April 27th, 1984 - I'm Keith Hernandez

Game #249 - Philadelphia Phillies, 2 @ New York Mets, 3

It's always exciting to play the Statis Pro games with Dwight Gooden starting.  The strikeout range on his pitching card is insane.  If I were to bet on which player from 1984 would be most likely to toss a no-hitter, I'd place it on Gooden.

That being said, Doctor K got into some early inning trouble.  In the top of the second Mike Schmidt and Len Matuszek each dropped solo homers over the outfield wall to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  Miraculously, Gooden has only given up four runs on the season, but they've all been on solo home runs. 

The Mets answered back in the bottom of the fifth.  Mookie Wilson singled and stole second with one out.  Wally Backman singled to plate Mookie, and then Keith Hernandez doubled to score Backman.  Hernandez would later be driven in by George Foster to give the Mets the lead, and what would eventually become, the game.

Winning Pitcher - Dwight Gooden
Losing Pitcher - Charles Hudson
Save - Jesse Orosco
Player of the Game - Keith Hernandez, 2-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt

April 27, 1984 - Knepper Rolling, Dawson Waking Up

Game #247 - Atlanta Braves, 5 @ Houston Astros, 8

Atlanta scored three runs in the ninth off mop-up man Vern Ruhle to make this game appear closer than it really was.

Bob Knepper continues to dominate in the early going of Statis Pro.  He went eight strong innings only giving up two runs while striking out four.  He picked up his fourth "Player of the Game" honors as well.  The first player to reach five will receive a special honor - stay tuned! 

Winning Pitcher - Knepper
Losing Pitcher - Rick Camp
Save - Dave Smith
Player of the Game - Knepper


Game #248 - St. Louis Cardinals, 7 @ Montreal Expos, 9

Montreal continues it's steady climb out of the cellar!  Andre Dawson has been in a brutal slump to start the year.  Perhaps this game will be his wake up call.  He crushed a two run jack in the bottom of the first off Kurt Kepshire to give the Expos the early lead.  He added an RBI double in the fifth when Montreal sent ten batters to the plate.

The Cardinals made a late game surge.  Down 9-0, they scored a combined seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings.  Steve Rogers had been cruising through six innings of shutout ball when Lonnie Smith roped a bases loaded triple to send Rogers to the showers.  Greg Harris locked things down for the Expos in the ninth to preserve the win.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Losing Pitcher - Kurt Kepshire
Save - Greg Harris
Player of the Game - Andre Dawson
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

April 27, 1984 - Victories for the Bay...at a Cost...

Game #245 - Minnesota Twins, 4 @ Oakland A's, 5

The A's put two on the board first thanks to a homer with a man on for Dwayne Murphy.  The Twins answered in kind at the top half of the inning when Tom Brunansky also went deep.  A Mickey Hatcher error in left field, though, allowed the A's to make it a 4-2 lead and they never looked back.  Donnie Hill, just called up to the team after Rickey Henderson went on the DL, and with Tony Phillips ailing as well, didn't make it past the third inning because a Lenny Faedo line drive put him on the DL for 24 games.

Winning Pitcher - Steve McCatty
Losing Pitcher - Pete Filson
Save - Bill Caudill
Player of the Game - McCatty, not pretty, but only allowed four hits through six and a third.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett, Joe Morgan

Game #246 - San Francisco Giants, 11 @ Cincinnati Reds, 2

The Giants have won three of their last five and seem to finally be coming to life.  They plated four in the first inning alone.  Atlee Hammaker was masterful, going eight innings.  But gruesome injuries were the story of the game for both teams.  Ron Oester and Gary Redus collided on a play in the field, with Oester down for six games and Redus for eleven.  In the bottom of the ninth the Giants suffered an even worse fate.  Al Oliver and Jeffrey Leonard also ran into each other on a play.  Leonard is out for ten games, but Oliver is out for a whopping thirty.  San Fran won the battle, but they may have lost the war.

Winning Pitcher - Hammaker
Losing Pitcher - Frank Pastore
Player of the Game - Hammaker, 8IP, 3H's, 0 earned runs
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Perez

April 27, 1984 - AL East Remains Dominant

Game #243 - Toronto Blue Jays, 9 @ Kansas City Royals, 4

George Brett committed a costly error in the first inning that allowed Jorge Bell to double home an unearned run off Mark Gubicza.  In the top of the second Bell made Gubicza pay again, swatting a two run homer and ending his pitching day before escaping the second.  Tony Fernandez continued his hot hitting while playing for the injured Alfredo Griffin by going four for four, including a triple. 

Winning Pitcher - Doyle Alexander
Losing Pitcher - Mark Gubicza
Player of the Game - Bell (second game in a row)
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett

Game #244 - Milwaukee Brewers, 1 @ New York Yankees, 8

Ray Fontenot, the starting pitcher for New York, managed to spread eight hits and two walks over eight innings pitched while only allowing Randy Ready to score on a Robin Yount single.  The Brewers helped him out by hitting into three double plays, including two by Cecil Cooper.  Everyone but Omar Moreno managed to collect at least one hit in the Yankee line-up.  Ken Griffey led the way by going three for four with a double, two runs scored, and three RBI's.  Willie Randolph scored three times thanks to two hits and two walks on the day as well.  The Yankees and Blue Jays continue to nip at the heals of Detroit for the top spot in the AL East!

Winning Pitcher - Ray Fontenot
Losing Pitcher - Jamie Cocanower
Player of the Game - Griffey
Hall of Famers in the Game - Robin Yount, Dave Winfield