Bombers take 2 of 3 from O’s @ the Stadium

Yankee Stadium
Game 1: McNally vs. Ford
Dave McNally and Whitey Ford settled in to stage a true pitcher's duel in the first game in New York. For six and a half innings nobody crossed the plate. Bobby Richardson's two-out RBI single cashed in Yogi Berra to make it 1-0 Yanks after seven. But then after cruising through the eighth the wheels came off for Ford in the ninth, giving up a walk and two singles to tie the score. Ford was replaced by Sparky Lyle onto to have Doug DeCinces hit an RBI single. The Yanks went out meekly in the ninth to hand Baltimore a 2-1 win.

Game 2: Cuellar vs. Raschi
Vic Raschi was on fire for most of this game. The Orioles were continually frustrated at the plate. Meanwhile the Yankees bats exploded in the fifth, with a home run from Phil Rizzuto highlighting the  inning. After the fifth the Yanks wre up 5-0. Graig Nettles added a homer in the sixth to make it 7-0 and Joe DiMaggio drove in Mickey Mantle in the seventh to give New York an 8-0 lead. Raschi did the rest, letting nothing across and giving up only three total hits in nine innings. In the young season Raschi has yet to give up an earned run. Yanks take the game 8-0.

Game 3: Pappas vs. Reynolds
The O's scored first on a solo home run by DeCinces in the second. The game was tied in the fifth when Yogi Berra hit his first home run. Reynolds gave way in the seventh to Ed Lopat. In the bottom of the second Berra struck again, plating Joe DImaggio on an RBI double after a daring call to send the Yankee Clipper home. Lopat shut Baltimore down the rest of the way and got the victory as the Yanks prevail 2-1.

--submitted by Michael Hopcroft--

Royals take 2 of 3 from Pale Hose in Comiskey

8/11-8/13 - Comiskey Park
Royals 2, White Sox 0
Paul Splittorff vs Juan Pizarro
Pizarro had a really good outing going 7 2/3 innings and only allowing 2 runs.  On most days very good is good enough, but not on a day when Paul Splittorff baffled the Chisox hitters and allowed only 4 hits en route to a complete game shutout.  Frank White would supply all the offense going 4 for 4 and knocking in both runs.  White would bag himself 2 doubles while his season average moved to an even .400.

White Sox 3, Royals 2
Charlie Leibrandt vs Billy Pierce
Minnie Minoso's RBI single in the bottom of the first scored Nellie Fox with 2 outs.  Lamar Johnson's 2 run homer would make it 3-0.  Chicago would not score another run the rest of the day, but they would not need to as Billy Pierce and Hoyt Wilhelm combined to keep KC's offense at bay and more importantly get themselves out of manager Dan Holm's dog house.  Clint Hurdle's solo shot with one out in the second made it 3-1 and UL Washington's RBI suicide squeeze bunt in the 5th made it a tight 1 run game.  The Royals threatened to tie it up in the 8th when Willie Wilson led the inning off with a single and stole both 2nd and 3rd.  Frank White, who was yesterday's hitting star, was today's hitting dud.  White fanned on 4 pitches for the first out of the inning.  Amos Otis came up next and hit a bullet to Sherm Lollar at first.  With the infield drawn in Wilson was forced to hold at third as Lollar  flipped the ball over to Wilhelm who was covering.  Hal McRae would be up next and his pop out to shallow left ended KC's chances in the 8th.  Al Cowens would lead off the 9th with a single and steal second to put pressure once again on Hoyt Wilhelm and he Chisox.  Tartabull popped out to short and Macfarlane was punched out looking.  The slumping George Brett was given an intentional pass.  John Mayberry was called on to pinch hit for Freddie Patek.  Mayberry swung through a 3-2 floater for the final out of the game.  Pierce got the win and Wilhelm his first save.

Royals 9, White Sox 2
Larry Gura vs Joe Horlen
KC's bats made quick work of Horlen, who was knocked out of the box before registering an out in the second.  KOD's very own "Dr. Hook" (Dan Holm) blew through 8 pitchers on the day.  The score was actually very close (3-2) until the final two innings when the Royals scored 6 runs to put it out of reach.  A 2 run homerun by Spanky Macfarlane in the 9th ended all hopes for the Chisox.  Larry Gura went the distance allowing just 1 unearned run and striking out 4.  George Brett got 2 hits to put his average over the Mendoza line for the first time this season.

Phightin’s take 2 of 3 from Buc-os

8/11-8/13 - Veterans Stadium
Phillies 3, Pirates 2
John Candelaria vs Steve Carlton
This matchup of premier lefties did not disappoint.  Roberto Clemente's solo shot with one out in the 5th broke the ice of a scoreless deadlock.  The "Candyman" was posting goose eggs for 6 innings, but hit a bump in the road in the 7th when one Michael Jack Schmidt went yard to tie it up.  Dave Giusti relieved for the Bucs and looked good, but Philly rallied for a solo run on a Greg Luzinski pinch hit RBI single to take a 2-1 lead.  Tug McGraw couldn't hold the Bucs down in the 9th thanks to an error by Richie Allen in left and back to back singles by Jay Bell and pinch hitter Donn Clendenon.  With the game tied at 2-2 Jim Rooker toed the rubber for the bottom of the 9th.  Rooker struck out Schmidt to start the inning, then got Granny Hamner to ground out to third, but Bill Madlock rushed his throw and pulled Stargell off the base to allow Hamner to reach safely.  Larry Bowa was  immediately inserted to pinch run for Hamner.  Pete Rose singled to put runners on 1st and second.  It looked like everyone would be stranded when Richie Ashburn flew out to his counterpart (Clemente) in center for out number 2.  With Cookie Rojas due up the "secretary of defense", Garry Maddox, was called on to pinch hit.  Rookers 2-1 offering to Maddox was lined right back through the box to score Bowa with the winning run.

Phillies 5, Pirates 4
Terry Mulholland vs Bob Friend
Pittsburgh nibbled their way to a 3-0 lead by scoring solo runs in each of the first 3 innings off of Mulholland.  The Phightin's answered back with solo runs in the 4th, 6th and 8th innings, but still faced a 1 run deficit.  Two runs in the bottom of the 8th off of Bob Veale and Dave Giusti put Philly ahead for good.  Veale started the 8th and walked Pete Rose.  Giusti relieved him to face a righty, Mike Schmidt.  It doesn't matter what arm you pitch with when it comes to Schmitty, who tagged Giusi's 2-0 offering and sent it deep into the second deck at the Vet.  Tug McGraw would get his second save of the season with a perfect 9th.  Woodie Fryman would get the win by pitching a scoreless 8th.  Giusti took the loss and blown save.

Pirates 7, Phillies 0
Vern Law vs Chris Short
Three runs in the first and 3 in the 7th led to Short's demise and a blowout win for the Buc'os.  The "Deacon", Vern Law was in such a groove it didn't matter how many runs his teammates gave him.  Law would throw a tidy 4 hit shutout despite walking 3 and not striking out a batter.  The "Cobra", Dave Parker, would fire the opening salvo with a 3 run shot in the first.  Clemente would add a 2 run shot in the 7th, which ultimately knocked Short out of the game.

Those swingin’ A’s take 2 of 3 from Twins

8/11-8/13 - Metropolitan Stadium
Twins 5, A's 4
Dave Stewart vs Jim Perry
Oakland scratched and clawed to a 3-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings only to see Minnesota erase it with one swing of the bat by pinch hitter Tom Brunansky.  Bruno was called on to bat for Zoilo Versalles with 2 out in the bottom of the 5th.  One might swing turned a 3-0 Oakland lead into a 3-3 tie.  Up until that point "Smoke", Dave Stewart, was cruising.  Minny touched him for two more runs in the bottom of the 6th.  Amazingly Stewart only allowed 2 runs after the Twins loaded the bases with nobody out.  Both runs scored on ground outs to make it 5-3.  Oakland threatened in the 8th thanks to a fielding error by Versalles at short on a slice job by Feris Fain.  Back to back walks by reliever Al Worthington forced in Billy North to make it a 1 run game.  Worthington rescued himself by striking out Bert Campaneris to end the inning.  Rick "Aggie" Aguilera notched his 4th save of the campaign by fanning two to close out a perfect 9th inning.

A's 6, Twins 5
Vida Blue vs Jim Kaat
The early going was not going well for the lefties.  Oakland hammered Kaat for 5 runs in the top of the 1st as 10 men came to the plate.  The big blow was a bases clearing double by catcher Gene Tenace, which made it 3-0.  Eddie Joosts RBI double scored Tenace to make it 4-0 and Vic Power's RBI single ended the scoring.  One would think 5 runs would be enough offense for a pitcher of Vida Blue's caliber to protect.  Unfortunately for Oakland their fire throwing lefty began leaking oil right out of the garage.  A solo shot by Kirby Puckett with one out in the first made it 5-1.  An RBI double by Earl Battey in the bottom of the second made it 5-2.  Back to back RBI singles by Rod Carew and Puckett made it a 1 run game and a solo shot by Roy Sievers in the 5th tied it up at 5-5.  By the 7th inning both starters were gone with the game still tied.  Neither posted a quality start.  Kaat deserves kudos for recovering from a horrific 1st inning to toss 6 shutout innings in a row until he tired after 123 pitches.  Blue just never really had it going all day and struggled with his control as evidenced by the 4 walks and 5 k's he posted.  Rollie Fingers would come on to sta the 8th and he would be just the tonic the A's needed.  The man with the handlebar mustache allowed just one hit in 2 1/3 innings of relief.  Jack Karlick would take over for the Twins and do the same for the 8th and 9th innings.  The 10th inning however would see Kralick give up a lead off double to Tenace.  After getting Joost and Power to fly out Kralick looked to escape the 10th without  any damage.  Tony Phillips, who entered the game as a replacement for the injured Dick Green, lined a single to right to score Tenace and give the A's the lead.  Fingers would start the 10th and easily get Mickey Vernon to pop out to the catcher on a jam job.  Fingers would leave the game on the winning side of the ledger as it was now time for "the Eck", which was bad news for Twin batters.  Both Bobby Allison and Eddie Yost went down swinging as the man with the mullet gave them nothing to hit en route to his 4th save of the season.

A's 3, Twins 2
Blue Moon Odom vs Camilo Pascual
The rubber match of the series followed the perfect Oakland formula.  Get an early lead.  Have your starter go 7 innings.  Have Fingers setup in the 8th and Eckersley close it out in the 9th.  All went according to plan, well almost.  The's A's did have an early 3-1 lead thanks to a solo shot by a pair of unlikely sources:  Bill North & Rickey Henderson, and a likely source:  Reggie Jackson.  The unplanned part was the trouble Eck got into in the bottom of the 9th.  Harmon Killebrew led off the inning with a tape measure shot to make it 3-2.  Mickey Vernon then shocked the world by walking vs Eckersley, a man who NEVER walks anyone.  Bobby Allison swung for the fences looking for the game winner and crapped out by fanning on 3 pitches.  Brunansky was called upon to pinch hit once again, but could not replicate his heroics of the previous day.  With 2 out Earl Battey singled to right to put runners on the corners.  A hit ties the game up, but Versalles line shot wound up in Carney Lansford's glove and not left field.  Dennis Eckersley did not have his best stuff, but still managed to survive and get his 5th save.
On a side note:  A's slugger Jose Canseco recoreded the less than coveted golden sombrero by fanning 4 consecutive times in a pittiful 0-4 effort.  Reggie, who went 2 for 4 with a homer barely missed having a 4 homer day.  His first 2 shots were caught against the wall and his double hit off the top of the wall in the 8th.

Standings After Week #2

Dodgers take 2 of 3 at Launching Pad

8/7-8/9 - Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
Dodgers 19, Braves 9
Fernando Valenzuela vs Tom Glavine
Neither lefty had much to offer in this slugfest where the "Launching Pad" shone through as the day's true star.  The Dodgers posted a 12 run 6th inning to more than overcome the 3 run deficit that they faced.  37 hits in total were posted on the day.  Maury Wills had a unique 4 hit / 3 error day.  Steve Garvey posted 5 RBI's, three of which came on a huge homer off Rick Camp in that fateful 6th.  Don Newcombe bailed out Fernando with 3 2/3 quality innings of work.  Rick Camp was victimized for 7 runs in 2/3 innings.  Gene Garber gave up 5 in 1/3.  Roy Campanella had 4 hits himself with 3 RBI's.

Dodgers 9, Braves 5
Orel Hershiser vs Lew Burdette
Kudos to the "bulldog", Orel Hershiser for gutting his way through almost 7 innings vs a tough lineup in a ballpark that was playing smaller than Wrigley with the wind blowing out.  The Dodgers needed a 4 run 8th to put the game away.  Pee Wee Reese started at short and continued the Dodgers tradition of shortstops making errors and getting hits.  Reese banged out 3 hits and knocked in 2 runs to go along with just 1 error.  Gil Hodges and Duke Snider each hit homers to show the Boys of Summer have muscle.

Braves 6, Dodgers 4
Preacher Roe vs Phil Niekro
Without Niekro these Braves just don't seem to win much.  Thankfully the knuckleball ace was on the mound and was able to ride the coat tails of a grand slam by Del Crandall in the 4th.  A pinch hit 2 out 2 run double by Eddie Mathews in the bottom of the 8th provided the much needed insurance to keep those high scoring Dodgers at bay.  Jackie Robinson's pinch hit homer in the 9th off of Cecil Upshaw threw a scare into the crowd, but Upshaw was able to cut the Dodger rally down after Steve Sax and Duke Snider reached base with 2 out.  A grounder to third by Gil Hodges ended it.  Sax had 3 hits in a rare start at second for the blue and white.

Redbirds sweep Amazin’s at Shea

8/7-8/9 - Shea Stadium
Cardinals 2, Mets 1
Curt Simmons vs Jerry Koosman
Both starters dueled to a 1-1 stalemate until the top of the 9th when the Cards got the key go ahead run off of Met reliever Tug McGraw.  After Ted Simmons singled and Ozzie Smith walked with 1 out Tug made a key error on Willie McGee's bouncer back to the box.  That allowed Simmons to score on Vince Coleman's grounder to short that would have been a DP if Coleman wasn't so lighting fast.  The "Mad Hungarian", Al Hrabosky came on in the 9th to finish of the Mets and notch the save for Ernie Broglio who threw 2 scoreless innings of relief.

Cardinals 6, Mets 2
Bob Forsch vs David Cone
The Coneheads were out in force at Shea and their boy looked good for 6 2/3 innings until the Cards erupted for 4 unanswered runs with 2 out.  Enos "Country" Slaughter came up to pinch hit for Forsch and singled to center.  Lou Brock single to right to put runners on the corners.  A wild pitch scored Slaughter to break the 2-2 tie.  A single by McGee put runners on the corners again.  A triple by Stan "the man" Musial and a RBI single by Bill White finished off Coney and the Mets.

Cardinals 8, Mets 0
Bob Gibson vs Tom Seaver
Tom Terrific looked like Tom "the terrible" as the much hyped battle of the aces never materialized.  Bob Gibson did his part by tossing a tidy 3 hit shutout.  Seaver gave up 7 in 7 innings in a must win for the Flushing 9.  El Sid came on to finish out the game, which turned into a blowout as the fans headed for the 7 train early.  Curt Flood had a 4 for 5 game with 3 runs scored and Bill White had himself a 3 for 5 day with 4 RBI.  White was a HR short of the illusive cycle.