June 15, 1984 - Summer Break

Friends...my goodness, it's been too long.  I apologize.  I must confess, though, the posts will be a lot more erratic moving forward.  This summer I started an Ed.D. program and now my free time is spent reading journal articles and swearing about APA formatting.  I squeezed a couple of games in recently, so here we go...

Game #805 - Baltimore Orioles, 4 @ New York Yankees, 5

I was so pumped to play my first game in a couple of months with my beloved O's, but just like the 2019 rivalry, things didn't go well for Baltimore...

They did tag the first three runs of the game on Phil Niekro in the top of the second, though.  Rick Dempsey had an RBI fielder's choice and then Al Bumbry and Mike Young each had run-scoring base knocks.  Butch Wynegar homered in the bottom of the inning to reduce the lead to two.

Dennis Martinez had a fielding error in the third that eventually allowed Oscar Gamble to score.  But it was the fifth inning when the offense poured in three more runs.  Dave Winfield, newly off the injured list, batted home Ken Griffey and then Don Mattingly moved Winfield to third on a double.  A batter later Wynegar came up big again with a two-run single.  Jay Howell and Dave Righetti combined for 2 and 2/3 innings of relief to secure the win.

Winning Pitcher - Phil Niekro
Losing Pitcher - Dennis Martinez
Save - Dave Righetti
Player of the Game - Butch Wynegar, 2-4, HR, 3RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Phil Niekro

Game # 806 - Chicago White Sox, 5 @ Oakland A's, 8

Neither starter looked good in this one.  Curt Young started the game by allowing a double to Jerry Hairston and then a two-run tater to Harold Baines before even recording an out.  But Oakland put up a five-spot in the third, led by a Davey Lopes double and a solo homer off the bat of Dave Kingman.

Back to back doubles from Baines and Carlton Fisk tied the game in the top of the fourth, but Fisk got thrown out at home by Lopes to prevent the South Side from taking the lead.

The game was still knotted 5-5 when ace reliever Ron Reed walked two batters before facing Dwayne Murphy.  Sure enough, Murphy launched one deep into the night to give Oakland a three-run lead.  Bill Caudill was flawless in two innings of relief to save the game for the A's.

Winning Pitcher - Chris Codiroli
Losing Pitcher - Ron Reed
Save - Bill Caudill
Player of the Game - Caudill, 2IP, 2K's, 0R's, 0H's, 0BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Harold Baines, Carlton Fisk, Rickey Henderson