with no out. Once again we got away giving up only one run. The next inning we gave up one more. However Brabender squeezed in a run home in the bottom of the 4th and Steve Hovley hit a RBI single in the 5th to tie the game at 3-3.
Poor defense in the top of the 8th enabled Cater to steal home from 3B as a result of a double steal attempt. An awful throw by Wayne Comer in RF resulted in a Webster RBI single. However in the bottom of the 8th, PH Mike Hegan hit a huge single that scored men from 3B and 2B to tie the game. The next batter, Tommy Harper, blasted a home run to give us the 7-5 lead!
New closer Jim Bouton made the best first impression ever. He gave up a single to Jackson, but his Super Knuckler struck out 3 A's and won the game for us.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
California Angels 0 @ Kansas City Royals (10 innings)
In a great pitching duel, Rudy May of the Angels held the Royals to only 2 hits and struck out 11 of them in 9 1/3 innings. Unfortunately for him he gave up the walk-off solo homer to Chuck Harrison. Roger Nelson got the 10-inning 5-hitter shutout for the Royals.
·Full game report.
In other games, the Washington Senators won their 7th consecutive game by defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-6. Dave McNally shut out the New York Yankees for the Baltimore Orioles by tossing a 3-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Finally, Gaylord Perry pitched a complete game and stayed perfect with a 5-0 record as his San Francisco Giants won 6-5 over the Houston Astros thanks to a walk-off three-run homer by Bobby Bonds.
Manager's Notes
Have you ever had that feeling where you engage in a shutout duel for the first half of the game, then your SP loads the bases with 2 outs, faces the #8 hitter, and uncorks a wild pitch? Gosh, me too!!! Current #1 starter Steve Barber did just that in the top of the 6th to give the A's a 1-0 lead while up to that point we only managed only one hit against SP Nash.
Right on cue, Tommy Harper launched a solo dinger leading off the bottom of the 6th. Unfortunately in the next inning our relievers fell apart again as Bob Meyer, put in specifically to get Jackson out, beaned him with the bases loaded and no out. Bando next hit a grand slam. Game over. Just for fun, Bando got another grand slam in the very next inning. With those relievers it is going to be a loooong season.
Our batters haven't been too hot, either. We managed only 5 hits against Nash. We were able to score one more run in the bottom of the 9th. If not for those two grand slams (and with some excellent pitching and defense on our part) the score could have been 2-2. That honestly is a huge, huge IF.
Unlike most of the other teams this season, our SPs do not have the stamina to pitch complete games consistently. We do not have any starter with a * stamina, so we actually need a 5-man rotation. Not to mention Sick's Stadium is home run heaven. Since we are in Seattle right now, I am sending Tommy Davis (he can't play defense well and he hasn't been hitting well either) to Vancouver and calling up Garry Roggenburk, the only eligible pitcher we have left.
Hopefully we can use Garry as an emergency starter and also for mop-up duties to save our bullpen's arms. In addition, the combination of Bob Locker and John O'Donoghue has not been getting us saves. Locker is a righty who does better against lefties than righties. O'Donoghue is a lefty who does better against righties than lefties. Not to mention that combination basically eats up two closers I can't touch with only 3 non-closing relievers total (not counting Roggenburk). The only reliever I have left who can close is Jim Bouton, currently my best reliever. I'm going to go ahead and have the Bulldog close and hope we get enough closing situations to justify not having him available to protect ties and close leads right after our starters tire out.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Chicago Cubs 0 @ New York Mets 5
Jerry Koosman dominated the Cubs today. He struck out 8 Cubbies and threw a 2-hit shutout.
·Full game report.
Minnesota Twins 8 @ Chicago White Sox 9 (10 innings)
White Sox outfielder Walt Williams was the star the entire game. He went 5 for 5, including the walk-off single that brought Ken Berry home. Williams also scored 3 runs of his own.
·Full game report.
There were many other standout performances around the league today on a great Friday for baseball. The Washington Senators won their sixth consecutive game as they routed the Cleveland Indians 10-2. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 when Willie Crawford hit a double, and a big error gave him an unearned inside-the-park homer for the walk-off win. Finally, Steve Carlton pitched a 4-hit shutout for 11 innings before a Vada Pinson sacrifice fly won the game for their St. Louis Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0.
MLB Notes
3B Coco Laboy helped the Montreal Expos light up the scoreboard in a crushing 14-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Laboy hit two homers and a triple to total 7 RBIs! SP Jerry Robertson cruised to a 5-hit shutout. Another shutout took place at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. The Indians shut out the New York Yankees 1-0 behind Sam McDowell's 3-hitter. Yankees SP Mel Stottlemyre wasn't too shabby himself as he pitched a 5-hitter.
· MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
SP Marty Pattin had a great stretch in the 2nd and 3rd innings when he struck out 5 consecutive batters. Of course, the next batter to not strike out was fellow SP Hedlund, who singled.
In the top of the 4th we loaded the bases and Jerry McNertney hit a sacrifice fly. Wayne Comer forced an error by 3B Foy squeezing home Gene Goossen.
There was a rollercoaster moment in the bottom of the 6th when K.C. loaded the bases with no out thanks to SS Ray Oyler's E1 of an easy double play ball. Fortunately, Pattin had another strikeout and then induced a double play ball to 2B Tommy Harper for a double play to preserve the 2-0 shutout.
In the next inning Pattin hit pay dirt by rolling a 1 on a X-chance to CF Kelly... a triple!!! Unfortunately we were not able to get him home.
Unfortunately in the bottom of the 9th CF Kelly walked and then stole 2B and 3B to eventually score the tying run for the Royals. Our pinch hitters and substitute fielders could not maintain the tie and we gave up the game-losing walk-off single to PH Martinez for the Royals' 3-2 win.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 0 @ Houston Astros 5
Astros SP Denny Lemaster had a masterful 2-hitter today. He struck out 11 Padres.
·Full game report.
In another excellent pitching performance, Fritz Peterson pitched a 11-inning complete game for the New York Yankees. The Yanks broke a 1-1 tie with the Cleveland Indians in the top of the 11th inning thanks to a Jake Gibbs RBI double tha tscored Gene Michael. The Yankees held on to win 2-1.
Manager's Notes
Thanks to playing three games in two days, including two consecutive 11-inning games, our starters were all gassed already. I have only one pitcher in the minor leagues in Vancouver, so we knew we had to grin and bear it today with one last game tomorrow before a day off.
Tommy Harper scored thanks to a Greg Goossen RBI double in the top of the 1st. SP John Gelnar got lit up for three runs, but in the next inning Harper hit a sacrifice fly to score Mike Hegan from 3B. In the inning after, we tied it 3-3 when John Kennedy hit his second consecutive triple (!) to score Ray Oyler from 1st. The tie didn't last long when Pilots castoff Piniella hit a RBI double in the next inning.
Our batters refuse to roll over and die with a 6-3 deficit. Mike Hegan had a hard-earned 3-run homer to tie the game at 6 in the top of the 5th. We overcame a jam in the bottom of 6th thanks to RP Bob Meyer's huge strikeout of Piniella with men in scoring position and two outs.
Oyler continued his huge day with a 3rd hit that was a RBI double to score Gene Goossen. Hegan next followed up with a big RBI single. In the bottom half Kansas City got a run off Jim Bouton, but in the next inning Hegan hit pay dirt again with a bases-clearing 3-run triple! Bouton took advantage of the runner held effect for his own RBI single as the computer manager seems very uninterested in yanking RP Morehead, who just could not find the plate.
In all we scored 5 runs in that top of the 8th. Bouton's knuckleball kept the Royals guessing for the game's last three innings and he earned the save. We used only three pitchers today and should have plenty of fresh arms to try to win the series tomorrow. Hegan was the star today with 3 for 4, 3 runs, and 7 RBIs! He has been working hard to be an everyday starter. That was one heck of a team effort tonight!
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Montreal Expos 4 @ St. Louis Cardinals 2 (14 innings)
You know St. Louis isn't hitting well today when they managed only ONE hit in 14 innings!!! So how did they manage two runs? RBI double in the 4th inning and sacrifice fly in the 6th inning - it tied the game. Four Expos pitchers combined to no-hit the last 8 innings of the game. That was another excellent expansion team effort today.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 2nd inning slumping Wayne Comer managed a RBI single to score Ray Oyler from 2B. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 3rd we gave up three runs. Mike Hegan couuntered in the next inning with a solo homer. Amazingly SP Gene Barbender humiliated SP Butler with a solo homer of his own to tie the game!
Kansas City countered in the bottom half of the 4th to tie the game 4-3. Tommy Davis had a RBI single in the top of 6th to tie the game again.
There were many missed opportunities to win the game, especially for the Pilots. The Royals finally hit pay dirt in the bottom of the 11th. Hernandez walked and stole 2B and 3B to put pressure on us. Fiore became the hero when he hit a 3-run walk-off homer. We lose two consecutive games for the first time this season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Steve Carlton had a great 5-hit shutout for the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out 10 Montreal Expos en route to a 3-0 win. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Clay Carroll had an easy 5-hit shutout for the Cincinnati Reds. The Redlegs destroyed the Houston Astros 17-0. Bobby Tolan went 3 for 3 with 2 runs and 5 RBIs, and Alex Johnson totaled 6 RBIs.
Manager's Notes
Mike Hegan and Tommy Davis scored RBI singles to start us off quickly 2-0. The White Sox countered with Melton triple and then a run in the next inning, but Greg Goossen hit his second dinger in the next inning for a 3-1 score. A wild pitch in the next inning gave Ray Oyler a free run from 3B.
Goossen had an highlight reel play in the bottom of the 4th. SP Steve Barber gave up a man on 1B thanks to his second error of the game. Melton had a S19gbA but rolled a 20, allowing 1B Goossen to convert an amazing double play.
After giving up a run in the bottom of the 6th, we got one more in the top of 7th thanks to a John Kennedy RBI single. Jerry McNertney added one more right after. We kept batting runs in for the rest of the game and the White Sox pitching and defense couldn't keep up. RP Marty Pattin pitched the last 2 2/3 innings and gave up no hits.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report.
Manager's Notes
Greg Goossen just keeps producing runs. He singled home Tommy Harper from 2B in the 1st inning. He did the exact same thing in the 3rd inning - he just hit it to left field instead of right field, according to my game's path of ball animation. :-D
SP Mike Marshall, making his season debut, pitched horribly in the bottom of the 4th and loaded the bases with no out. Berry hit a big double to RF4 Mike Hegan to tie the game 2-2. SP Peters, of all people, had a RBI single to give the White Sox the 4-2 lead.
In the top of the 8th Jerry McNertney led off with a solo homer. It was Tommy Harper's turn to score a man from 2B when he singled to LF to score Ray Oyler. Wayne Comer had a golden opportunity to score Harper from 3B with one out, but grounded into a fielder's choice.
We didn't have many well-rested pitchers left and fell apart in the bottom of the 11th. John O'Donoghue gave up a triple to Aparicio. John managed a strikeout, but then Hopkins hit a gbA that was too deep for 2B Tommy Harper to successfully throw Aparicio out at home plate, so he... threw to 1B for the force out. :-P
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 3rd inning Tommy Harper singled home Ray Oyler from 2B. Unfortunately in the bottom half SP Diego Segui issued a bases-loaded walk with two outs to let the White Sox tie the game 1-1.
In the top of the 4th Don Mincher hit a RBI double and legged it to 3B as Mike Hegan easily beat the throw to home plate. Mincher got thrown out at home on a Steve Hovley gb(B) and a double play ended any more scoring threats. In the bottom half Berry blasted a 2-run HR to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead.
In an exciting play in the top of 6th Hegan got on 1B again and once again Mincher followed up with a double to deep CF. Unfortunately the outfielder this time, Berry, was able to roll a 17 to overcome Hegan's 75% safe chance.
After the White Sox added a run, our bats woke up again in the top of the 9th inning with some good pinch hitting againt CL Wood. We managed to load the bases with two outs, but unfortunately I had run out of position players and I didn't have anyone available to pinch hit for Ray Oyler. He grounded out to end our scoring threat and our 5-game winning streak.
After tomorrow's doubleheader (or after our series at Kansas City) I may look into demoting a pitcher for one more position player just to give me more pinch hitting options. Or keep my pitchers at nine and send a batter to Vancouver (our minor league team). Our division is not as strong as the A.L. East, so we can certainly afford a few losses.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
San Diego Padres 7 @ San Francisco Giants 11
Willie McCovey, who recently departed our world in real life, enjoyed 3 homers and 4 RBIs today. The Padres actually had 17 hits total to the Giants' 12.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 2nd we had men in the corners and no outs. Jerry McNertney hit into a double play, but our man on 3B scored anyway. In the next inning, a terrible pitch by SP John Gelnar gave SP Horlen a double. The latter scored on a Aparicio squeeze play to tie the game.
In the next inning Don Mincher hit a homer to make it 2-1. RF Mike Hegan threw a Herrmann single away trying to gun down Melton. Tie game 2-2 in the bottom of 4th at Comiskey Park. 2B Tommy Harper committed an error to allow the White Sox to take the lead.
In the top of 6th Mincher tied the game for us with another solo blast. In the top of the 9th Tommy Harper hit a big go-ahead RBI single that scored McNertney from 2nd. Jim Bouton's strong relief performance earned him a W and John O'Donoghue and Bob Locker combined for the latter's 9th inning save.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Cleveland Indians pulled off an amazing comeback victory today over the Boston Red Sox. Trailing 6-3 in the top of the 9th, the Indians were able to shake off co-closer Vincente Romo and score 8 runs!!! The Red Sox could only counter with two runs and the Indians won 11-8. There were a couple of standout shutouts today. Gaylord Perry pitched a 5-hitter for the San Francisco Giants' 3-0 win over the San Diego Padres. Jim Shellenback did one better by tossing a 4-hitter in his Baltimore Orioles' 3-0 win over the Washington Senators.
MLB Notes
Atlanta Braves 7 @ Houston Astros 0
Braves SP Ron Reed had a no-hitter until the 6th inning. He ended up with a shutout and only two hits given up.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the bottom of the 2nd inning Jerry McNertney his his first homer of the year, a two-run shot. In the next inning Don Mincher added a two-run clout of his own. The Twins' Oliva hit a solo shot the inning after to trail 4-1. Our batters assaulted the Twins itching for the rest of the night. Carew had a solo homer for the away team in the top of the 9th, but we were too far ahead. Greg Barbender enjoyed a strong complete game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The New York Yankees won their first game of the season after losing their first seven. Mel Stottlemyre pitched a 4-hit shutout as the Bronx Bummers (tongue in cheek - I love the Yankees) won over the Washington Senators 2-0.
MLB Notes
Baltimore Orioles 4 @ Boston Red Sox 1
Jim Palmer enjoyed a 2-hitter for the Orioles today.
·Full game report.
In another great pitching performance today, Bill Singer threw a 3-hit shutout for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 7-0 win over the San Diego Padres. He struck out 10 Friars in the process.
Manager's Notes
Tonight was a one-game duel between the expansion Royals and Pilots. It was a good pitcher's duel between Hedlund and Diego Segui. Diego managed three no-hit innings, but Segui couldn't hold the Royals' CF Kelly to save his life. Kelly walked, easily stole two bases, and scored the first run o of the game in the top of the 4th inning.
In the bottom half we loaded the bases with one out. Jerry McNertney pulled off a perfect safety squeeze to score Don Mincher and tie the game. Ray Oyler continued his early season heroics with a S= to score two more men.
In the top of the 6th the Royals got the lead thanks to Kirkpatrick's 3-run home run. We tied in the next inning when Wayne Comer hit a double that unfortunately didn't go over the wall for a home run. That scored Tommy Harper. We got the go-ahead run when PH Greg Goossen forced an IF error off RP Burgmeier.
John O'Donoghue was the setup man tonight and Bob Locker picked up his first save of the season. We get the day off tomorrow with a 5-1 start to the season.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
The Pittsburgh Pirates crushed the Chicago Cubs today 10-0. Dock Ellis enjoyed a 4-hit shutout for the Bucs. Richie Hebner scored 4 runs and Willie Stargell had 3 RBIs. Not to be overlooked is Roberto Clemente, who went 2 for 3 to raise his batting average to .448.
Manager's Notes
SP John Gelnar struggled a bit early in the game, giving up a run in the top of the 1st. Jerry McNertney continued his hot start by singling home Tommy Davis from 2B in the next inning. Ray Oyler then singled another run to give us a 2-1 lead with McNertney narrowly missing the tag at home.
In the next inning Greg Goossen made it 3-1 with his own RBI single. The inning after Tommy Harper had a RBI single. After Gelnar gave up another run in the next inning, John Kennedy countered with a sacrifice fly. 5-2 lead.
Goossen added a homer in the bottom of 7th to extend the lead 6-2. Gelnar gave up a homer to May to cut the lead to 6-3. Today's setup man Bob Locker and closer John O'Donoghue saved the game and we won our first home series in franchise history two games to one.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Philadelphia Phillies 1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 7
Pirates SP Bob Veale enjoyed a 2-hitter today. Catcher Manny Sanguillen led the Bucs' offense with 2 hits, a run, and 3 RBIs.
·Full game report.
In today's doubleheader at Memorial Stadium, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators in walk-off fashion for both games. In the first game a bases loaded wild pitch from Bob Humphreys lost the game for the Senators. The second game went 12 innings. Frank Robinson hit the game-winning double to bring Boog Powell home.
Manager's Notes
Tommy Harper and Wayne Comer scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the 1st. SP Steve Barber has an impressive batter's card with several triples in the 1 column against lefties. Tommy Davis added a RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd for a 3-0 Pilots lead. We scored from some more small ball in the bottom of the 5th to make it 5-0.
Steve Barber managed five no-hit innings before RF Williams singled in the 6th with no out. He eventually finished with 2 hits in 7.2 innings and 9 strikeouts. We scored 5 more runs for an easy 10-0 win. Greg Goossen led the offense with a 4 for 4 performance, 2 runs, and a RBI. John Kennedy racked up 4 RBIs, in part thanks to his 3-run dinger late in the game.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Montreal Expos 3 @ Chicago Cubs 8
The Cubs' Billy Williams went 5 for 5 with 3 RBIs to power the Cubbies to another win over the Expos. It is still early, but Williams is leading the National League in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.
·Full game report.
Manager's Notes
In the top of the 1st inning Mike Hegan, who had hit a triple, reached home on a passed ball by SP Horlen. In the top of the 3rd, Wayne Comer hit a homer that manage to elude LF May.
In the top of the 4th, a costly error by 3B John Kennedy turned a double play into a E2 with men in scoring positions and no out. He must have been nervous playing in our first home game at Sick's Stadium (ugh, what a terrible name). The next batter, Bill Melton, made us pay for it with a 3-run dinger.
The White Sox scored two runs off Jim Bouton in the top of 7th and then had a 3-run HR off Marty Pattin in the top of the 8th to pretty much put the game out of our reach.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Washington Senators 0 @ Baltimore Orioles 5
Orioles SP Dave McNally enjoyed a 2-hitter against the Senators.
·Full game report.
Kansas City Royals 0 @ Oakland Athletics 7
Jim Nash had a no-hitter until the 6th innings. He was still good enough to pick up his own 2-hitter today.
·Full game report.
MLB Notes
The Red Sox's Sonny Seibert threw a 4-hit shutout in their win over the Baltimore Orioles 3-0. The New York Mets enjoyed another shutout, this time by Tug McGraw. He also pitched a 4-hitter in the 7-0 win over the Montreal Expos.
· MLB recap.
Manager's Notes
I don't know how real-life .165 hitter Ray Oyler is doing it, but he hit his second homer in two games to start us with a 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd. A wild pitch and a successful squeeze by Jerry McNertney extended our lead to 4-0 in the top of the 6th. Mike Hegan hit a RBI single in the next inning. John Kennedy homered the inning after. Speedster Tommy Harper hit a solo inside-the-park homer in the 8th.
SP Diego Segui gave up a couple of doubles and 8 hits total, but clutch defense and a few key strikeouts preserved his shutout. Let's see how our pitching and defense do against teams with better hitters.
·Pre-game notes. · Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Montreal Expos 0 @ New York Mets 2
Tom Seaver enjoyed a 2-hit shutout for the Mets over the expansion Expos. A sacrifice fly and a passed ball were the game's only two runs.
·Full game report.
There were two other shutouts today. Catfish Hunter pitched a 4-hitter for the Oakland Athletics in their 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. The St. Louis Cardinals' Steve Carlton also pitched a 4-hitter in the Cards' 9-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Manager's Notes
It didn't take us long to score the first runs in franchise istory. Don Mincher hit a sacrifice fly to score Tommy Haprer from 3B. Steve Hovley was able to force a passed ball from SP Messersmith for another run. California got a run in the bottom half, but couldn't add one more in the bottom of the 4th when LF Wayne Comer easily robbed Azcue of a homer.
Mike Hegan laid a great squeeze bunt to score Tommy Harper from 3rd in the top of the 5th inning. John Kennedy added to the scoring with a solo homer in the next inning. Steve Hovley had a RBI single in the inning after that. We used poor Messersmith for batting practice and extended our lead to 12-1 when all was said and done.
Our pitching wasn't super, giving up 3 runs and 10 hits total. However we ended up with 21 hits and 15 runs. Let's hope that production keeps up all season long!
· Full game report. · MLB recap.
MLB Notes
Sorry I forgot to tell the game to separate the Majors into two subleagues instead of just one, so the Daily Report for the first two days assumes one league. Jerry Robertson (4-0 Montreal Expos over New York Mets), Bob Gibson (1-0 St. Louis Cardinals over Pittsburgh Pirates), and Larry Dierker (6-0 Houston Astros over San Diego Padres) all enjoyed complete game shutouts today.
My 25-man roster
My starting, set up, and closing pitchers
My default lefty lineup
My default righty lineup
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