May 3, 1984 - Happy Father's Day!

Instead of taking time for myself to play Statis Pro on this special day, I ended up hanging out with my daughters in the backyard as they had fun in the inflatable pool.  I think I made the right call!  But don't worry, I got a couple of games in yesterday during their naps...

Game #311 - Kansas City Royals, 0 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 7

The Moose was loose!  He crushed the Royals, limiting them to five hits and a walk while pitching a shutout with five strikeouts.  Jack Lozado and Charlie Moore contributed five of the seven RBI's for the game.

Winning Pitcher - Moose Haas
Losing Pitcher - Charlie Liebrandt
Player of the Game - Mooooooooose
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett, Robin  Yount

Game #312 - Minnesota Twins, 4 @ Seattle Mariners, 8

When Mike Moore pitches for the Mariners, two things are a given.  He's going to strike a bunch of guys out, and I have no idea if he'll last more than two innings.  This game he was miraculously good, holding the Twins to one run until they tagged three on him in the eighth.  Bob Stoddard finished things off to pull Seattle within two games of .500 again.

Winning Pitcher - Mike Moore
Losing Pitcher - Mike Smithson
Player of the Game - Jack Perconte, 3-4, 2 2B's, 2RBI's, 3R's, 1SB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett

May 3, 1984 - Jack Morris Goes the Distance

Game #310 - Boston Red Sox, 1 @ Detroit Tigers, 7

Jack Morris gave up two hits (but no runs) in the top of the first and I thought I was in for another rocky start by the Tiger starter, but he really calmed down after that.  Though he did give up a solo home run to Wade Boggs in the third, and strand Marty Barrett on his lead off triple in the seventh, Morris mowed down Boston for most of the game.

Meanwhile, the Detroit bats were popping.  They got a big three run third inning thanks to RBI-extra base hits from Dave Bergman, Lou Whitaker, and Kirk Gibson.  They added two homers in the eighth as well.  Lance Parrish had another solo blast and Ruppert Jones connected for a two run job.

Also of note in the game was Red Sox starters Al Nipper, Rich Gedman, and Mike Easler being ejected in the fourth for arguing with the ump.  Gotta love the "Z" card plays!

Winning Pitcher - Jack Morris
Losing Pitcher - Al Nipper
Player of the Game - Morris, CG, 1ER, 7K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

May 2, 1984 - LA Can't Dodge Errors

Game #309 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 5 @ San Francisco Giants, 6

The score was all zeroes until the top of the third when consecutive doubles by Pedro Guerrero and Mike Marshall plated two for LA.  It was almost three runs after a Greg Brock single, but Jack Clark threw out Marshall at the plate.  The Giants tied it at 2-2 in their half of the inning when Bob Brenly and Joel Youngblood had RBI singles.

But the Dodgers scored big again in the fourth.  German Rivera hit his third homer of the season (he only had 2 in the real 1984) to start things off and Steve Sax and Dave Anderson added their own RBI's.  That led to an early exit for starter Bill Laskey. 

The game stayed 5-3 until the bottom of the ninth.  Ken Howell was pitching his second inning of relief.  Gene Richards led off with a single, and advanced to second when CF Candy Maldonado misplayed the ball.  Dan Gladden was next up, but got plunked by Howell to put two on board with no outs.  Fran Mullins was up next, who came in as part of a double switch earlier.  He flew out to right for the first out.  Scot Thompson dug in next.  He worked a walk to load the bases!  That brought up San Fran's most dangerous hitter, Jack Clark.  He drove a ball deep to left field for the second out, but it brought home Richards to make it a one run game.  Brenly came up next.  He rifled a double to right field that plated Dan Gladden, but Thompson scored too when Mike Marshall mishandled the ball for the second outfield error in the inning (and fourth LA error of the game)!  Giants win!!!  The Dodgers five game win streak ends in ugly fashion.

Winning Pitcher - Gary LaVelle
Losing Pitcher - Ken Howell
Player of the Game - Brenly, 2-5, walk-off double

May 2, 1984 - Phillies, Cards, Pace the NL East

Game #307 - Montreal Expos, 4 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 6

The Phillies set the tone early thanks to a first inning, two-run shot from Mike Schmidt.  The Expos scored consecutive runs in the second, third, and fourth inning, but the Phillies matched them for each, including a second homer by Schmidt and a solo blast from Jim Lefebvre.  Pinch hitter John Wockenfuss added another home run in the seventh as well.

Winning Pitcher - Charles Hudson
Losing Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Save - Bill Campbell
Player of the Game - Schmidt, two dingers
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Mike Schmidt

Game #308 - St. Louis Cardinals, 5 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 1

The Cardinals plated five runs in this game despite not recording an extra base hit.  George Hendrick and David Green each had two RBI's, and Tom Nieto added one too.  Meanwhile, Kurt Kepshire held the Pirates to three hits over eight innings, the only run scoring when Tony Pena stole second and scored on a throwing error by Nieto.

Winning Pitcher - Kurt Kepshire
Losing Pitcher - Larry McWilliams
Player of the Game - Kepshire
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter

May 2, 1984 - Summer Vacation

I had a bit of time away from Statis Pro over the past week due to a family vacation.  It was a lot of fun, including getting to see my beloved Baltimore Orioles win two games back to back.  On to the games!

Game #305 - Houston Astros, 6 @ Cincinnati Reds, 4

The Astros continued their scorching start to the season.  The Reds chased starter Mike LaCoss out of the game with a three run sixth to give themselves a 4-3 lead.  But the 'stros put two on the board in the eighth off of reliever John Franco to pull ahead for the victory.

Winning Pitcher - Dave Smith
Losing Pitcher - John Franco
Save - Bill Dawley
Player of the Game - Dawley, 2IP, K, retired all six batters faced for the save

Game #306 - Chicago Cubs, 1 @ New York Mets, 6

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when utility infielder Dave Owen, spelling Larry Bowa, poked a single to plate Ron Cey.  But it was all Mets after that.  Most of the damage came in the fourth inning, when they scored four runs on a bases loaded double by Kevin Chapman and an RBI single from Jose Oquendo.  Darryl Strawberry added a solo shot in the eighth to cap the damage at six runs.  Meanwhile, "El Sid" scattered eight hits and four walks while nearly pitching a complete game.  He also fanned the Cubs ten times in that span.

Winning Pitcher - Sid Fernandez
Losing Pitcher - Chuck Rainey
Player of the Game - Fernandez
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg

May 2, 1984 - Professional Pitchers

Game #303 - Minnesota Twins, 10 @ Seattle Mariners, 1

The first five Twins hitters reached base in the first inning of this game, and the route was on.  Mark Langston struggled until the fourth, when I finally pulled him after surrendering nine runs.  Meanwhile his counterpart, John Butcher, was slaughtering the M's hitters (couldn't resist).  He went the distance by scattering six hits and five walks.  Tom Brunansky registered five RBI's on the day too.

Winning Pitcher - John Butcher
Losing Pitcher - Mark Langston
Player of the Game - Butcher, CG, 4K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett

Game #304 - Texas Rangers, 1 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 3

Charlie Hough has been an extremely bad luck pitcher in this Statis Pro season.  After five starts his ERA was north of 9.00.  He's a "2-6" rated starter, meaning he should be pretty average, but that hadn't been the case so far this year.  So you can imagine my dismay when he gave up three runs in the first, including a two run homer by Willie Upshaw.  I thought for sure Hough was headed to the showers early again, but oh my, he righted the ship!  He pitched the next seven innings, scattering six hits and keeping the Blue Jays off balance with his knuckler.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, Doyle Alexander was his dominant self.  This season he has been the best pitcher in the American League, and he proved it again with this game.  He lasted eight innings and only surrendered four hits over that span.  The Blue Jays have won seven straight and are now a game and a half in front of the Tigers for first place.

Winning Pitcher - Doyle Alexander
Losing Pitcher - Charlie Hough
Save - Ron Musselman
Player of the Game - Alexander

May 2, 1984 - Professional Hitters

Game #301 - New York Yankees, 11 @ Chicago White Sox, 6

This was a fun game until the ninth inning.  The Yankees were up 4-0 after the top half of the second, but Chicago scored three of their own in the bottom of the inning, and then two more for the 5-4 lead in the third. 

New York tied things up in the fifth because Don Baylor launched a Britt Burns pitch into the bleachers.  A Toby Harrah triple in the next inning helped the Yankees stretch their lead to two runs.  Carlton Fisk answered with a solo homer, though, to cut that back to one. 

But in the ninth inning the Yankees erupted for four more runs, putting the game well out of reach for the White Sox.

Winning Pitcher - Jose Rijo
Losing Pitcher - Britt Burns
Player of the Game - Don Baylor, 3-5, 2B, HR, 4RBI's, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Carlton Fisk

Game #302 - Boston Red Sox, 9 @ Detroit Tigers, 8

After the first four innings the Tigers had a 6-0 lead, with all the runs scored by four home runs (Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish, Ruppert Jones, and Dave Bergman).  But Boston stormed back with a five run fifth, capped off by a Mike Easler grand slam!  Kirk Gibson would go on to hit two more solo homers for Detroit, but a three run ninth off reliever Doug Bair put a loss in the standings for the Tigers.

Winning Pitcher - Bob Stanley
Losing Pitcher - Doug Bair
Save - Steve Crawford
Player of the Game - Mike Easler, 3-5, 2 2B's, Grand Slam, 6RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley