Expos take 2 of 3 from Dodgers and move to 15-2

GAME 1 (Dodger Stadium) LA 3, MON 2: The mighty 'Spos jumped out to a 2-0 lead and starter Dennis Martinez looked to be cruising. Montreal manager, Georges Bseraini, let his aprhension show as he didn't have a lot of faith in his squads ability to comeback. During his on camera interview in the middle of the 4th he said, "Some staff...how do you beat them. No wonder they only have 1 loss". Well his team must have heard him, especially his starter, Rick Sutcliffe. The tall bearded right shut the Expos down for the final 6 frames, which allowed his offense to chip away slowly. To lead off the bottom of the 4th Steve Garvey doubled to left and with 2 outs Bill Russell delivered a clutch RBI single to make it 2-1. In the 5th Sutcliffe helped his own cause with a long homer into the left center field pavilion just under the Union 76 sign. With the score knotted at 2 "General" Dusty Baker led off the the 6th with a double down the left field line. Cey hit one that Tim Raines tracked down in the power alley to advance Baker to third with 1 out. Bill Russell delivered again by chasing Raines to the warning track for a great sac fly out. Montreal threatened in the 8th, but Sutcliffe closed the door on them as the Dodgers win the opener.

GAME 2 (Olympic Stadium) MON 3, LA 1: Bryn Smith tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball and handed it off to Tim Burke and Joe Hesketh to close it out. LA's Jerry Reuss went the distance, but yielded 2 more runs than Smith did to earn the loss. Montreal scored first in the 3rd, when "the Rock" Tim Raines hit a solo shot to dead center. LA evened it up in the 4th when Dusty Baker led the inning off with a solo shot. The bottom of the 6th would be Reuss' undoing as the Expos plated 2 with only 1 hit, a Tim Wallach RBI double.

GAME 3 (Olympic Stadium) MON 6, LA 2: Pascual Perez won his 4th game of the season as he went the distance and yielded only 2 runs. LA's Don Sutton was victimized for 6 runs over 8 innings of work. Montreal scored 3 big runs in the 3rd to jump out to a 4-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Nixon led that inning off with a single and then promptly stole second. With 2 out "El Ghatto" Andres Galarraga singled him home. Sutton looked to be a bit rattled at this point and third baseman Tim Wallach locked in on his first offering and crushed a hanging curve ball that never broke deep into the left field bleachers. With the score 4-2 the Expos tacked on 2 insurance runs in the 7th and 8th innings to win this one going away. Montreal improved to a league best 15-2. LA dropped below .500 (8-9) for the first time this season.

Nats get Royal Flush

1953 Washington Marc Weiss vs 1972 Kansa City Milo Miller

GAME 1: Wash 6 KC 4

Washington came into Kansas City and sent Spec Shea to the mound against the Royals Mark Montgomery. The Royals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 4th, highlighted by a John Mayberry double and an Ed Kirkpatrick sac fly. Washington mad it 3-2 in the 6th on a Eddie Yost 2 run homer. Kansas City made it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning as Fred Patek picked up the RBI with a grounder. Royals manager decide to go to the pin in the 8th, calling on Al Fitzmorris to protect the lead. Ed Fitz Gerald doubled to start the inning and pinch hitter Frank Sacka singled to put runners at the corners, Fitzmorris was gone. Royals reliever Ken Wright was summoned and was hurt when Patek booted a routine grounder to allow a run to score. Wright retired the next 2 hitters on strikes. Tom Burmeier was summoned and proceded to walk Mickey Vernon to load the bases and Jackie Jensen to force in a run. Clyde Vollmer singled to plate 2 more. Johnny Schmidt came on to get the save in the 9th. Wayne Terwilliger was the star of the game going 2-4, with a homer and 2 RBI's.  

GAME 2: KC 11 Wash 4

The series shifted to Washington for game 2 with the Royals sending

Tom Murphy to the mound to face Washington's Al Sima. Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd, only to have the Senators come back with single tallies in the 4th and 5th , with Pete Runnels and Jackie Jensen driving in runs. The Royals took control in the 6th scoring 6 times with John Mayberry homering to right and Bob Oliver hitting a pinch hit 3 run shot to left. The Royals added 4 more in the 9th with Paul Schaal homering. The Senators scored 2 in the bottom of the ninth as Mickey Vernon launched a shot to right. Mayberry paced the Royals attack, going 

4-5 with a homer.  

GAME 3: KC 12 Wash 1

The series finale seen Steve Busby take the mound against the Senator's Walt Masterson. Kansas City pounded Masterson, who gave the Senators 5 innings, for 10 runs on 12 hits. The Royals added single tallies in the 7th and 8th, en route to a 12-1 victory. Busby worked 7 innings, striking out 4. Amos Otis, Ed Kirkpatrick, and Lou Pinella all chipped in 3 hits, with Pinella driving in 4 runs for the Royals.

The turning point of the series was the Royals 6th in game 2. They scored 6 times and the offense broke loose to score 22 runs over the final 13 innings. John Mayberry was the series MVp as he went 6-11 with a homer, double, and 3 RBI's. --submitted by Milo Miller--

Royals sweep O's

72 Royals Milo Miller vs 99 Orioles Justin Ryan

Game 1 (KC 10 BALT 5) was a matchup of lefty Paul Splittorf (1-1) against righty Juan Guzman (2-0). The Orioles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd highlighted by a Jerry Hairston double and a Rich Amaral RBI grounder. Kansas City got to Guzman in the 5th scoring 7 times, highlighted by 4 singles and 3 walks. Kansas City added 3 more runs and Baltimore a single tally. John Mayberry went 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBI's to lead the Royals offensive attack.

Game 2 (KC 6 BALT 5) saw Roger Nelson squaring off against Scott Erickson. Baltimore once again jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on a Charles Johson homer to left. Kansas City plated 2 in the top of the 3rd, but Baltimore came right back with 2 in the bottom of the inning, on a Delino DeShields 2 run shot to right. Baltimore added another run in the 4th on a Jeff Conine homer. The Royals closed the gap to 5-3 on a Bob Oliver pinch hit single, and the stage was set for the 9th.
Cookie Rojas greeted Oriole reliever with a double to start the 9th. Baltimore turned to Mike Timlin to close the door,but Richie Schienblum promptly greeted him with a double to make it 5-4. John Mayberry stepped in and sent a shot to rightcenter to give the Royals a 6-5 lead. Ted Abernathy was brought in to quiet the Orioles, but Mike Bordick drilled a 2 out triple to put the tieing run on 3rd. Abernathy then got pinch hitter Will Clark to bounce to 3rd to end the game. Delino DeShields went 3-4 for the Orioles.

Game 3 (KC 2 BALT 0) was a pitcher's duel as Mike Mussina and Dick Drago squared off in the series finale. The pitchers matched putting up zeros until the bottom of the 7th. John Mayberry got the Royals going with a 1 out double. Richie Scheinblum then grounded to short which Mike Bordick booted, putting runners on the corners. Pinch hitter Ed Kirkpatrick singled, plating Mayberry and sending Scheinblum to 3rd. Paul Schaal then missed on his suicide squeeze attempt, but Scheinblum eluded the tag with his slide for a steal of home*. Dick Drago worked into the 9th and Ted Abernathy came on to notch his 2nd save.

* - An interesting side not, Scheinblum NEVER stole a base in his actual major league career.

Turning point in series was John Mayberry's game winning homer in game 2.

Series MVP: John Mayberry, he was 6-12, scoring 4 runs, and driving in 5. He had 2 homers and 2 doubles also. --submitted by Milo Miller--

Cubbies sweep Bravos

2006 Atlanta Braves (Terry Priest) and 1996 Chicago Cubs (Mike Kenny)
Game 1 Atlanta 4 Chicago 5

The Braves would strike first with 3 quick runs in the top of the 1st. The Cubs responded with 2 in their half of the 1st. Frank Castillo would settle down and would go 6 innings. Tim Hudson would struggle and later leave the game with an elbow strain. The teams would battle to a 4-4 tie with the Cubbies pulling it out in the bottom of the 11th after a throwing error put Rey Sanchez on 3rd base.

Game 2 Atlanta 0 Chicago 2

The respective Ace pitchers would take the hill for Game 2 and they didn't disappoint. Jamie Navarro would get his 1st win against 2 losses going 7 innings and only allowing 3 hits. Adams worked 2 scoreless for the save. John Smoltz was a hard luck loser only allowing 1 ER in 5 IP. Brian McRae and Mark Grace paced the Cubs with 2 hits each.

Game 3 Atlanta 2 Chicago 3
Atlanta proved to be pitcher friendly as Mike Campbell would improve to 2-0 with a 6 hit SO for the Cubbies. Again an error would hurt the Braves and lead to two unearned runs. The Cubs would pound 10 hits to complete the sweep.
The keys to the series was errors Atlanta had 5 and the Cubs only 1. Starting in Gm 1 and going to Gm 3 the Braves would not score for 21 innings!
Sosa continues to hit for average and power. --contributed by Mike Kenney--

'73 Bucs grab 2 of 3 from '82 Friars

1982 Padres(Joey Scigliano), 1973 Pirates(Jesse Elicker)

Game 1 at Pittsburgh 9...Padres 8: This game was a slug fest as both starters were knocked from the game before the fifth inning. The Pirates jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the first inning. San Diego plated a pair of 2 run innings in the second and third to take a 4-2 advantage. Luis Salazar smacked a two run blast in the help the Padres. Richie Zisk connected for a solo bomb in the third and the score was 4-3 San Diego. Pittsburgh took the lead for good in the fifth inning as Pops Stargell walloped a 3 run homerun deep in the seats. The Pirates added two more runs in the same inning to distance themselves from The Friars. The Padres were not finished as they struck for 4 runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 8. Luis Salazar led off the inning with his second homerun of the game. Then Joe Lefefebvre and Alan Wiggins singled, followed by a walk to Richards and another a run scoring hit by Lezcano. Kennedy hit a sacrifice fly to end the scoring. Gary Lucas came in the 7th inning but was greeted by leadoff hitter Richie Hebner, who smacked a homerun to center. Dave Giusti came in the 8th inning and he held the Padres down for the save.

Game 2 at Pittsburgh 4...Padres 5: John Montefusco and Nelson Briles squared off in game two and both pitched better than the two starters in game one. Terry Kennedy hit a homerun off lefty reliever Luke Walker to break a 2-2 tie. The lead was short lived as Willie Stargell hit a homerun off Montefusco in the bottom half of the sixth. The Padres came right back in the 7th as Sixto Lezcano tripled in Alan Wiggins to make it 4-3 Padres. San Diego added another run in the 9th for insurance. Gary Lucas came in the bottom of the ninth to nail down the victory but pinch hitter Bob Robertson clobbered a homerun to narrow it to a one run lead. However, Lucas buckled down and struck out the next batters and got homerun threat Al Oliver to ground out to end the game.

Game 3 at San Diego 1....Pirates 5: Jim Rooker and Andy Hawkins were the starters in the series finale in San Diego. That man again...Willie Stargell came up in the first inning with a man on base and hit another tape measure homerun to put the Pirates in front 2-0. That was the third homerun of the series for the big man know as "Pops" to his teammates. Pittsburgh picked up 3 more runs during the game and were never in any threat to lose it. Rooker had a no hitter untilthe fourth inning but speedster Alan Wiggins bunted for a hit to breakit up. Wiggins then stole second base and scored on a Terry Kennedy base hit. Rooker earned the win as he pitched 6 innings of 2 hit ball. He walked no one and struck out 4. Andy Hawkins pitched a good game as he went 7 innings allowing 5 hits and 4 runs.

Series MVP: Willie Stargell because he hit 3 homeruns(one in each game) and drove in 5 runs. --submitted by Joey Scigliano--

Motown steamrolls Bay City Boys

Game 1 Dennis Lamp (1-0) vs Bert Cole (first appearance) The Tigers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with consecutive singles by Harry Heilman, Ty Cobb and Bobby Veach. They pushed across one run on a Johnny Bassler ground out and that closed the scoring in the first inning. Ralph Young drove home a second run in the second inning on a ground out. Oakland responded in the third when Terry Stienbach tripled home Alfredo Griffin and then posted another run when Mike Gallego bunted home Jose Canseco with the bases loaded. The Tigers took the lead for good in the sixth on a two run homer by Veach (2). Canseco answered with a homer of his own (2). The Tigers broke away with four runs in the bottom of the eighth including a two run homer by Cobb (5). Cole lasted into the ninth when a lengthy rain delay sent hm to the showers and Jim Middleton closed out the game for his first save. Tigers 8 As 5

Game 2 Dave Stewart (2-0) vs Howard Emhke (0-1) This game was a pitchers duel through the first seven and a half innings. The As scored on a leadoff homer in the second by Canseco (3) (and his second leadoff homer of the series) and a sacrifice fly by Steinbach in the 8th. The Tigers scored on a solo shot by Veach (3) in the 4th and a single by Lu Blue in the 6th. Then the wheels fell off the wagon for the As pitching in the bottom of the 8th. Although Eric Plunk took the loss, the real culprit was Dennis Eckersley. Heilman worked Plunk for a leadoff walk in the 8th. Eck came in to face Cobb, wild pitched Heilman to second and then intentionally walked Cobb. Bobby Veach singled and Blue drove home two with a one out double. Bobby Jones cleared the bases with a single and the Tigers had a four run lead. Emhke gave up a leadoff pinchhit homer to Tony Bernazard (1) in the 9th, but finished the game for his first win. Tigers 6 As 3

Game 3. Dutch Leonard (2-0) would take the mound for the Tigers. The As with a pitching staff of only 8 and playing their sixth game in a row was at a loss for starters and went with Eckersley who had been the goat in the previous game. The Tigers would again show no respect for Eck as they plated one run in the 2nd and then five more in the 3rd, including a three run homer by Cobb (6), back to back doubles by Veach and Bassler and a single by Chick Shorten, playing rightfield for Heilman who was DH'ing. The Tigers added solo homers by Veach (4) in the 5th and Heilman (10) in the 6th and two more runs in the 7th on a Jones triple and Shorten double. The As came back with two runs in the bottom half of the 7th on a homer by Steinback (1) but the Tigers, feasting on the tired As bullpen, matched it in the 8th on a triple by Heilman and doubles by Ira Flagstead and Veach. Leonard, who would go on to star as Red Forman in "The 70s Show," had his knuckler working all game giving up five hits, five walks and striking out 6. Tigers 12 As 2. --submitted by Tom "Crash" Davis--

'88 Spos sweep '06 Rox

2006 Colorado Rockies (Justin Ryan) vs 1988 Montreal Expos (Marc Weiss)

GAME 1 (Olympic Stadium): MON 3, COL 1

Mitch Webster led off the game with a single off Byun Kim. Tom Foley hit a liner to center that Sullivan misplayed making it 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Galarraga was intentionally passed to load the bases for Hubie Brooks who flew out for the 2nd out of the inning. Tim Wallach hit a hot smash off of Rockie third baseman Garrett Atkins to score 2 unearned runs. Nelson Santovenia struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done. The Rox scratched out a run in the 6th by playing small ball. Sullivan singled home Torrealba who was bunted into scoring position by the snake bit Kim. Expo starter Bryn Smith was cruising, but he ran out of gas after 7 top notch innings. He left the game on the winning side and had 8 k's. Jeff Parrett came on to pitch the final 2 to notch the save. Montreal added a much needed insurance run off of Kim in the 7th when Tim Raines singled home Mitch Webster. Mesa and King came on in relief of Kim and shut the door the rest of the way. Atkins had 2 of Colorado's 4 hits, but he will be most remembered for his error in the first, which allowed 2 unearned runs to score. That play was the difference.

GAME 2 (Olympic Stadium): MON 11, COL 5

Cook started for the Rox had a 4-2 lead going into the 8th. Manager Ryan, who fears his bullpen, tried to nurse another inning out of his starter, but it was not to be. Montreal unleashed a barrage that culminated with 9 runs crossing the plate to blow the doors wide open. Colorado relievers Ramirez and Martin were purely putrid. Montreal starter Pascual Perez notched his third win of the season even though he looked to be the hard luck loser until the fateful 8th. Perez was the victim of 3 errors and 3 unearned runs thanks to his porous defense. The Rock, Tim Raines went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored.

GAME 3 (Coors Field): MON 7, COL 2
The series shifted to Coors Field, but the humidor was not going to be enough to stop the hot Expo bats from attaining the coveted series sweep. Montreal plated 4 in the opening stanza and 3 in the 4th and never looked back. Colorado starter, Josh Fogg, got bombed in 4 innings of work. Hubie Brooks' 3 run shot in the first and Tom Foley's 3 run shot in the 4th accounted for all but 1 of the Expos runs. John Dopson boosted his record to 3-0 with 8 solid innings where he scattered 11 hits, but only gave up 3 runs. Montreal increased its record to 13-1, which qualifies for the best ever start in KOD competition

TURNING POINT: In game 2 when Colorado's pen forced Ryan to keep Cook in well past the point of exhaustion. That win would have evened the series at 1 game apiece.

MVP: Tom Foley, who went 5-12 in the series and clouted a huge 3 run shot to break game 3 open. Foley had the added pressure of batting 3rd in that game as normal 3rd place hitter Tim Raines had the day off to rest.

'53 Nats take 2 of 3 from '71 Pale hose with two shutouts

1953 Washington Senators (M.Weiss) & 1971 Chicago White Sox (D.Holm)

GAME 1: WAS 1, CHW 0 (10 inn)

The Pale Hose left 15 runners on base and failed to plate a run against Masterson and company. Washington wasn't knocking down any fences either and had two runners pegged at the plate to thwart rallies. A two out single in the 10th by Eddie "the walking man" Yost plated Mickey Grasso (who led off the inning w/a single) as the Nats won 1-0. Kealy took the loss for Chicago and Sonny Dixon won the game in relief for Washington.

GAME 2: CHW 6, WAS 5

The law of averages states that a lack of offense will usually be followed by an offensive outburst. Game 2 saw 10 more runs scored than the opener. Washington starter Chuck Stobbs was cruising until the top of the 9th when he lost it and reliever Sonny Dixon couldn't help. Chicago plated 3 runs that inning and Vicente Romo was stellar in 4 shutout innings in relief as he notched the win. Romo even started the rally to ignite the 3 run outburst in the 9th.

GAME 3: WAS 4, CHW 0

Rain and Washington's bats chased southpaw Tommy John from the mound after only 3 innings of work. John surrendered all 4 runs that Washington scored. Bob Porterfield was masterful tossing a 5 hit shutout in such abysmal conditions. Clyde Volmer went 3 for 4 and hit his second HR of the game, which was a solo shot off John. Wayne Terwilliger went 4 for 4.

TURNING POINT: All the LOB's in game 1. Chicago should have won that game and taken the series if it wasn't for some great Washington fielding and clutch pitching.

SERIES MVP: Porterfield, because he put the hammer down on Chicago and acted like a true stopper/ace. Lesser men might not have pitched through those conditions to carry his team.

'85 Bosox take 2 of 3 from '72 Royals

The 85 Boston Red Sox traveled to Kansas City to open up a 3 game series. Game 1 featured Red Sox righty Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd squaring off against the Royals southpaw Jim Rooker. All the scoring in the game came in the 4th inning. Marty Barrett started the Red Sox uprising with a 1 out single to left. Steve Lyons followed up with a single to center to put runners on the corners. After Boyd struck out trying to squeeze, Dwight Evans laced a single to make it 1-0. Wade Boggs rolled a single to left to make it 2-0 and Jim Rice singled to make it 3-0. Kansas City scored twice in the bottom of the inning. Cookie Rojas reached on Bill Buckner’s fielding error, then a rain delay of 41 minutes halted play. Boyd returned to the mound and Amos Otis greeted him with a double to put 2 on and no one out. John Mayberry lofted a sac fly to right to make it 3-1 and Richie Schienblum doubled to make it 3-2. But, that was all the scoring as Boyd cruised through 7.1 innings fanning 6. Bob Stanley picked up his 3rd save working a perfect 9th, fanning 2. Wade Boggs went 3-5, lifting his average to .513.

Game 2 pitted Boston lefty Bruce Hurst against Kansas City righty Mike Hedlund. Boston jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st, highlighted by a Rich Gedman 2 run double and Jim Rice RBI single. Kansas City made it 3-2 with Lou Pinella and Carl Taylor driving in runs. Boston scored a single run in the top of the 2nd, but Kansas City plated 3 in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a Cookie Rojas 2 run double. Paul Schaal homered to left to make it 6-4 KC in the 3rd. Jim Rice drove in another run in the 4th to make it 6-4.In the 7th, Rice made it 6-5 with a solo homer off of Royal reliever Al Fitzmorris to tie the score. Boston took the lead in the 8th to make the comeback complete. The Royals turned to lefty Tom Burgmeier, but Marty Barrett greeted him with a double. Boston went to pinch hitter Tony Armas, who Burgmeier intentionally passed. Billy Buckner singled to load the bases and Wade Boggs hit a bases clearing double to make it 9-6 BoSox. Mark Clear pitched the final 2 innings, striking out 3 to gain his 1st save. Rice ended the game 4-5 with a homer and 4 RBI’s.

Game 3 moved to Boston. Dick Drago (KC) faced off against Al Nipper (Bos) in the series finale. Kansas City plated 2 in the 1st on a Lou Pinella single and 2 in the 2nd on a John Mayberry 2 run double. Kansas City plated single tallies in the 3rd and 5th to race out to a 6-0 lead. Boston began to chip away in the bottom of the 5th as Steve Lyons doubled in their 1st run. Boston plated another run in the 6th on a Bill Buckner ground ball. The Sox had loaded the bases with no one out, but could only manage 1 run. Wade Boggs homered in the 8th to make it 6-3. But that was it as Drago buckled down and shut the door on the Red Sox, going the route scattering 7 hits and striking out 7, raising his record to 2-1. Wade Boggs went 2-3 to raise his ave, to .532. --submitted by Milo Miller--

A shot heard round the (internet) world

Tom Davis brings his Giants into Atlants to face terry Priest's Braves.

Game 1 Jim Hearn (0-2) would face John Smoltz (1-0) in the series opener.
The Giants started the scoring in the top of te first when Don Muellar singled home Whitey Lockman who had opened the game with a single, avancing to second on Matt Diaz' error. The Braves got to Hearns in the bottom of the second when he gave up a lead off single to Diaz and then walked Adam LaRoche. After getting two outs, Hearns lost any semblance of control and walked Smoltz and Marcus Giles, forcing in a run. Then Edgar Renteria drove home the go ahead run with a single. The two run lead stood up into the fifth when Brian McCann added two more with a two run homer, his first of the season. Smoltz was never in any real trouble and the Giants only managed a meaningless run in the 9th. Bob Wickman earned his fifth save of the season.

Game 2. Ruben Gomez (2-0) faced Horacio Martinez (1-0).
In Gomez' previous two starts he had thrown two complete game one hit shutouts. That would not be the case in this game as the Braves would have more hits in the bottom of the second than Gomez allowed in his previous 19 innings including a two run Diaz homer, his second home run of the season. The lead would not stand up as the Giants would get two runs in the 4th and two more in the fifth for a 5-2 lead. Two rain delays forced Gomez to the sidelines after 6 innings but Hoyt Wilhelm would come in and throw three scoreless innings, contributing to the Giant offense wih a leadoff triple in the 8th and a single in the 9th. Gomez wins his third (all three Giant victories), 8-2 and Hoyt Wilhelm picks up his first save.

Game 3. The rubber game of the series switched to the Polo Grounds with Chuck James (2-0) facing Larry Jansen (0-2, 11.00 ERA).
Atlanta struck first in the 4th when Chipper Jones doubled home Renteria. The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the 7th when Lockman singled home Monte Irvin. Both starters were now gone and the game was in the hands of the teams' relievers. Macay McBride was on the mound for the Braves when Irvin doubled home BobbyThomson for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th. Wilhelm, who had thrown a hitless 8th, opened the 9th by walking Chipper Jones and LaRoche. After striking out Diaz, A Wilhelm knuckler danced away from Wes Westrum and the runners advanced. Andruw Jones was intentionally passed and Wilhlem got the ground ball he was looking for from Jeff Francoeur. However Al Dark could only get one out and the Braves tied the score. And that score, 2-2 would stand through the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th innings. The modern day propensity of major league teams to use relievers in very short outings hurt Brave manager Terry Priest and the innings ate up his bullpen. Meanwhile, the Giants used only two relievers, Marv Grisson (2 innings) and Al Worthington (4 innings). The game ended in the bottom of the 15th on a homerun by, fittingly enough, Bobby Thomson off John Thomson. Not a shot heard round the world, but his second of the season (and only the second homer of the season by the Giants). Worthington got the win in his first appearance of the season. And with only one pitcher left in his bullpen capable of throwing any innings, Braves manager Terry Priest was last seen making a phone call to the Braves' affiliate for some rested arms. --submitted by Tom "Crash" Davis--

'71 SOX VS '99 ORIOLES- SOX 2 GAMES O'S 1ALL ONE RUN GAMES

GAME 1: ERICKSON VS WOOD
The Orioles hit 3 homers in the 6th and hit 5 all total but the Sox came back from a 5-1 deficit to win 7-6. Sox got 2 in 7th and 3 in 8th off Baltimores pen. Ed Herrmann hit big 2- run homer late. Jesse Orosco loss. Terry Forster win, Bart Johnson save. Harold Baines 2 homers.

GAME 2: PONSON VS JOHN
Sox score 4 in the first, 2 on Ed Herrmann's single. O's come back with 3 in the 4th to tie game on 2 sox errors.. Chicago scores 1 in 6th and 2 in 7th (sloppy O's fielding this time)and hang on for another 7-6 win. Baines another homer his 6th.Ponson loss, John win. Steve Kealey the shakey save.

GAME 3: BRADLEY VS MUSSINA
Birds score 6 in 5th inning and thats all they needed in another one run game. O's held off a late sox rally when Rich McKinney struck out with tying run on 2nd. Bradley loss, Mussina win, Timlin save. 6-5 O's.
Series MVP: Harold Baines 8 for 12, 5 runs, 5 rbi. --submitted by Dan Holm--

'21 Tigers take 2 of 3 from '98 Mariners

1921 Detroit Tom Davis, 1998 Seattle Jeff Shelton

Detroit 7-6 (14 innings) ,Seattle 7-2, Detroit 3-2

Game one was a wild one as it went deep into the night 14 innings and almost 5 and half hours later a depleted Seattle bullpen gives up a two out triple to Ty Cobb who scores on a single by Lu Blue , Game 2 would be just what Seattle needed as the entire bullpen was used the night before Jamie Moyer goes the distance giving up 2 runs to even the series up at 1-1 Game 3 Would see the "The Georgia Peach hit 2 homers to account for all 3 Detroit runs to win 3-2

Turning point: Pitching to Ty Cobb in the 14th inning with 2 outs lead to the win for Detroit game 1, and pitching to him in game 3 .

MVP: Ty Cobb game winning hits in 2 of the 3 games

--submitted by Jeff Shelton--

'91 Halos take 2 of 3 from '53 Nats

GAME 1 (Anaheim): '53-WAS (5), '91-CAL (2)
Mark Langston didn't have it. Chuck Stobbs did. Langston looked sluggish from the start and yielded 4 runs (3 earned) over 5 inning of work. Stobbs went 8 and gave up 2 before yielding to Sonny Dixon who notched his 1st save of the season. The Senators scored 2 in the first and 2 in the 3rd and they tacked on an insurance tally in the 8th.

GAME 2 (Anaheim): '91-CAL (2), '53-WAS (0)
Jim Abbott tossed a 4 hitter vs hard luck Bob Porterfield. Washington made 5 errors and each Angel run was unearned. Angel manager Douglas Zaner commented how Porterfield pitched much better than the results indicated. Still Abbott was brillant as he increased his record to 2-1 with a poultry 0.74 ERA

GAME 3 (Griffith): '91-CAL (5), '53-WAS (4) 10 inn
The rubber match was a classic. Both teams coveted the win to inch closer to mediocrity. Chuck Finley started for the Angels and pitched 6 solid innings. Spec Shea started for the Nats and was gone before the 2nd inning ended due to an elbow strain. Connie Marrero relieved Shea and gave up 4 runs in just over 6 innings of work. Despite the poor relief performance by Marrero the Nats showed no quit. With the score 3-2 Washington the Angels tagged Marrero for 2 runs in the top of the 8th to take a 1 run lead. Back to back jacks by Winfield and Gaetti silenced the crowd at Griffith Stadium. Angels closer Brian Harvey looked to close it out in the 9th and was well on his way to doing so after gettng Pete Runnels to ground to short and Eddie Yost to pop to shallow right. Mickey Vernon hit a hard grounder that Donnie Hill booted at second and wound up on second with 2 outs. Jackie Jensen hit a clutch single to righ to tie the game, but he got greedy trying to stretch it into a double. Reliever Sonny Dixon, who pitched out of a jam in the 9th would not be so lucky as Dave Gallagher singled home Winfield for the go ahead run. The Nats, who ran out of comebacks, went down like lambs in the bottom half of the 10th as Harvey regained his dominant form.

Exposed !!!

GAME 1 (Astrodome): 88-MON (7), 74-HOU (2)

Houston's ace, Larry Dierker had a bittersweet day. He fanned 13 Expo batters in 7 innings worth of work, but he gave up 4 runs and was out pitched by Montreal's John Dopson who went the distance and only yielded 2 runs. With the score tied at 2-2 the 7th inning was Dierker's undoing. Andres Galaraga, who had a 4 RBI day, doubled home Mitch Webster and Tom Foley. Two innings later, "El Ghatto" hit a 2 run homer to seal the game.

GAME 2 (Astrodome): 88-MON (5), 74-HOU (2)

The Expos battered around lefty Dave Roberts to the tune of 5 runs in 7 innings of work. El Presidente, Dennis Martinez notched his third win in three tries by going 8 and only giving up 2. Tim Burke pitched a scoreless and uneventful 9th for his second save of the season. Tim "Eli" Wallach and Andres Galarraga both had 3 hit days. The Expos broke it open in the 4th with 3 big runs. Wallach led off with a double down the left field line off of Roberts. Galaraga singled so hard to left, Bob Watson was able to relay the ball back to the infield and hold the runners at the corners. With the count 2-2, Hubie Brooks hit a shot into the left center gap to score Wallach and move Galarraga to third. The next hitter, Tracy Jones, fell into a 1-2 hole but Roberts was not able to punch him out. Jones lined a shot past Astros secondbaseman Tommy Helms to score 2. Catcher Mike Fitzgerald wasn't as lucky as he popped to Lee May at first for the first out of the inning. Shortsop Luis Rivera, who was hitting .107 finally hit a ball hard. Unfortunately for him it was right at SS Roger Metzger, who easily turned two to end Montreal's threat. The following inning Montreal manufactured an insurance run with 2 outs as Rex Hudler singled and stole second as Roberts was napping. The RBI man, Tim Wallach singled him in and just like that Houston was virtually done. Two runs in the 7th made the score seem respectable. In a losing cause Roger Metzger was stellar in the field and at the plate with 3 consecutive hits.

GAME 3 (Olympic Stadium): 88-MON (5), 74-HOU (4)

The closest game of the series saw the Expos jump out to a 4-0 lead. This time the Astros made more than a token effort to get back into the game. The Expos scored 2 in the bottom of the 3rd as Galarraga doubled home Dave Martinez and Tom Foley. The following inning Martinez doubled home Hubie Brooks and Nelson Santovenia to make it 4-0. Have no fear Astro fans, Neal Heaton was on the mound for the Expos. Heaton is not one of the more skilled hurlers on the Expos staff, but he did deserve a shot since Montreal's other starters were fatigued. Heaton didn't allow a run for the first 4 innings, but the pessimistic Quebecois fans seemed poised for disaster. In the top of the 5th it struck as the Astros tagged him for 3 runs all with 2 outs. Doug Rader walked and light hitting Wilbur Howard homered to score 2. The second guessers and Monday Morning Quarterbacks were all questioning Montreal's strategy of pitching to Howard while the Astro pitcher, Don Wilson, was on deck. When Wilson singled crisply up the middle a few pitches later, no one continued to question the Expos strategy. Lead off hitter, Bob Watson, then doubled hard off the wall to scroe the third run and cut the deficit to 1. In the 6th Expo catcher Nelson Santovenia doubled with 2 out and pinch hitter Jeff Huson singled him home to increase the lead to 2. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th when Cesar Cedeno led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Larry Milbourne singled to center. Houston third base coach, Paul Johnson, waved Cedeno home, but he was out in a very close play at the plate. Tim Raines made a strong throw to Mike Fitzgerald who blocked the plate perfectly. While this was occurring Milbourne snuck into second. The "Red Rooster", Doug Rader singled home Milbourne off of Expo closer Tim Burke. With Rader on 1st and down by a run Wilbur Howard, who homered in the 5th, stepped to the plate. With a 1-1 count Rader, who must have misread the sign, attempted to steal second, but was pegged by Fitzgerald by at least 2 strides to end the game. Tim Burke notched the save in an unorthodox manner to seal the series sweep.

Melton homers in all 4 games as CHW splits w/MIN

GAME 1: WOOD VS PASCUAL
SOX HIT 3 HOMERS AND WILBUR WOOD GOT HIS 2ND WIN AS SOX WENT TO 5-0 WITH 6-3 WIN OVER MINNESOTA.

GAME 2: HORLEN VS STIGMAN
BELTIN BILL MELTON HIT HIS 4TH HOMER AND SUSPECT SOX BULLPEN HUNG ON FOR A 4-3 WIN AND PALEHOSE START OFF SEASON A SURPRISING 6-0.TERRY FORSTER 2.2 SCORELESS RELIEF AND BART JOHNSON SAVE. BILL PLEIS THE LOSS

GAME 3: KAAT VS BRADLEY
THE PATHETIC SOX FIELDING REARED ITS UGLY HEAD WITH 4 ERRORS HANDING THE GAME TO THE TWINS FOR THEIR FIRST LOSS. 2 OF ERRORS CAME IN THE TWINS 3 RUN 9TH. MELTON HIS 5TH HOMER ALREADY.

GAME 4: GRANT VS B. JOHNSON
BART JOHNSON AND VINCE ROMO COMBINED FOR 13 WALKS AS MINNESOTA GETS A SPLIT. BILL MELTON ANOTHER HOMER FOR NAUGHT. 6-4 TWINS
Melton homers in all 4 games...--submitted by Dan Holm--

'06 Braves scalp '74 Stros

1974 Hou - Paul Johnson, 2006 Atl - Terry Priest

GAME1: ATL6, HOU4
The 74 Astros met the 06 Braves at Turner Field in an exciting game that may well have been announced by Rod Serling. Houston drew first blood against Atlanta starter John Smoltz in the top of the first when Bob Watson doubled home Lee May. In the bottom of the 2nd Adam LaRoche deposited a Larry Dierker pitch in the rightfield seats for his 2nd homerun of the season and a tie ballgame. In the top of the 3rd the lights went out in the Houston dugout. The power was restored within a few minutes and the game continued for an inning until the rain came in the 4th forcing a 32 minute delay. Each team posted 2-spots in the 5th and the game remained tied at 3 until the bottom of 7th. Atlanta loaded the bases and took the lead on a Jerry Johnson wild pitch. Marcus Giles then lined a single past Lee May to score 2 more runs and give the Bravos a 6-3 lead. The final score was 6-4 with Chad Paronto picking up his first win in relief while Bob Wickman recorded his 3rd save of the year. The turning point came in the bottom of the 7th when the Braves scored 3 times to take a 6-3 lead. Marcus Giles was the game MVP. He went 2 for 3 with a walk and 4 RBIs, including the game winner in the 7th.

GAME 2: ATL 6, HOU 2
Houston's JR Richard faced off against John Thomson from Atlanta in the second game of the series. The Astros led 2-0 after two innings highlighted by Lee May's first long ball of the year. Starting in the 3rd the Braves scored 6 unanswered runs to notch the win with a 6-2 final. Although Richard started the game strong fanning the first 4 batters he faced he was tagged with the loss after tiring in the 6th. Thomson recorded 2 outs in the 6th, good enough to earn his first win. Chipper Jones provided today's turning point with an RBI single in the 3rd to tie the game. Chipper also gets MVP honors for picking up another RBI in the 5th giving the Braves a lead they held for the rest of the game.

GAME 3: Atl 10, Hou 4
The series moved to the pitcher friendly Astrodome for games 3 and 4. Somebody forgot to mention the "pitcher friendly" part to Andruw Jones. He homered in his first 3 at-bats to power the Braves to a 10-4 win. Braves starter Chuck James went 6 innings to improve to 2-0 and Oscar Villareal pitched the final 3 to earn his first save of the season. Don Wilson pitched 7 innings for the Stros but give up 8 runs, all earned, and was saddled with the loss. Joining Andruw in the homerun column was Chipper Jones, Matt Diaz, Doug Rader and Lee May with 2 big flies of his own. In the 8th inning the Braves broke the game open with 4 runs to make the score 10-3. The inning was highlighted by Diaz' 2-run blast. Andruw Jones earned MVP honors with a 4 for 4 performance including 3 HRs, 4 RBIs and 4 runs scored.

GAME 4: Atl 11, Hou 7
Atlanta finished off the sweep of the Astros with a wild, seesaw 11-7 victory. Houston posted 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th to take a 4-1 lead. From there on each team scored runs every half inning until the 8th when the Braves put up 3 to take a 9-7 lead they would hold on to. Chad Paronto earned his second win of the season in relief and Bob Wickman came on with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th and produced his 4th save of the year. Ken Forsch gave up 3 runs in two thirds of an inning and was tagged with the loss. The turning point of the game came once again in the 8th inning when Adam LaRoche punched a grounder past the diving Lee May into rightfield scoring 2 runs and giving the Braves the lead. Marcus Giles was the game MVP going 4 for 6 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs including a 2-run homer in the 9th to cap the scoring. --submitted by Terry Priest--

Halo arms cool Mariner bats in pitching dominated series

Jeff Shelton 98 Mariners , Douglas Zaner 91 Angels

Cal 3-0 , Cal 3-0 , Cal 15-7 , Sea 4-0

Angels pitching dominate the series pitching 2 shutout in Seattle , Mark Langston , Abbott both go 7+ with zero runs in games 1 and 2 ,game 3 was a slug fest 15-7 , game 4 Ken Cloude goes 6 + giving up no runs for the Win List the turning point. The big bats of Seattle Griffey -A-Rod was a combined 2-29 in the series the 98 Marines are real lucky to win 1 game out of 4 with there Stars hitting like that. Who would you consider the MVP and why ? Langston, Abbott was the MVP from the time they stepped on the mound the 1st 2 games where over. --submitted by Jeff Shelton--

'88 Expos take 3 of 4 from '53 G-men

GAME 1 (Polo Grounds) - 88-MON (5), 53-NYG (0)
El Presidente', Dennis Martinez, continued his mastery of KOD batter by tossing a complete game 6 hit shutout. Montreal touched Giant starter, Jim Hearn, for 4 runs over 7 innings and added an insurance run off of reliever Marv Grissom to win this one easily. The Giants threatened to score in both the 4th and 5th innings, but Martinez was able to rise to the occasion and get an easy ground out to end each respective inning. As the game went on Martinez got stronger. Andres Galaraga single home a run in the 1st and plated Tim Raines with a sac fly to center in the 6th for 2 RBI's.

GAME 2 (Polo Grounds) - 53-NYG (3), 88-MON (0)
Not to be outdone by his Latino counterpart, Ruben Gomez tossed a 1 hitter as the Giants evened the series at 1 game apiece. Gomez went 6 2/3 innings before surrendering a clean single to Galaraga. That would be Montreal's lone bit of offense for the day. The game was scoreless until the 4th when Hank Thompson walked and Dave Williams singled to put runners at the corners. Alvin Dark hit a long shot to the warning track in right to score Thompson, but Dave Williams was pegged at second by a perfect throw from Hubie Brooks to end the rally. Gomez had to be almost perfect, because he was nursing a 1 run lead until the 7th, when the Giants scored 2 and virtually put the game out of reach, since Gomez was almost unhitable.

GAME 3 (Olympic Stadium) - 88-MON (5), 53-NYG (1)
Pascual Perez looked a bit shaky as the game started when he yielded a leadoff double to Whitey Lockman. Perez got some great fielding from Hubie Brooks in right as well a himself, when he sneared a hard hit combacker off of Don "Mandrake" Mueller's bat. The second inning started out almost the same as the first when Perez yielded a leadoff triple to Hank Thompson, who scored on a sac fly to center off of Alvin Dark's bat. For the Giants, this would be the end of their offense for the day. Manager Tom Davis voiced major concern after the game when he was quoted as saying, "I've never seen a Giant with this poor of an offensive showing ever". The Expos on the other hand seem to be firing on all 8 cylinders. They played a little "small ball" and scored a run in the third, when they combined 3 consecutive singles and some good baserunning. Nelson Santovenia led off with a hit, which was followed up by Mitch Webster and Tom Foley singles. Santovenia scored easily on Foley's hit. With 1 out and 2 on the most unlikely candidate for a DP, Tim "Rock" Raines, stepped to the plate and hit into a room service 6-4-3 to end the inning. Giant starter Larry Jansen really dodged a bullet, but would not be so lucky in the 4th, when Rex Hudler hit a 3 run shot to dead center to make the score 4-1. Montreal added an insurance run in the 6th, when Galaraga led off with a solo shot. Perez cruised to the complete game victory.

GAME 4 (Olympic Stadium) - 88-MON (1), 53-NYG (0)
Floyd Youmans and Sal "The Barber" Maglie hooked up in a classic 1-0 pitcher's duel. Sadly, both hurlers only went 7 and neither was involved in the final decision. With no score in the bottom of the 8th Andres Galaraga worked the count to 3-2 and walked when HOF reliever Hoyt Wilhelm bounced a knuckler in the dirt. The ever patient Hubie Brooks was up next and he too worked out a walk after Galaraga stole second. El Ghatto is a cerebral player who knew that Wilhelm's knuckler would be hard to handle, which would give him a great jump to take second. Compounding his problems, Wilhelm's 3-2 offering to Brooks skipped off the plate and rolled to the backstop. This put runners on the corners with 1 out and Tim Wallach striding to the plate. Wilhelm battled Wallach who got just enough of a 2-2 knuckler to send it to deep left field. Monte Irvin caught it on the run, but was in no position to throw home as Galaraga broke the scoreless deadlock. Irvin was not through on defense as he needed to run even harder to snare a hooking line drive off of shortstop Luis Rivera's bat to end the inning. Jeff Parrett, who came on in the 8th to relieve Youmans, started the 9th and got Alvin Dark to line back out to the box. Joe Hesketh was brought on to face the lefty Mueller, who punched an opposite field single in between Wallach and Rivera. Another lefty Hank Thompson came to the plate with 1 out and a runner on 1st. Hesketh knew that this would be the last batter he would be facing today, since closer Tim Burke was up in the pen and on deck was Bobby "Shot heard round the world" Thompson, a big righty bat. Thompson worked the count to 3-2 and everyone north of the border was on the edge of their seat. Hesketh delivered and Thompson hit a hot smash to Tom Foley at second. Foley tossed the ball to Rivera for the force and Rivera gunned a bullet over to Gallaraga who stretched to get Thompson out by a stride to end it. The Expos took 3 of 4 to increase their record to 7-1, while the Giants left Canada pondering how their potent offense got detained at Customs. At his post game press conference Giants skipper, Tom Davis, said, "Our offense has been troubled all year so far. We're really missing that Mays kid who has been in the Army since last spring. I can't help but wonder why Mays was forced to serve, yet his counterpart in the Bronx (one Mickey Mantle) was allowed a deferment." NY Post sports writing legend Jimmy Cannon had this to say in regards to Davis' comments, "Granted Mays had a great rookie campaign in '51, but let's see him do it for a sustained period of time before we order a bronze bust."