April 7, 1984 - Appendixless

I must apologize for the delay in updates. Friday morning my wife was feeling quite ill, so we took her to the emergency room. (I should probably mention she's also 24 weeks pregnant) After a battery of tests they finally figured out she needed an appendectomy. That's normally a routine surgery - although any process that opens up your body and pulls a piece out, never to be seen or used again, probably shouldn't be considered routine. Having an appendectomy while carrying a child makes things a lot more complicated. I'm happy to report, though, that all is now well. *whew* On to the games...

Game #47 - Montreal Expos, 2 @ Atlanta Braves, 6
Dale Murphy rocked a two run homer in the bottom of the first off Steve Rogers to give the Braves a quick 2-0 lead. Two errors by Braves pitcher Rick Camp, however helped the Expos tie things up in the top of the third. (Camp would have three errors on the game, plus a passed ball. Ugly.) But in the bottom of the third Murph hit another two run homer! The Braves would later add two more with an RBI double from Murphy and a solo home run by Chris Chambliss.

Winning Pitcher - Rick Camp
Losing Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Player of the Game - Murphy, 3-3, 2HR's, 2B, 5 RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Pete Rose

Game #48 - Philadelphia Phillies, 10 @ Cincinnati Reds, 2
Through the first five innings the Phills had a slim lead of 3-2. Frank Pastore was avoiding serious damage on the mound for the Reds while John Denny was pitching ugly innings for Philly but escaping with the lead. Things got out of hand for the Reds in the sixth, though. Tim Corcoran had an RBI single and two batters later C Ozzie Virgil launched a three run bomb, and Juan Samuel added a solo shot before Pastore was mercifully pulled. Al Holland worked a longer than normal 3 and 2/3 innings of relief work to preserve the win.

Winning Pitcher - John Denny
Losing Pitcher - Frank Pastore
Player of the Game - Juan Samuel, 3-5, 2HR's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt

Game #49 - New York Mets, 3 @ Houston Astros, 4
These 1984 Astros have been a fun team to manage. They have a lot of platoon options and deep bullpen. The Mets got on the board first with a two run homer from Strawberry in the top of the first. It's his National League-leading third home run on the season. Keith Hernandez knocked in Mookie Wilson, who was on second base after a Mike Scott balk, to give the Mets the 3-0 lead after three innings. The Astros started chipping back. SS Dickie Thon knocked in Mike Scott in the bottom of the first to remove the goose egg. In the fifth Jose Cruz and Jerry Mumphrey had RBI hits to tie the game up, 3-3. In the seventh, with Jesse Orosco pitching, Bill Doran walked, bringing up Dickie Thon. Thon smacked a triple for the game winning RBI. Bill Dawley, Julio Solano, and Dave Smith pitched four innings of relief for the win and save. On a side note, Wally Backman was picked off of first for the third time in four games. The pick-off is an obscure outcome when you attempt to steal a base, and poor Wally has been caught napping three times.

Winning Pitcher - Bill Dawley
Losing Pitcher - Jesse Orosco
Save - Dave Smith
Player of the Game - Dickie Thon, 2-4, 3B, 2RBI's