May 27, 1984 - New York State of Mind

Game #579 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 1 @ New York Mets, 7

Fernando Valenzuela faced a disastrous third inning.  With two outs Keith Hernandez walked, George Foster singled, Mike Fitzgerald singled, Ron Gardenhire doubled, Danny Heep reached on a Pedro Guerrero error, Jerry Martin singled, and then Bruce Berenyi mercifully popped out to Guerrero.  Only two of the five runs were "earned" for Valenzuela, but the Dodgers never recovered, despite Valenzuela pitching a complete game.

Winning Pitcher - Bruce Berenyi
Losing Pitcher - Fernando Valenzuela
Player of the Game - Berenyi, CG, 1R, 5H's, 7K's, 3BB's

Game #580 - New York Yankees, 8 @ Oakland A's, 3

 Willie Randolph, Steve Kemp, and Dave Winfield knocked three straight doubles to lead off the game for the Yankees.  They added three more runs in the top of the second when Don Mattingly singled with the bases loaded to score two.  The A's never rallied after the initial 5-0 deficit, despite Larry Sorensen pitching a nice four scoreless innings of relief for Oakland.

Winning Pitcher - Dennis Rasmussen
Losing Pitcher - Chris Codiroli
Player of the Game - Don Mattingly, 3-5, R, 3RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson

May 27, 1984 - Calendar Milestones

I suspect that before I'm able to post again, the date of the 2017 MLB season will surpass that of my Statis Pro calendar.  Each year this happens it reminds me of how far I have to go and how quickly real time passes us by!

Game #577 - Milwaukee Brewers, 3 @ Minnesota Twins, 8

Few players are having a worse season in the AL than Tim Laudner.  His offense has been abysmal.  But in this game his bat finally came alive.  He had RBI doubles in the second and fifth innings and eventually scored after both hits.  Ken Schrom scattered seven hits over six innings to earn the win.  Pete Ladd went three innings in relief to preserve the Milwaukee bullpen after Mike Caldwell could only go five.

Winning Pitcher - Ken Schrom
Losing Pitcher - Mike Caldwell
Player of the Game - Tim Laudner, 3-4, 2 2b's, 2RBI, 2R's, asst.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Robin Yount, Kirby Puckett

Game #578 - San Francisco Giants, 4 @ Montreal Expos, 6

Errors by Joel Youngblood and starter Jeff Robinson helped the Expos plate five runs in the first two innings.   Youngblood, playing left field because of the gluttony of injuries for the Giants, is a disaster at any position thanks to his "E10" error rating.  I think that was mostly earned at third base during the real 1984, but it carries over to whichever position he plays according to Statis Pro.

San Francisco staged a game-long rally but fell short in the ninth, climbing back to within two runs before Bob James retired the top of the lineup (Chili Davis, Chris Brown, and Jeffrey Leonard) in order.

Winning Pitcher - Bill Gullickson
Losing Pitcher - Jeff Robinson
Save - Bob James
Player of the Game - James, 1 IP, SV
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter

May 27, 1984 - NL East Feast

Game #575 - Cincinnati Reds, 2 @ Chicago Cubs, 4

Leon Durham stood on third base with two outs in the bottom of the second when Bob Dernier singled him home.  But the Reds moved ahead in the top of third with two runs thanks to Chicago errors by Gary Matthews and Larry Bowa.  Durham came to the rescue in the bottom half of that same inning by hitting a 2RBI single that plated Steve Trout and Thad Bosely.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Trout
Losing Pitcher - Jeff Russell
Save - Warren Brusstar
Player of the Game - Durham, 2-4, R, 2RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Perez, Ryne Sandberg

Game #576 - Pittsburgh Pirates, 8 @ Houston Astros, 1

Houston actually held the lead in this one when Bill Doran reached on a Jim Morrison error and Jerry Mumphrey tripled him home in the first, but it was all Pittsburgh after that.  They scored two runs each in the third and fifth innings, and another four when Jason Thompson blasted a grand salami.

Winning Pitcher - Larry McWilliams
Losing Pitcher - Mike Scott
Player of the Game - Tony Pena, 3-5, R, 2RBI