Houston Hoists Series Win from Expos

The Astros take two of three from Montreal, slowing the Expos' hot start (they are still 27-20 and a surprise NL East contender). Two comeback wins fuel the Houston charge.

Game One: Hou 6, Mon 4

W: Richard (6-2)
L: Grimsley (2-5)

Houston takes 2-0 first inning lead against Montreal's bushy-haired Ross Grimsley, but J.R. Richard falters in the sixth, giving up four Expos runs, two on a double off the leftfield wall by hot-hitting catcher Gary Carter. But Houston comes back from the 4-2 deficit, bringing home three in the seventh and one in the eighth off a tired Grimsley. Young centerfielder Terry Puhl strokes a key double to right as he raises his average to .316.

Game Two: Mon 4, Hou 2
W: Schatzeder (1-1)
L: Andujar (1-3)
S: Sosa (7)

22-year-old lefty Dan Schetzeder befuddles the many Astros portside hitters on his way to a four hitter in 7.2 innings of work. Montreal does much of its damage in a three run third, helped by a bases loaded walk from a wild Joaquin Andujar, who walks six on the day. This time, Montreal reliever Elias Sosa allows no Houston comeback in 1.1 innings of hitless pitching.

Game Three: Hou 3, Mon 2
W: J. Niekro (4-3)
L: Rogers (9-4)

Montreal's Steve Rogers goes for his 10th win, but is matched by Houston's Joe Niekro, who is having a good year (2.19 ERA) despite a record hovering around .500 But in this game, Niekro goes the distance, only allowing two runs. Montreal actually takes a 2-1 lead in the seventh on Carter's eighth homer, a liner to left.. But the Houston batters again respond by scoring two in the bottom of the inning. Rogers spells his own undoing with a key error that plates a run before Astros SS Craig Reynolds hits a tiebreaking single for the eventual win.

Cincinnati Red-lights Astros Batters in Series Win

The Reds continue to stay close in the NL West by taking two of three in Houston, including a long 14-inning middle game.

Game One: Cin 4, Hou 2
W: Moskau (2-2)
L: Niemann (1-1)
S: Borbon (4)

Houston jumps out to an early 2-0 lead for Randy Niemann but the forkballer can't hold onto a good thing, giving up three runs in the middle innings highlighted by a sharp triple off the bat of light-hitting Paul Blair. Reds reliever Pedro Borbon is a bit shaky, giving up four hits in three innings of long relief, but Astros batters can't take advantage of the opportunities.

Game Two: Cin 6, Hou 4 (14 innings)

W: Bair (1-1)
L: Dixon (1-3)

Cincinnati's Tom Seaver is strong but not dominant, going 10 and giving up three Houston runs on scratch singles. Houston's dominant knuckleballer, Joe Niekro, also is tough, and the teams find themselves knotted up at three apiece. It then settles down to pitching, as neither team can generate scoring chances. Houston has to resort to unsteady reliever Tom Dixon in the fourteenth, and he responds characteristically by giving up three runs on six hits, including four straight Reds singles. Houston loads them up against Doug Bair in the bottom of the inning and grabs one run back, but disappointing Jeffrey Leonard grounds into a DP to end the marathon.

Game Three: Hou 9, Cin 5
W: Williams (3-1)
L: Norman (2-6)
S: Roberge (1)

Spot starter Rick Williams has another fine outing for Houston and is aided by a three-for-five day with three RBIs from banjo-hitting shortstop Craig Reynolds. Cincinnati's Ken Griffey stretches his hit streak to 22 games and drives in two in defeat. He is now batting .370 on the year.

Tribe Trips Up ChiSox

GAME ONE – The White Sox got all the runs they needed in the 1^st inning of a 3-1 win over Cleveland. Ralph Garr led off with a home run. Eric Soderholm doubled in two runs. Ken Kravec tossed 8 2/3 innings for the win. Randy Scarbery got the 27^th out.

GAME TWO – Toby Harrah and Ron Pruitt led the Tribe attack with 3 hits apiece as Cleveland evens the series 4-2. Eric Wilkins (1-1) evened his season mark with help from Sid Monge and Victor Cruz (3). Garr had 3 safeties for the Sox.

GAME THREE – Horace Speed (3H) and Pruitt (3H) collect 6 of the Indians 10 hits as the Wahoos take the finale of the series 6-3. Rick Waits (7-4) gets the mound win with Monge (8) notching the save. 

Halos and Pale Hose Split DH and Series

GAME ONE – Halos pound out 15 hits with every starter getting at least one in a 9-5 California win at Comiskey Park. Bobby Grich topped the least with 3. Dan Ford hit his 9^th long one of the year. Nolan Ryan (7-1) used 141 pitches to record the 27 outs.

GAME TWO – Wayne Nordhagen’s double in the B9 plated Lamar Johnson with the walk-off winner as the Angels’ bullpen complete melts down. Leading 6-1 heading into the final frame, Halo hurlers record the leadoff out, then 8 straight Sox hitters reach safely leading to 6 runs and the come-from-behind victory. Nordhagen, Johnson and Greg Pryor smacked 3 hits apiece.

GAME THREE – More late-inning heroics from the Pale Hose as they plate 6 in the B8 to break open a 4-4 score to win 10-4 in a DH opener. Alan Bannister and Jorge Orta collected 3 hits each. Johnson and Eric Soderholm had 3 RBI apiece.

GAME FOUR – No come back this time for the Pale Hose as the Halos used an 8-0 advantage after 3 innings to cruise to an 8-4 victory in the nightcap. Rod Carew and Dickie Thon (3 runs) swat 3 hits each for Cal. Tom Donohue (1) and Jim Anderson (1) went yard at the bottom of the order for the Angels.

Athletics Grab 2 of 3 from White Sox

GAME ONE – A tiring Rick Langford (5-3) hung in there and got PH Rusty Torres to ground out with 2 White Sox aboard to preserve a 6-5 win for Oakland. Ralph Garr had 3 hits to lead a 12-hit Sox attack. The A’s scored their first two in the 1^st on a Mitchell Page (5) 2-run blast. They scored their final pair in the 6^th when Glenn Burke, Mickey Klutts and Mike Edwards tripled on triples (3 consecutive).

GAME TWO – Oakland scores a run in the 8^th and one in the 9^th to spoil a superb pitching effort by Ken Kravec. Wayne Gross’ double in the 9^th plated Dave Revering with the game winner as the A’s won 2-1. Dave Heaverlo (3-2) grabbed the win in relief. Mike Proly (1-4) took the loss. White Sox have lost 6 straight.

GAME THREE – Pale Hose break losing streak in a big way with a 10-1 win. Rich Wortham (3-4) went the distance. Don Kessinger, Claudell Washington and Lamar Johnson all collected 3 hits. The Sox had 15 total safeties for the game, but no extra base hits. Johnson drove in 3. Matt Keough (2-8) was lit up for the Athletics.

California Taps Out As Brewers Sweep Series

Game 1: Milwaukee 6 California 4

WP: Larry Sorenson (5-3, 4.09 ERA, 4 Ks)
LP: David Frost (1-3, 2.37 ERA)
SV: Juan Castro (2)

Brewer home runs by Ben Oglivie (10) and Cecil Cooper (7) were the story behind Milwaukee's victory in
game 1.  Big Ben hit a two run shot in the bottom half of the 3rd to break a 1-1 tie and Coop hit his in the bottom of the 5th to break a 3-3 tie.  California was only able to battle back to within 1 run of the "Crew" before succumbing to Juan Castro in relief.   Don Baylor went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI's in the losing effort.

Game 2 Milwaukee 7 California 3

WP: Bill Travers (5-2, 2.23 ERA)
LP: Don Aase (2-4, 3.45 ERA)

An eighth inning 4 run explosion opened up a Milwaukee route as Bill Travers earned his eventual 5th win of the season with a complete game performance. California gave up 4 singles and a double in the bottom half of the 8th to see the Brewers break a 3-3 tie and settle on the eventual winning numbers of 7-3.  Cecil Cooper added his 8th homer of the season and the Angel's Carney Lansford chipped in a nice performance going 3-4 with an RBI.

Game 3 Milwaukee 6  California 5

WP Bob McClure (1-1, 2.13 ERA)
LP Dave LaRoche (1-1, 4.22 ERA)

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the California Angels looked like they finally had the Milwaukee Brewers on the ropes.  But it was the Brew Crew who would receive the MIRACLE as Bambi's Bombers banged out 4 runs to steal the game 6-5.  Ben Oglivie led the inning off with a 343 foot shot down the right field line for his 11th homer of the season.  The Brewer bats continued to pound Angel relief pitcher Dave LaRoche with a double, single, single, double before LaRoche and California would wave the white flag. The Brewers rally gave them their 29th win of the season (29-15) while California drops to 26-17 (still 1st place in the AL West).

Astros, Padres Each Take Two

Houston and San Diego, both striving to get above .500 after some difficult years, split the four game series at the Astrodome.

Game One: SD 3, Hou 2 (15 innings)

W: D'Aquisto (1-1)
L: McLaughlin (0-3)

San Diego, behind the crafty curveball of Bob Owchinko, holds a 2-0 lead into the eighth. But the Astros squad ties it up after punch hitting Craig Reynolds smashes a triple down the right field line, scoring Terry Puhl before coming in with the tying run. After that, both offenses shut down. Finally, in inning 15 after a long evening in Houston, San Diego pitcher John D'Acquisto lashes an RBI single to break the deadlock. He then pitches a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to finally end the marathon.

Game Two: SD 7, Hou 0
W: Jones (5-5)
L: Richard (4-2)

San Diego's slow-curve lefty Randy Jones is almost unhittable, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and only allowing two hits in a complete game shutout. Triples by Dan Briggs and Ozzie Smith and a two-RBI single from Bill Almon provide some of the San Diego fireworks off Houston ace J.R. Richard, who is off his usual game.

Game Three: Hou 3, SD 1
W: Williams (2-0)
L: Perry (4-3)
S: Andujar (1)

Spot starter Rick Williams is again effective for Houston, only allowing one SD run in 7.2 innings of work, while Joaquin Andujar does the rest while shutting down the Padres offense. Houston only manages seven hits off Gaylord Perry in eight innings but get clutch RBI singles from Cesar Cedeno and Denny Walling in the first two innings to provide most of the scoring.

Game Four: Hou 6, SD 0
W: Niemann (1-0)
L: Lolich (1-3)

Journeyman Randy Niemann outduels long-toothed vet Mickey Lolich in a battle of lefties. Niemann only gives up three hits in 7.2 innings before yielding to Joe Sambito to finish the game for the tired pitching staff. Lolich is bombed for five runs in four innings of work, as the Astros spray the ball to all fields, including getting a two-RBI single from Jeffrey Leonard as he attempts to get regular playing time.