Rangers Sweep Twins to Dash Division Hopes

Texas might have had a difficult season but the Rangers ended the year on a high note by sweeping the NL West contending Twins in four straight, including two extra inning affairs. Minnesota -- hoping for a division crown -- is left fighting for a wild card berth, while Texas ends the year only a game under .500.

Game One: Tex 7, Min 5
W: Medich (3-2)
L: Smithson (5-6)
S: Harris (1)

Doc Medich holds Twins' hitters at bay for eight innings before tiring in the ninth. Texas scores its runs early off Mike Smithson, plating seven runs in the first five innings and then keeping the hard-hitting Twins from rallying. Geno Petralli (you'll hear that name again in this series) goes four for four, and Pete O'Brien and Larry Parrish hit back to back homers to lead the scoring.

Game Two: Tex 8, Min 5 (12 innings)

W: Harris (4-1)
L: Davis (2-2)

Texas, behind their ace Frank Tanana, takes a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth before the Twins' Kent Hrbek clubs his ninth homer to tie it up. Good relief pitching keeps the score knotted until the bottom of the 12th, when Gary Ward pounds a double into left center that clears the base and brings home three. Greg Harris pitches three innings of scoreless relief for the win.

Game Three: Tex 3, Min 2 (10 innings)

W: Schmidt (1-0)
L: Blyleven (1-6)

A nice pitching duel between Allan Anderson and Danny Darwin leads to a 2-2 score after nine, fueled in part by Tom Brunansky's two run homer, his eighth. The Rangers prevail in the bottom of the 10th as catcher Geno Petralli, batting .375 for the year to nail down starting duties, blasts a walkoff homer off Bert Blyleven, who has struggled this season.

Game Four: Tex 9, Min 
W: Matlack (1-2)
L: Viola (6-3)

Minnesota ace Frank Viola is belted in his season ending start, giving up six runs in five innings. Texas's Jon Matlack, who has pitched much better than his record indicates, was masterful in eight innings of three-hit shutout ball on the Texas side of the ledger.  Curiously, of Texas's 15 hits, 14 were singles, as the entire team got into the scoring.

California Takes Three of Four from Texas to Remain in Playoff Hunt

The Angels took a series from the Rangers but it wasn't easy -- two games went to extra innings and a third was won by a run.  But by winning this tense matchup, California remains in good position for a playoff spot, keeping pace with Minnesota for the AL West crown.

Game One: Rangers 6, Angels 5 (10 innings)

Buddy Bell's three hits and three RBIs leads the way for Texas in a win in extra innings. After a throwing error in the bottom of the 10th from Bobby Grich puts Curtis Wilkerson on second for Texas, Bell sneaks a single between first and second for the comeback win.

Game Two: Angels 2, Rangers 1

Mike Witt improves to 7-1 by keeping the Rangers off the board. Texas's Danny Darwin pitches a complete game five-hitter but gives up Wally Joyner's eighth homer and an eighth inning double down the third base line from Rod Carew to break the tie and give the Rangers the win. Bryan Harvey saves his ninth.

Game Three: Angels 3, Rangers 2 (10 innings)

Another nail-biter, this one is tied 1-1 after nine as neither team can muster much offense off starters Chuck Finley and Jon Matlack. The Rangers get the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th when Pete O'Brien hits his fourth homer off the Angel's Harvey.  But California responds in the bottom of the inning. Texas closer Jim Kern blows his fourth save -- he walks two to load the bases for California with no outs and then proceeds to induce infield popups from Joyner and Doug Decinces. But he can't escape the jam, as Angels' pinch hitter Chili Davis strokes a two-out, two-run single off Kern to start the celebration in Anaheim.

Game Four: Angels 5, Rangers 3

Another day, another close game. This one is tied at three apiece going into the eighth, but Texas relievers again come up short. Greg Harris gives up an RBI single to Bob Boone to break the deadlock and then Dale Mohorcic walks in another run after loading the bases. Harvey nails down his 10th save.

ChiSox Take 3 from Athletics

Sept. 22 at Chicago – Greg Luzinski’s (8) 2-run blast down the LF line lifted the White Sox to a 3-2 over Oakland.

Sept. 23 at Chicago – Jose Canseco’s (3) 2-run bomb (one of his 3 hits) highlighted a 4-run 8^th for the Athletics as they evened the series with a 4-1 win. Wayne Gross tripled in two more later in the inning. Dennis Eckersley notched his 9^th save in relief of Dave Stewart (3-5). 

Sept. 24 at Oakland – Tom Seaver (2-2) and Dennis Lamp combined on a 5-hitter as the ChiSox blanked the A’s 6-0 by the Bay. Luzinski (9) and Harold Baines (8) went back-to-back in the 6^th to highlight the offense.

Sept. 25 at Oakland – The Pale Hose captured the series by scratching out 3 runs (2 on IF outs) in the 5^th and holding on for a 3-2 victory. Mike Heath (3) and Mark McGwire (8) hit solo shots in the 8^th and 9^th respectively for the A’s, but it wasn’t enough. Bobby Thigpen (8) got the save for Britt Burns (3-4).

I5 Series Ends in Splitsville for Dodgers and Padres

San Diego,

Game 1,
Pete Guerrero smacked his 14th dinger of the tournament as he led the Dodgers over the Friar squad.  Burt Hooton improves to 5-2 with six innings of solid pitching. Tom Neidenfuer pitched a couple innings of lights out relief work. Jay Howell nailed down the 9th inning for his 7th save. The loss went to Ed Whitson (2-5).
Dodgers 5....Padres 3.

Game 2,

Padre batters battered the Dodgers relief corps as they struck for eight runs in the final three innings to earn a come from behind win.  San Diego was trailing 7-4 heading into the ninth inning but struck for four runs to win it in walkoff fashion.  Steve Garvey connected for a game winning 3-run homer off reliever Jay Howell to send the San Diego fans happy.  Padres 8...Dodgers 7.

Los Angeles,

Game 3,
Steve Garvey was the star again but this time for his other team. Garvey hit his sixth homerun and drove in 3 runs in support of Tim Belcher-who won his 3rd game of the season.  Padre lefty hurler, Dave Dravecky fell to 1-6 despite decent pitching. Dodgers 5...Padres 2.

Game 4,
Randy Ready came in for an injured Luis Salazar and went 3 for 3 with an RBI to help the Padres to a victory.  Mark Thurmond won his first game of the season to improve his record at 1-3. The crafty lefty went 6 innings allowing only one run on six hits. The Padre bullpen did the rest.  Goose Goosage came in the ninth with 2 Dodgers on base but was able to retire Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and struck out Steve Garvey with runners on second and third to end the game.  Steve Howe sinks to 0-3 and Goose recorded his 5th save. Padres 5...Dodgers 4.

Pirates - Phillies ... After losing game 1, Phillies come back to win the final 3 to run their record to 22 - 19.

September 22  .... Pirates 9 Phils 4 ..... Pirates blasted 3 homeruns and 6 doubles to win game 1 easily. Parker lead with 2 doubles, homer and 4 rbis while Bonds had a single and 2 run homer and Morrison contributed solo homerun. Bibby got the win surrendering a pair of solo homers to Mike Schmidt and 2 run homer to Milt Thompson.

September 23 .... Phils 7 Pirates 2 ... Mike Schmidt hit first inning 2 run homer and Denny shut the Pirates out until the 7th when Parker lead off with a homerun.  Bowa with 2 singles, triple and 2 rbis and Rose and Hayes each with a pair of singles and rbi.  McGraw faced 7 batters and retired them all for the save.

September 24 .... Phils 1 Pirates 0 ...  a totally type of game as Phils scratched for a runin the 3rd inning as starting pitcher Rawley walked and went to 2nd on sacrifice by Pete Rose.  After Bowa's out, McBride singled in Rawley.  Pirates never had a runner as far as 3rd base and in the 9th, facing Bedrosian, Ray and Madlock went out easily but Parker walked and Bonds singled him to 2nd.  With no lefty in the pen, Reed faced Sid Bream and got him on a deep fly to left for save.

September 25 .... Phils 5 Pirates 1 ... The first 15 Phils went down in order as Rhoden was on his game.  But the Phils opened the 6th with 4 straight singles to plate 2 runs and 2 sacrifices later lead 3-0.  Jason Thompson lead off their 6th with a homer but that was all there was to the Pirates scoring. Pirates left runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 7th, a runner on 2nd in the 8th.  Carman and Reed retired the last 5 Pirates in order to preserve the win for Gross.

    

CUBS - PHILS ....  Phils win 3 of 4 using the long ball and move above .500 for the season.

September 17 ... Phils 8 Cubs 5 .... Phils got 3 run homers in both the 7th and 8th innings to rally past the Cubs.  In the 7th Mike Schmidt hit his 2nd homer of the day to score 3 runs and give Phils a 5-4 lead. And then 1 inning later, with Cubs having tied the game, pinch hitter Ricky Jordan hit a pinch hit 3 run homer that followed 2 walks.  Rion Cey hit 2 run 1st inning homer earlier for the Cubs. McGraw with the win and Bedrosian earned the save.

September 18 ... Phils 5 Cubs 2 (10 innings) ...Mike Schmidt hit a 3 run homer with 1 out and 2 on in the 10th inning to give Tekulve and Phils the win. Phils had lead 2-0 into the 7th on rbi singles by Schmidt and Rose, but Cubs rallied to tie the game Dernier's rbi single and a wild pitch. 

September 19 ... Phils 5 Cubs 3 .... Glen Wilson's 2 run homer in the 7th gave Phils their 3rd straight win.  Ron Cey's solo homer in the 3rd gave Cubs early 1-0 lead but Phils batted around in the 4th to score 3 runs. Maddox had rbi single and then ground outs by Wilson and Samuel scored the other 2.  Berryhill's double plated a run for the Cubs in the 6th and Buckner's double scored the last Cubs run in the 7th. Bedrosian got the save with a perfect 9th inning.

September 20 ... Cubs 7 Phils 0 ... Greg Maddux  threw a complete game, 5 hit shutout to salvage the last game for the Cubs. Mumphrey went 5 for 5 (4 singles and double) and Mark Grace had 4 singles and 3 rbis to lead the Cubs 16 hit attack which featured 15 singles.  After the 2nd inning, Phils could only manage 2 singles.  

Great Series Between Chisox and Rangers

The White Sox and Rangers came into this series with identical (and lousy) 14-19 records, as they both hoped to end the season on a high note. A battle royale was raged, with each game won by a narrow margin and two of them going to extra frames. The Rangers end up taking three of four, as the Chisox avoided a four-game sweep with late game heroics in game four from Greg "The Bull" Luzinski.


Game One: TEX 3, CHIW 2
W: Russell (1-0)
L: Thigpen (1-2)

Lamar Hoyt carried a slim 1-0 lead into the seventh before the Rangers struck for two, the big blow a two-run single by Gary Ward. But back came the White Sox in the eighth on Harold Baines' seventh homer of the year, a solo shot off the Ranger's tough Jon Matlack. But the Rangers won it with an RBI in the bottom of the eighth, as Scott Fletcher (who played for both clubs) doubled and scored on a two-out single between third and short by Buddy Bell.

Game Two: TEX 6, CHIW 5, 11 innings
W: Russell (2-0)
L: Thigpen (1-3)

This time out, Chicago struck for three early runs as Rudy Law hit his first homer and Greg Walker stuck a double off the wall that scored another. But Floyd Bannister allowed the Rangers back in the game, as Ruben Sierra doubled to lead the rally. The Rangers got two more in the eighth to take a 5-3 lead. But closer Jim Kern was a wild man in the ninth, walking three to help Chicago tie it. In the 11th, Sierra gave Texas the victory with a leadoff homer over the rightfield wall, his first. Sierra went three-for-six with two RBIs and two runs scored, his best game of the year.

Game Three: TEX 5, CHIW 3
W: Harris (2-0)
L: Lamp (1-2)
S: Russell (7)

Once again, Chicago had the lead into the late innings, a 3-1 edge behind Tom Seaver, who was pitching a gem. Again, the Rangers struck late, as that man Ruben Sierra keyed the comeback by slamming a double off the rightfield wall that scored two to break a tie and win the game.

Game Four: CHIW 2, TEX 1, 11 innings
W: Thigpen (2-3)
L: Russell (2-1)

A terrific pitching duel between Chicago's Britt Burns and Texas's Doc Medich leads to a 1-1 tie after nine, as both starters pitch into the eighth inning. Greg Luzinski unties it off reliever Jeff Russell (who figured in a win or save in every game of this series) by pouncing on a fastball for his seventh homer of the year for a walkoff victory in the 11th.

Brewers Douse Texas in Three Tight Games

A great series between Milwaukee and Texas, as the first place Milwaukee team manages to squeak out two victories in the three game set and make Bernie Brewer slide into the suds more than once.

Game One: MIL 5, TEX 4
W: Plesac (1-0)
L: Kern (0-2)
S: Fingers (6)

Milwaukee scratched out three early runs off Texas starter Charlie Hough, who couldn't control his knuckler to the tune of five walks. However, the Rangers rallied late after Milwaukee starter Chris Bosio left the game, scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead, as Scott Fletcher hit a clutch two-run single. However, the Rangers' rusty reliever Jim Kern blew his second save of the season,  allowing two out singles from Paul Molitor and Cecil Cooper to hand Milwaukee back the lead in the ninth. Rollie Fingers made sure that would hold up in the bottom of the ninth.

Game Two: TEX 5, MIL 4

W: Mohorcic (1-0)
L: Crim (0-2)
S: Russell (6)

Texas returns the favor in game two, winning late by the same 5-4 score as in game one. Milwaukee again takes the early lead, 3-1, as Ben Oglivie and Don Money hit back to back shots to left off Texas starter Frank Tanana. But Texas again responds in the late innings, as Scott Fletcher scorches another two run single in this game to tie it up and then Oddibe McDowell hits a grounder that finds the hole between second and third to give Texas the lead in the eighth. Reliever Jeff Russell puts two on base in the ninth but gets Jim Gantner to ground out to end it.

Game Three: MIL 4, TEX 2
W: Higuera (7-1)
L: Jenkins(0-5)
S: Fingers (7)

Teddy Higuera again looks like a world beater, striking out eight in eight innings and only allowing two runs en route to his seventh win. Texas pitcher Fergie Jenkins would have matched Higuera, if not for the three gopher balls he gave up to Robin Yount, Ben Oglivie and Greg Brock. Fingers again does the job late to give Milwaukee the series win. 

BRAVES versus PHILLIES

September 14:  Phils 5 Braves 3 (10 innings) .... Mike Schmidt hit a 2 run homer in the 10th inning to give Phils the win. All of the Phils runs came on homers as Hayes hit 2 run homer in 4th to tie the game at 2 and Boone hit a solo homer in 6th to give Phils a temporary lead of 3-2. Braves scored first on Washington's double in 4th and tied the game in 5th on Mahler's sac bunt and tied the game in 7th on Butler's double.

September 15: game 1 of double header: Phils 8 Braves 2 ... After Gant hit a 2 run homer in the 3rd, the game was all Phils. Mike Schmidt hit 2 run homer in Phil's 3 run 4th inning and added a single run in 5th on Matthews single and then put the game away with 4 runs in the 6th as Rose, Bowa and Schmidt had rbi hits.  R Andersen pitched 3 scoreless innings to get the save. Gross was the winning pitcher.

September 15: game 2 of double header: Phils 4 Braves 1 .... Mike Schmidt hit a solo homer and a 2 run homer for the Phils and Thompson added rbi double. Hudson pitched 5 plus innings in a rare start for the win and Carman and Tekulve eached pitched 2 scoreless innnings.

Indians Pitching Scalps Texas in Series Win

A battle between two teams aspiring to the .500 level is won by the Indians team over Texas, due to good pitching that tomahawks the Rangers in two out of three games. Texas at least gets the bats going in the third game.

Game One: Cle 6, Tex 1
W: Farrell (1-0)
L: Medich (2-2)

Cleveland blows away Texas's Doc Medich with five runs in the first three innings en route to an easy 6-1 win. John Farrell only gives up five hits in seven innings, showing that he's as good a pitcher as he'll be as a manager. Home runs by Joe Carter (4) and a scorching hot Cory Snyder (5) seal the deal.

Game Two: Cle 4, Tex 3

W: Swindell (3-1)
L: Honeycutt (0-4)
W: Jones (7)

A spunky Indians team breaks open a 2-2 tie (with all the runs scoring in the first inning) with two more in the seventh, thanks in large part to a big error from Ranger's second baseman Jerry Browne and a line single to left from Snyder, who is batting .411 for the year. Texas threatens against Cleveland closer Doug Jones in the ninth, scoring one and putting a man at third with two gone. But pinch hitter Billy Sample grounds out to end the opportunity and gives Cleveland two straight wins.

Game Three: Tex 10, Cle 4
W: Darwin (1-1)
L: Waits (2-2)

Danny Darwin rights the Rangers ship with a fine start, showing great control by not walking a batter (and striking out six) in 6.1 innings. Five of the 10 Ranger runs are scored in the first two innings off a battered Rick Waits, led by a triple and RBI single from Mickey Rivers and three straight RBI singles to left in the second. Buddy Bell's second homer late in the game off Dan Spillner gives Texas a big margin and ends any thought of a Cleveland comeback.