April 30, 1984 - In-tens

Game #279 - Cleveland Indians, 3 @ Baltimore Orioles, 10

The Orioles were up 1-0 in the bottom of the third when they busted things open.  Eddie Murray hit a 2-RBI double and three batters later John Lowenstein paid homage to Earl Weaver by blasting a three run homer.

Storm Davis pitched a heck of a game.  He went the distance and only gave up three hits, though that included five walks as well.  Brook Jacoby recorded two of them, including a solo homer with two outs in the ninth.

Winning Pitcher - Storm Davis
Losing Pitcher - Steve Farr
Player of the Game - John Lowenstein, 3-3, HR, 3RBI's, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

Game #280 - Seattle Mariners, 10 @ California Angels, 2

Seattle finally figured the Angels out!  They had lost the first three games of the four game series, but got to Bruce Kison early and often.  Alvin Davis and Dave Henderson each hit homers, but it was Steve Henderson who might have had the best game.  I still haven't seen a cycle completed by a Statis Pro player this season, but Steve was only the round-tripper shy of accomplishing the feat.  Jim Beattie pitched a dominating eight innings to secure the victory for the M's.

Winning Pitcher - Jim Beattie
Losing Pitcher - Bruce Kison
Player of the Game - Steve Henderson, 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2R's, 4RBI's, outfield assist
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson

April 29, 1984 - River Trout

Egads that's a terrible scan!  Am I too lazy to scan it again?  Yes.  Yes I am.

Game #277 - Chicago Cubs, 3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 1

Rick Rhoden was the hard-luck loser in this one.  Despite pitching a complete game and surrendering zero earned runs, costly errors by Johnny Ray and Tony Pena sealed a victory for the Cubbies. 

Winning Pitcher - Steve Trout
Losing Pitcher - Rick Rhoden
Save - Warren Brusstar
Player of the Game - Trout, 7IP, 0ER, 10K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg

Game #278 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 6 @ San Diego Padres, 4

San Diego broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fourth by, ironically, scoring all four of their runs in the game.  The big damage came from a three run homer by future coach Bruce Bochy, who was giving Terry Kennedy a breather.  LA would not be denied.  Trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Tim Lollar faced runners on second and third with one out and slugger Mike Marshall standing in.  I opted to intentionally walk Marshall for the far less intimidating German Rivera, setting up the double play at the same time.  You know what happened next.  River went grand salami and the Dodgers won the day. 

Winning Pitcher - Ken Howell
Losing Pitcher - Tim Lollar
Save - Tom Niedenfuer
Player of the Game - Rivera, 2-3, grand slam
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn


These were the last two games for Sunday, April 29th!  I've updated the stats and standings.  There's a new poll up too if you haven't noticed.  Finally - happy 58th birthday to my hero, Eddie Murray. 

April 29, 1984 - One Is Not Enough

Game #275 - St. Louis Cardinals, 12 @ Montreal Expos, 1

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time this season I've used six different pitchers in a game for one team.  Congrats to the Expos!  This was necessitated in part because starter Bill Gullickson, along with Gary Carter and Terry Francona, got ejected from the game arguing with the ump on a close play at first.  It was a barrage of hits for the Cardinals after that.  But Danny Cox was the true stand out player of the game.  He went eight innings only giving up one run. 

Winning Pitcher - Danny Cox
Losing Pitcher - Dan Schatzeder
Player of the Game - Cox, 8IP, R, 4K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

Game #276 - Philadelphia Phillies, 2 @ New York Mets, 1 (game called in the bottom of the eighth due to rain)

Mike Schmidt has started off slow this Statis Pro season, but his bat might finally be waking up.  He accounted for both runs in this game.  He smacked a double in the second inning and eventually scored on a Juan Samuel sacrifice fly.  In the fourth he hit a solo homer off Walt Terrell.  Terrell actually pitched a good six innings, but he still got tagged for the loss because, with Darryl Strawberry at bat in the bottom of the eighth, the rains came pouring down and Philadelphia sneaked out of New York with the abbreviated win.

Winning Pitcher - Jerry Koosman
Losing Pitcher - Walt Terrell
Player of the Game - Mike Schmidt, 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt

April 29, 1984 - Houston Sweeps Atlanta

Game #274 - Atlanta Braves, 1 @ Houston Astros, 3

Starters Craig McMurty and Nolan Ryan both made strong starts but didn't factor in the decision as they both only surrendered one run.  In the bottom of the eighth reliever Gene Garber was pitching his second inning of relief.  But Bill Doran led off with a bunt single and advanced two second on a bloop hit from Terry Puhl.  Jose Cruz grounded out to second but advanced the runners while making the out.  Enos Cabell came up next and hit a grounder to Chris Chambliss.  Doran took off for home and Chambliss fired the ball to Alex Trevino, but Doran was just ahead of the throw to pull Houston ahead by a run.  Phil Garner tacked on an insurance run with another single and that was all she wrote for Atlanta.  The loss marked their fourth straight loss as Houston continues to pull away with the NL West lead.

Winning Pitcher - Julio Solano
Losing Pitcher - Gene Garber
Player of the Game - Solano, 2IP, K, BB, retired #2-6 hitters for the win.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Nolan Ryan

April 29, 1984 - Crimson Tide

Game #272 - San Francisco Giants, 3 @ Cincinnati Reds, 5

In the top of the second little-used Fran Mullins popped a two-RBI homer to give San Fran the early lead.  But the Reds stormed back in the bottom of the inning.  Eddie Milner hit an RBI single and Dave Parker later plated two of his own to give the Reds the lead and eventually the win.  The biggest hiccup of the game came with an 82 minute rain delay thanks to a "Z" play.  Bob Owchinko pitched brilliantly after the clouds parted, going an important four innings of relief in the first game of a double header.

Winning Pitcher - Bob Owchinko
Losing Pitcher - Mike Krukow
Save - John Franco
Player of the Game - Owchinko, 4IP, 2H's, 1ER, 3K's

Game #273 - San Francisco Giants, 2 @ Cincinnati Reds, 3

Nailbiter time.  The Reds had scooted out to a two run lead in the fourth, including a rare RBI double from Johnnie LeMaster.  But Nick Esasky belted an Earl Weaver to give the Reds the victory in the bottom of the inning.  It was a shame, because spot starter Scott Garrelts pitched seven strong innings.

Winning Pitcher - Fred Toliver
Losing Pitcher - Scott Garrelts
Save - Ted Power
Player of the Game - Esasky, HR, 3RBI's

April 29, 1984 - The Twins Play Two...It's So Meta!

Game #270 - Minnesota Twins, 9 @ Oakland A's, 6

Minnesota jumped to a very early lead thanks to a Tom Brunansky three run homer in the top of the first off Oakland starter Bill Krueger.  They extended their lead to 6-0 in the fourth when Mickey Hatcher roped a two-RBI triple.  Oakland threatened in the eighth when they scored four runs, including a Mike Davis tater.  But Rick Lysander worked out of the jam in an inning and two-thirds of work for the save.

Winning Pitcher - Al Williams
Losing Pitcher - Bill Krueger
Save - Rick Lysander
Player of the Game - Mickey Hatcher, 3-5, 2B, 3B, 3RBI's, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett, Joe Morgan

Game #270 - Minnesota Twins, 7 @ Oakland A's, 9

Game #2 of the double header was almost a mirror image of the first, with the teams trading places in terms of success.  This time Dwayne Murphy was responsible for the three run bomb in the first.  Eleven batters came up for Oakland in the first and Twins starter Mike Smithson didn't make it out still on the mound.  That was rough timing for the taxed bullpen working two games in one day.  Minnesota mounted a slow but ultimately failed comeback, pecking away at Oakland's early 9-2 lead. 

Winning Pitcher - Mike Warren
Losing Pitcher - Mike Smithson
Save - Keith Atherton
Player of the Game - Dwayne Murphy, 2-4, 2HR's, 5RBI's, BB

April 29, 1984 - New York Knight

Game #269 - Milwaukee Brewers, 12 @ New York Yankees, 9

What a game for Roy Hobbs Howell!  Joe Cowley gave up a solo homer to Howell in the bottom of the second.  In the bottom of the third, Howell came up again and took new reliever Clay Christianse deep for a two run jack (and right after tempers were boiling when Cowley hit Ed Romero with a pitch that puts him on the DL for the next 20 games).  His next two hits?  How about a triple and double!  In the top of the ninth Mike Armstrong finally got Howell to ground out, his first out of the game that left Roy a single short of the first cycle of the season.

Winning Pitcher - Bob McClure
Losing Pitcher - Joe Cowley
Save - Rollie Fingers
Player of the Game - Howell, 4-5, 2HR's, 2B, 3B, 3R's, 5RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Dave Winfield