June 10, 1984 - Tigers, O's Split Twin Bill

Game #737 - Detroit Tigers, 12 @ Baltimore Orioles, 6

I've had this happen more than once this Statis Pro season, but the absolute worst case scenario in a doubleheader is when your starting pitcher bombs and gets yanked early.

That's what happened to Baltimore.

Rookie Ken Dixon was called up to make a spot start at the top of the twin bill.  The Tigers sent up eleven batters to the plate and clobbered Dixon to the tune of eight runs before he could record the third out of the inning.  The finishing blow came from Darrell Evans, who blasted a GRAND SALAMI!

Mark Brown came on in relief for what would be his final appearance of the season.  Mercifully he survived a terrible first inning of work (four more runs) before going the distance in a remarkable 7.1 innings of relief.  That might be the longest relief stint of the year - I wish I had tracked that somehow.

Winning Pitcher - Randy O'Neal
Losing Pitcher - Ken Dixon
Player of the Game - Darrell Evans, 2-5, GS, 4RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Alan Trammell, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

Happy Trails...Mark Brown

Well, I've got myself into a real pickle with the Baltimore bullpen.  I've run a six man pen for the season but, in retrospect, the real 1984 Orioles must have only ever had five guys available for relief because with Mark Brown now done for the year, I only have ONE Baltimore pitcher left in the minors...and that's Ken Dixon, who started the game today and only has one game (another start) left to play!  On top of that, Bill Swaggerty is quickly approaching his final few games from the pen, plus another five starts to mix in.  There's still 103 games to go for the Orioles, and I'm betting the last half of it will be with a four-man pen!!!  I might have to force the starters into some ill-advised complete games...

So how did the real Mark Brown do compared to the Statis Pro Mark Brown?  Let's take a look:

The Real 1984:  1-2, 3.91ERA, 10K's, 4.07FIP, 1.26WHIP
Statis Pro 1984:  1-2, 4.13ERA, 20K's, 4.52FIP, 1.33WHIP

That's a pretty remarkable similarity, minus the K%.  Statis Pro Mark Brown got more K's but was slightly less effective overall - I'm guessing it's not statistically significant though.

Game #738 - Detroit Tigers, 3 @ Baltimore Orioles, 10 (rain delay)

What's worse than having to pitch two games of a doubleheader when the first starter didn't make it past the second inning...?

How about a rain delay!

The storm clouds were hovering over the start of game two.  Baltimore got out front early in the bottom of the second when Todd Cruz of all people blasted a two-run homer.  Detroit cut that lead in half thanks to an Alan Trammell double in the top of the fifth inning.  But in the bottom half of the same frame Eddie Murray dialed up an Earl Weaver special - a three-run homer - to put Baltimore up by four!  The Orioles got four more runs in the sixth inning, thanks in large part to Cal Ripken Jr., who also plated three on a home run! 

Dennins Martinez, meanwhile, was cruising into the top of the seventh when the rain finally came down.  It was nearly an hour delay so El Presidente hit the showers and Bill Swaggerty finished the affair.  Baltimore ended up winning three of four against the Tigers in the series.

Winning Pitcher - Dennis Martinez
Losing Pitcher - Milt Wilcox
Player of the Game - Eddie Murray, 2-3, 2B, HR, 3RBI, 2R, 2BB 
Hall of Famers in the Game - Alan Trammell, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

June 10, 1984 - Brouhard as a Rock

Game #736 - Milwaukee Brewers, 9 @ Boston Red Sox, 5

Bob Ojeda had a nightmare start to the game.  After loading the bases in the top of the first by plunking Bobby Clark, Mark Brouhard dropped the hammer.  Grand slam!  The Red Sox wouldn't go down quietly, though.  Tony Armas picked up an RBI single in the first and then Jackie Gutierrez tripled home two teammates in the seconding inning before crossing home plate on an RBI hit by Wade Boggs.

In the top of the fourth, though, two more Brewers scored thanks to consecutive errors by Gutierrez and Boggs.  The Brewers tagged on three more insurance runs in the top of the ninth and the game was beyond reach for Boston.

Winning Pitcher - Jamie Cocanower
Losing Pitcher - Bob Ojeda
Player of the Game - Mark Brouhard, 2-5, 2B, Grand Slam, 5RBI, 2Rs
Hall of Famers in the Game - Robin Yount, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

June 9, 1984 - Dwayne Da Bathtub, Texas is Dwownin'

Game #735 - Oakland A's, 13 @ Texas Rangers, 8

My Dad told terrible knock-knock jokes all the time when we were kids, and now that my kids are old enough to understand them, he recently dug this one back out of the vault for their amusement:

Knock Knock.

*Who's there?*

Dwayne.

*Dwayne who?*

Dwayne the bathtub, I'm dwownin'!!!

Like I said, it's not very funny.  And the Texas Rangers didn't think Dwayne Murphy was very funny when he launched consecutive two-run homers in the first and second innings of this game.  By the end of the first two innings Oakland was way out in front with a 7-0 lead.  Steve McCatty cruised in and out of trouble for eight innings of work on only three earned runs.  The final score looks closer than it was because Larry Sorensen gave up four runs in mop-up duty, including a pinch-hit home run by Bobby Jones.

Winning Pitcher - Steve McCatty
Losing Pitcher - Danny Darwin
Player of the Game - Dwayne Murphy, 4-6, 2HRs, 4RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan