April 25, 1984 - Texas on an Eight Game Slide

Game #222 - Detroit Tigers, 4 @ Texas Rangers, 2

Texas is just 3-15 on the season, worst in the American League.

Detroit is 12-4, which tops the AL.  A tale of two teams it would seem...

Lance Parrish put the first run on the board in the top of the second with a solo homer off of Dave Stewart.  Detroit scored a second run in the fourth when Kirk Gibson tripled and Chet Lemon doubled him home.  A Jeff Kunkel error in the seventh allowed two more Tigers to score.

The Rangers had their chances throughout the game but stranded a ton of runners.  Detroit starter Milt Wilcox surrendered eight hits and six walks but Texas only managed two runs.  Dave Stewart gutted out eight innings with only the two earned runs, but had nothing to show for it thanks to the struggling Rangers offense.

Winning Pitcher - Milt Wilcox
Losing Pitcher - Dave Stewart
Save - Dave Rozema
Player of the Game - Lance Parrish, 1-3, HR, BB, threw out to Rangers trying to steal, icy glare

April 25, 1984 - Twins Crawl Out of the Cellar

Game #221 - New York Yankees, 2 @ Minnesota Twins, 6

This Mike Smithson card always cracked me up as a kid.  The sweaty neck and armpits.  The comical moustache.  The random spring training background...priceless.

But Smithson was no joke in this game.  He kept the Yankees in check.  The Twins were on the board first when Tim Teufel knocked home Kirby Puckett in the bottom of the first.  In the top of the second New York tied it up with a Butch Wynegar sacrifice fly that had Don Mattingly trotting home.

The Yankees got blown out in the bottom of the second, though.  Phil Niekro couldn't get his knuckler past the Twins' hitters.  Kent Hrbek cranked a three run job, and Tom Brunansky followed that with his own solo homer.  The New York bullpen kept Minnesota scoreless after that, but Smithson pitched an important complete game a day after a double header.

Winning Pitcher - Mike Smithson
Losing Pitcher - Phil Niekro
Player of the Game - Smithson, CG, 3K's, 2R's, 6H's, 0BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Phil Niekro, Kirby Puckett

April 25, 1984 - Bruce Almighty

Game #220 - California Angels, 5 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 0

Besides having a bad hair day (cheap shot), Don Sutton had a bad pitching day.  You know you're in trouble when lightweights like Rob Wilfong and Dick Schofield can smoke a triple and a homer back to back to plate three runs.  Bob Boone added a two-RBI double in the eighth after Sutton was pulled.

Winning Pitcher - Bruce Kison
Losing Pitcher - Don Sutton
Player of the Game - Kison, 6 2/3IP, 7K's, 0R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Robin Yount, Don Sutton

April 25, 1984 - Black Out

Game #219 - Baltimore Orioles, 0 @ Kansas City Royals, 3

The last game the Orioles played was the Mike Flanagan one hit shutout.  This time, the O's were almost on the receiving end of a hitless pitching gem...

Gary Roenicke led off the game with a U.L. Washington error, but Bud Black got Mike Young to ground into a double play.  He walked Dempsey in the third, but Baltimore was still without a hit heading into the sixth inning.

In the sixth Black retired the first two hitters with ease, but walked Roenicke.  Young walked too, and all of a sudden there were two runners on with Cal Ripken at the plate.  He ended up poking a single to break up the no-no (for Statis Pro players, the hit came as a result of a leftie pitcher/rightie hitter advantage - dirty way to lose the no hitter).  The single didn't score Roenicke, bringing up Eddie Murray with the bases juiced.  Black struck out Murray, though, to escape the jam.  Murray ended up striking out three times on the day.

The Royals' hitters did enough to tag Storm Davis with the loss.  Dane Iorg hit a solo homer and Pat Sheridan and Jorge Orta each recorded an RBI for the Kansas City win.  Black went the distance for the dominant shutout.

Winning Pitcher - Bud Black
Losing Pitcher - Storm Davis
Player of the Game - Black, CG SHO, 3H's, 8K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, George Brett

April 25, 1984 - Seaver Trounced, Indians Roll

Game #218 - Chicago White Sox, 6 @ Cleveland Indians, 11

Mr. Castillo, is your name "Carmelo" or "Carmen"?  Your history of baseball cards list both.  How strange...

Whatever his name, he tagged Tom Seaver for a three run homer in the bottom of the first.  The hit allowed the Indians to take an early 4-0 lead after an inning of play.  Seaver has not looked good this season and Cleveland didn't help his stat line. 

The Indians hit three homers, including Castillo's, while the White Sox had four of their own, including two by Greg Walker and three in the eighth inning.  The other big highlight was a triple player ejection.  Catcher Jerry Willard hit a slow roller up the first base line that the umpire called fair.  Walker, Carlton Fisk, and Dan Spillner argued to the point of being removed.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Farr
Losing Pitcher - Tom Seaver
Player of the Game - Carmelo/Carmen Castillo, 2-5, HR, 2R's, 3RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Carlton Fisk, Tom Seaver

April 25, 1984 - Mariners Sink in Boston Harbor

Game #217 - Seattle Mariners, 4 @ Boston Red Sox, 6

Seattle was riding a three game winning streak, while the Red Sox were sliding for the past three games.  Jim Beattie tried to keep the good times rolling for the Mariners, while Boston rested their hopes on Oil Can Boyd.

Boston scored first in the bottom of the first when catcher Rich Gedman knocked home Dwight Evans.  A Boyd error in the fourth tied the game for Seattle, and the Mariners took the lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Alvin Davis that scored Jack Perconte.

The Red Sox, though, plated two runs in the sixth and seventh respectively.  With that one run leaded, Gedman padded things for Boston with a solo homer off reliever Paul Mirabella.  Beattie had eight strikeouts, but got hung with the loss.  Seattle threatened in the top of the ninth, scoring two runs on an RBI double by the hot-hitting Dave Henderson, but Mark Clear finally finished them off for the save.

Winning Pitcher - Oil Can Boyd
Losing Pitcher - Jim Beattie
Save - Mark Clear
Player of the Game - Gedman, 2-4, HR, 2RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

Happy anniversary to my parents - Groundhog's Day forty years ago!  (I think).