Pirates and Giants split 4 game series

GAME 1 : Candelaria vs Downs

San Francisco (15-12) -- 2
Pittsburgh (10-17) -- 1

WP: Holland (2-2) LP: Walk (0-2) SV: Minton (5)

  John Candelaria did all he could to push the skidding Pirates back onto the winning path.  The Candyman blanked the Giants for the 1st 6 innings while driving in the lone Pirate run of the game in the 3rd.  But in the 7th, SF tied it up on a Mike Aldrete ground out following a Kevin Mitchell triple to lead off the inning.  Then in the 8th the Giants took the lead after a Will Clark home run off of Bob Walk.  Greg Minton closed the door in the 9th for his 5th save of the year.

GAME 2 : Reuschel vs Reuschel

Pittsburgh (11-17) -- 8
San Francisco (15-13) -- 3

WP: R.Reuschel (2-0) LP: R.Reuschel (2-2) SV: McWilliams (1)

Rick Reuschel was poised to pick up a victory in this matchup.  It was just a matter of which hat he would be wearing for the post game interview.  It turns out Reuschel would be wearing the Black and Yellow of his Pittsbugh Pirates after going 6 strong innings giving up 1 run while driving in 1 with his bat.  The Pirates were powered by HRs by Mike Easler and Barry Bonds as well as 3 hit games by Ray and Madlock to coast to an 8-3 win.  Larry McWilliams picked up a 3 inning save but was shaky giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks.  But luckily the Bucs had built up enough of a cushion to pick up the win.

GAME 3 : Blue vs Bibby

Pittsburgh (12-17) -- 11
San Francisco (15-14) -- 10  (11 innings)

WP: R.Reuschel (2-0) LP: R.Reuschel (2-2) SV: McWilliams (1)

33 Hits and 21 runs over 11 innings in just under 5 hours at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.  A Barry Bonds walk off 441 foot bomb off of Al Holland in the bottom of the 11th inning capped a wild game that saw each teams pitchers struggle to hold onto a lead.  SF lead 2-0 after 1 and 5-3 after 2 and a half, while the Pirates lead 3-2 after 2, 7-5 after 3, 10-5 after 4 and all the way until a Candy Maldonado homer in the 8th off Enrique Romo tied the game at 10.   Brett Butler for SF and Tony Pena for Pit both had 4 hit games with Pena and Jack Clark leading their teams with 4 RBI apiece. 

GAME 4 : Krukow vs Rhoden

San Francisco (16-14) -- 8

Pittsburgh (12-18) -- 4

WP: Krukow (5-0) LP: Rhoden (3-3)

Mike Krukow was solid over 6 innings to pick up his 5th win of this short KOD season.  The Giants once again got a big day from Will Clark with 4 more hits and 2 runs scored.  Kevin Mitchell added a 3 run homer and Darrell Evans was also 2 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBI. 

Phillies take 3 from Padres

September 9 - Phillies 7 Padres 2 ....  Mike Schmidt hit a pair of home runs driving in 3 and Shane Rawley pitched 7 plus innings allowing 2 runs and 6 hits before he was ejected after arguing a ball 4 pitch call.  Glenn Wilson contributed a 2 run rbi single and catcher Bo Diaz had rbi double.  Padres runs came on back to back homers by Santiago and Salazar.

September 10 - Phillies 6 Padres 3 .... Pete Rose hit into a double play in the 7th inning but it also scored the eventual winning run. Glenn Wilson hit an insurance 2 run homer in the 8th.  The Phils scored first on Maddox's first inning solo homer but the Padres bounced back an inning later scoring 3 runs on 2 singles, 2 walks, an error and ground out. Phils pitching held the Padres to 1 hit over the last 7 innings. Bedrosian earned the save.

September 11 - Phillies 3 Padres 2 ... Phillies squeezed past the Padres to win their 3rd straight. Phillies lead 3-0 into the 6th with Boone, Rose and McBride contributing rbi hits. In the 6th, starter Steve Carlton suddenly weakened giving up 3 singles and 2 walks (Gwynn's single plated 2 runs) to leave the bases loaded with only 1 out. However he regrouped to strike out both McReynolds and Santiago leaving the game with a 1 run lead. The Phils bullpen gave up 3 hits but McGraw had just enough to shut the door ending the game on double play grounder to earn the save.

September 12 - Padres 9 Phillies 5 ... Padres rallied for 6 runs in the last 3 innings to salvage a win in the series.  Padres started fast with 3 runs in the 2nd inning combining a walk and 4 singles with starter Hawkins driving in the last run.  But the Phils started their half of the 5th with 3 singles (McBride's hit scoring the first run), getting the 2nd run on Schmidt's sac fly and taking the lead on Hayes 2 run homer.  Padres rallied in the 7th as Kruk had a 2 out 2 run single to give Padres the lead. In the 8th, Padres used 5 singles to score 4 more runs to guarantee their win.  Hayes added a meaningless solo homer in the 9th for the Phils.  Kruk finished the game with 3 rbis.

KOD Week 8

Cubs and Astros Split a Big Series


Chicago and Houston squared off in a 4 game set and each won two. The series could have been a sweep for either club, but Chicago Manager, Jim Walden and Houston Manager, Jim Upchurch,were each happy with the split.


Game 1

Chicago 6
Houston 5
 

Houston jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Craig Biggio single that scored Cesar Cedeno. Chicago tied it in the 2nd on a Jody Davis RBI single, but Houston countered with 2 in the bottom half of the inning. It stayed 3-1 until the 7th when Gary Matthews opened the inning with a triple. Mark Grace, Jody Davis and Damon Berryhill singles helped produce 3 Cubs runs and it was 4-3, Chicago. Houston proceeded to tie it in the bottom of the 7th as Ohil Garner singled to score Bill Doran. Chicago would answer in the 8th when Andre Dawson, who led off the inning with a triple, would score on a Ron Cey sacrifice fly. Could Chicago hold on for the win? No. A Phil Garner sac fly would tie it up. Chicago's Andre Dawson would blast a 333 footer down the left field line to give Chicago the lead again. Lee Smith, who would get the win after blowing the save opportunity in the 9th, shut down the Astros in the 10th. 


MVP Andre Dawson

 Game 2

Chicago 0

Houston 4

Joe Niekro would go the distance in game 2 and shut out the Cubs while only giving up 5 hits. Glenn Davis   would provide the highlights as he went 3 for 4 with a 2 run home run to pace Houston.

MVP Joe Niekro

  Game 3 

Houston 2
Chicago 6


Greg Maddux would run his record to 3-3 with a complete game, 6-2 win.

Leon Durham opened the scoring with a double off the right filed wall scoring Bob Dernier, giving Chicago a 1--0 lead. It wouldn't hold up as Houston scored a run in the 2nd and 3rd to take a 2-1 lead. Chicago would score the next five runs over the next 4 innings while pounding out 16 hits for the game. Nolan Ryan would take the loss for Houston.

 MVP Andre Dawson

Game 4 

Houston 3

Chicago 2

Bob Knepper would take the win for Houston and gain a split for the Astros. In a 3-2 Houston win 4 of the 5 runs would be home runs.Craig Biggio would hit his 3rd, Ray Knight and Bill Doran would hit their first, all for The Astros. Shawon Dunston would hit his 3rd for Chicago. It would be tied 2-2 until the 7th when Ray Knight would hit the game winner and give Rick Sutcliffe his 4th loss of the year.

MVP Bill Doran

The Red Sox Shut Down the Rangers' Offense to Take Series

Boston continues its push for the AL East crown by taking two of three from Texas. John Tudor and Roger Clemens hand the Red Sox shutout wins in the first two games, but Boston runs into Texas ace Frank Tanana in Game Three.

Game One: Bos 3, Tex 0

W: Tudor (2-2)
L: Darwin (0-1)
S: Aponte (1)

Crafty lefty John Tudor pitches no-run ball for 7.1 innings, outdueling Texas's Danny Darwin, who only allows five Boston hits. Jim Rice smacks an RBI double, and Rich Gedman scores after lining a double to right for the main scoring. Relievers Lee Smith and Bob Aponte keep Texas from challenging, although the Rangers do threaten with two on in the eighth but can't bring them home.

Game Two: Bos 7, Tex 0
W: Clemens (5-0)
L: Hough (4-2)

Roger Clemens fires rockets at the Rangers hitters, striking out nine in 7.2 innings to add to his league leading K totals.  The game is close going into the ninth, with Boston up 3-0 on homers from Rick Miller and Wade Boggs and an RBI walk from a wild Charlie Hough. But then the Red Sox explode for four more, capped by Dwight Evans' eighth homer. Evans leads the AL with 28 RBIs.

Game Three: Tex 3, Bos 1
W: Tanana (5-1)
L: Hurst (2-1)
S: Kern (5)

Frank Tanana continues his league mastery with his fifth win, lowering his ERA to 1.18 in the process with eight innings of one-run ball. The Rangers finally score a few runs, plating two off Bruce Hurst in the fourth with RBI singles from Buddy Bell and Gary Ward and another an inning later on a throwing error from Boston SS Marty Barrett. Jim Kern gets his fifth save, while Hurst suffers his first loss.

 Cubs lose 2


I know we're into week 8 but I had to get this in for Keith. He and the Dodgers pounded us good.
The Cubs ended week 7 of KOD by not showing up, at least for competitive purposes. A two game set ended with Chicago scoring a total of 1 run. Keith and the Dodgers rolled right through the Cubs like Sherman rolled through Georgia.

Game 1

It was a laugher in Wrigley. Jerry Reuss started for the Dodgers and Greg Maddux faced him for the Cubs.  It was over in the first two innings. Los Angeles scored 3 in the top of the first. 4 singles and a walk produced 3 Dodger runs. In the top of the second, Los Angeles put two more runs on the board on a shot to left by John Shelby. That was all the Dodgers would need but for good measure they put 7 more runs on the board before calling it a day. Los Angeles pounded Chicago pitching for 18 hits. Reuss gave up only 6 hits and Chicago scored a lone run in the bottom of the 9th as the Dodgers pounded the Cubs, 12-1.

Game 2

While not as bad as game 1, it was still a showcase for Dodger pitching. Tim Belcher with some help from Tom Neidenfuer shut out the Cubs, 5-0. Again the runs came quickly as Los Angeles put up 2 in the second on a Mike Sciosia home run. They added another in the third on a RBI single by Bill Russell.

Chicago would hardly threaten and only managed 3 measly singles. The Dodgers would add 2 more runs in the ninth and take the game, 5-0.

Had to throw this one in as Belcher played for the Stars and I'm from Huntsville and saw him pitch.

Giants Take 3 from Phils
 September 4th ... Phils 4 Giants 3 .... Pete Rose singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th as the Phils rallied for 2 runs to over take the Giants. Giants had just taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 9th on doubles by Will Clark and Mitchell. The Giants took an early lead on Jeff Clark's solo homer int he 2nd that was matched by Hayes solo homer. Will Clark's sac fly gave Giants a lead in the 4th and Phils tied the game in the 5th when Uribe made errors on 2 grounders. McGraw pitched last 2 innings for the win.

September 5th .... Giants 3 Phils 2 (10 innings) ... Will Clark homered to lead off the 10th inning to even the series for the Giants.  Giants 2 runs came on 2 fielder choice grounders by Chris Brown while the Phils scores came on double play grounder by Maddox and solo homer by Schmidt. Holland pitched last 2 innings for the win.

September 6th .... Giants 5 Phils 4 .... With the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th , Larry Bowa muffed a double play grounder allowing winning run to score.  Phils had taken an early 2-0 lead on Schmidt's single and McBride's rbi double only to see the Giants tie the game in the 4th as Leonard hit a 2 run homer and take the lead in the 5th as Maldonado doubled in a run and W Clark plated the other on a ground out.  Phils tied the game in dramatic style in 7th as Boone and Samuel hit back to back homers. 

September 7th .... Giants 5 Phils 4 .... for 4th straight game the team that won scored the winning run in their last at bat. The Phils lead 4-0 going into the 8th as Diaz hit a pair of homers, driving in 3 and Pete Rose contributed rbi single.  Giants rallied for 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th combining 5 hits and 2 walks.  Aldrete, Leonard, Youngblood and Brenly had consecutive rbi hits to tie the game.  Brenly's hit was to a drawn in infield and Leonard beat Mike Schmidt's throw home.  Chris Brown lead off the 9th with a home run off Bedrosian for the win.   

 

Twins Split Over White Laundry

Sept. 1 at Chicago – Gene Larkin singled in Randy Bush with the game winner in the 9^th as Minnesota begins September play by slipping by Chicago 3-2. The White Sox built a 2-0 lead early for Britt Burns (1-3), but the Twins tied it in the 8^th when Dan Gladden tripled home Steve Lombardozzi, then scored on Greg Gagne’s infield out. Ron Davis (1-1) notched the win in relief. Jeff Reardon (6) got the save.

Sept. 2 at Chicago – Tom Brunansky homered among his 3 hits and drove in 3 runs as Minnesota rolled over the ChiSox 7-1. Ken Schrom (1-1) was the beneficiary on the mound. Tom Seaver (1-2) was lit up for the second consecutive game. Ozzie Guillen’s solo blast in the 3^rd was the lone run for the Sox.

Sept. 3 at Minnesota – The HHH Homer Dome was just that as Greg Luzinski, Ron Kittle and Carlton Fisk all went deep for the Pale Hose in a 10-4 victory. Brunansky also had 3 more hits, including another round tripper for the Twins. Richard Dotson (2-3) took home the win; Alan Anderson (2-3) the loss.

Sept. 4 at Minnesota – LaMarr Hoyt (3-2) shutout the Twins on 4 hits through 8 innings as the White Sox earned the split in the series with a 5-0 whitewashing. Juan Agosto recorded the final 3 outs. Tony Bernazard homered and drove in 3 runs to power the offense.