'74-CIN takes 3 of 4 from '63-SF

The Reds and Giants had two slug fests at Candlestick...teams combined for 16 homeruns in the two games at the Stick!! Also, Felipe Alou is on steroids, human growthh ormones, gorilla growth hormones, X-man hormones,etc... He has more HRs than Mays, McCovey, or Cepeda, and more than Bench and Tony Perez combined!!!! He knocked out 4 in this series! Call George Mitchell !! The Giants have been on a slide lately (lost 7 of 8) and Cincy rebounded nicely to win 3 of 4 for their new manager. -contributed by Bob Kalec and the league office-

'02 Bosox take 3 of 4 from '49 Tribe

Game 1 (Cleveland Municipal Stadium): Derek Lowe and Bob Lemon had a good ole' fashioned pitcher's duel going until the top of the 6th when Boston plated 3 runs and took a 2 run lead. DH Jose Offerman led off with a single, but was forced at second on a feeble bunt attempt by Johnny "caveman" Damon, who attoned for his mistake by promptly stealing second. Rey Sanchez singled Damon home to tie the game. Nomar and Manny both followed with RBI doubles to give Boston a 3-1 lead. The Sawx tagged on an insurance run in the 8th when Manny walked and was replaced by pinch runner Rickey Henderson. Rickey might be over 40, but he still has wheels, which he showed by scoring all the way from first on Trot Nixon's double. Dustin Hermanson came on in the ninth to protect the lead as Boston won 4-1.

Game 2: The Indians took this contest 5-0, but despite the score it was a very close game. Cleveland's Bob Feller was masterful as he tossed a 3 hitter. Boston's John Burkett battled hitters for much of the afternoon scattering 2 runs over the first 7 innings. Boston got greedy and hoped he had enough gas to finish out the 8th, but apparently that was not the case as the Indians touched him for 3 runs to increase the lead to 5-0. The big blow was a 2 run homer hit by Kennedy. Larry Doby also homerer for the Tribe.


Game 3 (Fenway Park, Boston): Easily the most exciting game of the series. Cleveland jumped out on top by scoring 3 runs off of Tim Wakefield in the first 2 innings. Tribe second sacker Joe Gordon hit a 2 run shot right after Lou Boudreau singled with 2 outs. Beradinano doubled home Kennedy to score the third run in the 2nd. Cleveland starter Mike Garcia was literally on cruise control until the 6th when the floodgates opened up and Boston burned him for 4 scores to take a 1 run lead all with 2 outs. After Damon flew out to Doby and Lou Merloni grounded third to first Nomar doubled and Manny hit a tape measure shot to make the score 3-2. Hillebrand then walked and was followed by Trot Nixon who single and promptly stole second. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and two out lefty Brian Daubach singled both home to put Boston on top. By the top of the 8th Wakefield was long gone. Arrojo and Haney combined to foul up the 8th as the Tribe scored 2 runs and regained the lead as Larry Doby led off the inning with a single and with 2 outs Mickey Vernon homered to right to score two off of Darren Oliver, who was Boston's 5th reliever of the day. Catcher Doug Mirabelli led off the bottom of the 9th by popping out to Ken Keltner at 3rd. Cliff Floyd pinch hit for Oliver and singled to right center off of Cleveland reliver Paige. Damon followed with a single of his own to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Carlos Baerga was sent up to bat for Merloni and he grounded weakly to second, but did advance the runners. With 2 out and runners on 2nd and 3rd Paige hung a curveball and Nomar hit a long double off the green monster to win the game.

Game 4: The series finale saw 6 Red Sox pitchers combine to toss a 3 hit shutout. Pedro started this game, but didn't have control of the plate. Cleveland was not able to score off him but he did yield 4 walks and 2 hits over 6 innings. Pedro also fanned 9 Indians, but his pitch count swelled over the 150 mark and he was gone after 6. The Sox were forced to use a combination of Gomes, Embree, Banks and Haney to get to Urbina who closed out the 9th by fanning 2. Boston scored it's first run in the 4th and had to nurse a 1 run lead until the 8th, when they got a key insurance run as Damon tripled home pinch hitter Brian Daubach. Boston's first run was scored in the 4th, when Cliff Floyd doubled home Lou Merloni, who reached first on a walk. Pedro improved his record to 4-2 and Urbina notched his 4th save.

'63 Cards sweep '63 Giants

It was baseball at Candlestick Park as the Giants hosted the Cardinals in two game set. The Giants came in winners of 8 out of the last 10. They came away losers of 4 straight to the Cards. Manager Mike Roberts has the Cards on a roll, as they've won 9 of their last 10.

Game 1
Juan Marichal took the mound for the Giants and faced Curt Simmons for the Cardinals. San Fran took the lead on 4 straight singles in the bottom of the 4th to take a 2-0 lead. But it wouldn't hold up as Altman hit a routine grounder to 2nd. Hiller threw the ball in the dugout and Altman went to 2nd. Musial was intentionally walked, then Sawatski followed with a HR and the Cards were ahead,3-2. The Giants tried to tie it up in the bottom of the 9th by scoring a run but Simmons shut the last two batters down and the Cards had the win, 4-3

Game 2
With the Giants looking for a split in San Francisco, the Giants threw Jack Sanford at the Cards, with St. Louis throwing future Giant Ray Sadecki at San Fran. The Giants opened the scoring in the 4th by scoring 4 runs highlighted by an Ed Bailey HR. Sadecki was pulled in the 3rd as Stan Musial pinch hit for him and Ron Taylor relieved Sadecki to start the 4th. Throwing no hit ball the rest of the way, the Cardinals scored 2 runs each in the 6th,7th,8th to take game 2, 6-4.

Game 3
Game 3 moved to Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, with Bobby Shantz getting his 4th win of the year as he relieved starter Lew Burdette and Harry Fanok. San Franciso, for the 3rd straight game opened the scoring in the 4th with singles by Mays, Davenport,a double by Bailey and another single by Hiller and it was 3-0, Giants. With the score 4-1 going into the bottom of the 8th the Cards slapping base hits and a Giant error tied it up. Going into extra innings the Cardinals put runners on the corners with one out. Stan "the Man" Musial pinch hit for Booby Shantz in the bottom of the 11th and smacked a base hit to right and the Giants went home a loser, 5-4.

Game 4
The Giants looking to salvage something from the series put Bobby Bolin on the mound. St. Louis countered with future Hall of Famer, Bob Gibson. Again, San Francisco jumped to a lead,scoring 3 in the top of the 1st and 2 in the 3rd to take a 5-0 lead. St.Louis came roaring back to tie the game over the next 5 innings to send into extra innings.In the bottom of the 10th Ken Boyer flied to right and Tim McCarver followed with a walk off homer to end the game and give the Cards the sweep.

The series propelled St Louis to the top of the NL East while San Fran dropped back to a game back in the west. -contributed by Jim Walden-

'04 Cubs split with '85 Padres

Game 1 - Tim Flannery's 2-run HR in the 6th off Frank Beltran gave the Pads a 5-1 lead. But a 4-run 6th for Chicago would tie the game at 5. In the7th, Jerry Davis' PH 2-run single off Kent Mercker reclaimed a 7-5 lead forSD. The Cubs got one back in the bottom of the 7th, but Tim Stoddard andRich Gossage pitched perfect innings in the 8th and 9th to close out a 7-6San Diego win.

Game 2 - La Marr Hoyt suffered through a 4 HR Cubs outburst as Chicago woneasily 9-1. Carlos Zambrano went the distance, allowing 5 hits and 1unearned run. Corey Patterson hit a pair of HR, and was joined by SammySosa and Nomar Garciaparra.

Game 3 - Another blowout win for the Cubs, 19-4. Five runs in the 6th, 6 inthe 9th inflated the score. Sammy Sosa hit a grand slam and had 6 RBI.Corey Patterson added 4 more RBI. Greg Maddux worked into the 9th but hadto leave after a rain delay. Padre fans would just have soon called itafter 8.

Game 4 - After two difficult games, Eric Show and Rich Gossage combine toblank the Cubs 1-0. The lone run came on Tim Flannery's RBI double in the8th off reliever LaTroy Hawkins. Glendon Rusch pitched 7 shutout inningsbefore leaving for a pinch hitter.

'88 Twins and '07 Tigers split

9/9 Minnesota (8-8) comes to Comerica to visit the Tigers (9-7). Frank Viola would be opposing Jeremy Bonderman. The Tigers struck first on consecutive singles by Polanco, Sheffield and Ordonez. They added a second run in the 4th on a Casey 1b and Thames 2b. Bonderman cruised until the 7th, when Bush opened with a 2b and was bunted to 3rd by Lambordozzi. Gaetti drove Bush home with a pinch hit single. Ledezma came in to face Moses and gave up a triple to tie the game. Rodney came in and closed the door in the 7th. The game remained tied until Larkin led off the ninth with his first home run of the season. Roy Smith earned his first win and Reardon got his fourth save. Rodney took the loss.

9/10 After Hrbek doubled in the first with two out, Gaetti homered off starter Nate Robertson. Tiger manager Tom Davis was heard to say, "It doesnt matter what team I manage, that guy simply kills me. I should have walked him. Oh well, it's only the first inning." Jis words were prophetic. Bert Blyleven just didnt have it today as he gave up two homers in the bottom half of the first, a two run shot by Polanco and a three run homer by Sheffield. The Tigers added another run in th frame and left the first leading 6-2. In the third, the Tigers sent 10 players to the plate, scoring six times including a three run bases loaded double by Polanco. The Tigers aded three more in the 7th on Mark Rabelo's first homer of the season. The Twins picked up two meaningless runs in the 9th. Robertson cruised to his 4th win as the Tigers spanked the Twins 16-4,

9/11 The series switched to the Metrodome as the Twins jumped on Tiger started Justin Verlander early and often. Kent Hrbek hit his 4th homer of the season, a three run shot in the bottom of the first. The Twins tallied single runs in each of the next four innings including Larkin's second homer of the series. The Tigers could only manage single runs in the 5th and 7th off starter Alan Anderson who threw a complete game for his 4th win of the season, 7-2.

9/12 Chad Durbin got his first start of the season for the Tigers. The Olde English D jumped all over Twins starter Les Straker in the first. Polanco doubled home Granderson, then Rodriguez and Sheffield plated runs with singles. Inge hit a 3-run homer in the 4th and the Tigers scored three more in the 6th before the Twins got to Durbin in the bottom of the 6th on a Gaetti 2-run homerun. But the early deficeit was too large and Durbin earned his first win 9-4. The Tigers totalled 55 hits in the 4 games, including two 18 hit outbursts to the Twins 39, although the Twins outhomered the Tigers 5-4. Tom Davis

'93 Yankees 3, '06 Angels 1

GAME 1: Jeff Weaver started and got torched by the high flying Bombers. Calling Weaver pathetic would be an understatement. Sadly he would get released from this team and move over to the Cardinals and win a World Series ring. He's the ultimate headcase pitcher.

GAME 2: The Angels continued to not score runs as Jimmy Key shut them out.

GAME 3: A popular theme here...The Angels can't score. This time Jim Abbott (4-0) shut them out as his offense hammered John Lackey for 7 runs on 11 hits. The bottoom of the Yankee lineup had 7 of those hits with catcher Mike Stanley being responsible for 3.

GAME 4: The Angels finally got their offense in gear and barely held on to beat Bob Wickman. Down 5-4 in the 6th the Angels posted 2 runs and behind a string of relivers they found a way to get to Frankie Rodriguez who threw a scoreless ninth.

'02 Red Sox 3, '80 Oakland 1

GAME 1: Tim Wakefield's knuckler was dazzling as he tossed 8 shutout inning before tiring. All 4 Boston runs were scored on two run homers hit by Johnny Damon and Nomar.

GAME 2: Boston blew the doors off in this one as they scored 9 runs off A's starter Steve McCatty. The Bosox tallied 10 runs in total behind John Burkett who took his record to 3-0 in an 8 inning 1 run performance. Damon hit a homer in his second consecutive game and Shea Hillenbrand had 3 hits.

GAME 3: Mike Norris did not have one of his banner outings as he gave up 6 runs in almost 8 innings of work. He was better than Frank Castillo and the Red Sox defense. Oakland had 4 homers in this game. None was bigger than Mitchell Page's 3 run shot in the 4th. Lacey came on to save the game for Oakland as the A's barely held on to win their only game of the series.

GAME 4: Boston doctors are beginning to worry about Pedro. Not only has he lost velocity, but his stamina has also been declining. While most pitchers would be happy with a 7 2/3 inning performance that netted 11k's and 3 ER's, Pedro and the Sox fans are not. Banks, Embree and Urbina combined to finish it out. The Red Sox were hanging on to a 1 run lead until the 8th when Nomar led off with a single and Trot doubled after Manny flew out. Oakland intentionally walked Hillenbrand and Daubach added the insurance run with a sac fly to Dwayne Murphy in center.Boston moved to a league leading 15-5, while Oakland dropped to 8-12.

'02 Red Sox 3, '06 Angels 1

GAME 1: John Burkett wasn't as terrible as John Lackey as the Bosox took the opener 7-5 Boston scored 3 in the 5th inning when Shea Hillebrand hit a 2 run shot on a 3 hit day. Wayne Gomes came on to throw 2 scoreless innings to notch the save.

GAME 2: Casey Fossum won his 3rd of the season as the Bosox battered Bart Colon for 6 runs over 8 innings. Nomar had 3 hits. Frank Castillo pitched the final 2.2 scoreless innings in relief.

GAME 3: In a wild one at Fenway the Sawx held on to win by 1 over the fading Angels. Derek Lowe was tossing a no hitter, but had to leave the game in the 5th due to tighness in his shoulder. Darren Oliver came on and pitched poorly. Brian Daubach had 4 Ribbies. Urbina notched his second save as he came on in relief.

GAME 4: Jerred Weaver + Pedro = 1 good old fashioned pitcher's duel. Both hurlers were brilliant. The Angels scored once off of Pedro in the second and made it stand the rest of the way as Weaver scattered 3 hits across 7 innings and Steve Shield pitched two scoreless innings in relief for his first save. The only run of the game scored on a DP as Vlad Guerrero touched home as Howie Kendrick doubled up Rivera and himself.

'07 Tigers 3, '49-Indians 1

9/4 The Tigers came to Cleveland trailing the Indians by one game in the standings. Cleveland ace Bob Lemon (3-0) would be taking the mound against Tiger rookie righthander Jair Jurrjens. The game was scoreless until the third when Curtis Granderson clubbed a bases loaded triple off Lemon. He scored on a Gary Sheffield scarifice fly. The Tigers added four more in the 5th on a Magglio Ordonez grandslam. Ray Boone hit a homer off Jurrjens in the bottom of the fifth for the Indians only run. Detroit added five more in the 8th and Jurrjens went the distance in a 13-1 win.

9/5 The Tigers opened the scoring off Rapid Robert Feller in the first with a Granderson single, a walk to Carlos Guillen and a double by Ordonez which plated Granderson. Pudge Rodriguz singled home Guillen and Sean Casey scored Ordonez on a sac fly. But that would all the Tiger would get off Feller. Nate Robertson made it stand up however as he only allowed Cleveland single runs in the third and fourth inning. Robertson needed rrelief help from Bobby Seay and Fernando Rodney to record his third win of the season as the Tigers took the second game 3-2

9/6 The scene shifted to Comerica Park where Mike Garcia would be looking for his first win of the season. He would be opposed by Justin Verlander. The Indians opened the scoring in the first as Verlander experienced his usual first inning lethargy. Lou Boudrean, in the midst of a terrible slump, singled with one out, Larry Doby followed with a two out single. Joe Gordon walked and Thurman Tucker drove home two with a single. The Tigers came back with single runs in the third and fourth on sacrifice flies by Marcus Thames and Sheffield. In the fifth, Mickey Vernon opened the inning with a single and Verlander then hit Doby in the leg with a pitch. After a walk to Gordon, Verlander struck out Tucker. But Jim Hegan dropped a bunt and just like int he 2006 World Series, Verlander threw late to home. With the Tigers at double play depth, Ken Keltner then dropped a bunt down the third base line. Brandon Inge threw h im out at first, but the Indians had all the runs they would need. a Carlos Guillen sac fly brought the Tigers to within one in the 8th. However Ray Bradbury fireman Todd Jones gave up a 2 run homer to Joe Gordon in the ninth and the Indians won 5-3. Garcia went the distance for his first win.

9/7 Looking to salvage a split, Early Wynn took the mound against Kenny Rogers. Magglio Ordonez hit his fourth homer of the season in the first to stake Rogers to a two run lead. The Gambler made it stand through five innings of two hit ball. However a 56 minute rain delay in the bottom of the fifth sent Kenny to the shower and Chad Durbin came in to pitch. Durbin was up to the effort as he allowed the Indians only one run over four innings, a Joe Gordon homer in the ninth, his fourth of the season. The Tigers coasted to a 5-1 win despite two Carlos Guillen errors, giving him 9 for the season. Little used Timo Perez went 3-3 with a walk to raise his average to an astounding .643. Ordonez went 3-4 to raise his average to a solid .400 -contributed by Tom Davis-

'85-SD 2, '74-CIN 2

Game 1 Cincinnati, Dave Dravecky and Fred Norman, a couple of southpaws were shutting down both offenses through 6 innings. In fact, The Padres were so desperate to score runs that the manager lifted Dravecky after 6 innings. No big deal but he had not allowed a hit through those 6 innings. The Padres took the lead in the top of the 7th inning on a 2 RBI double by Steve Garvey. That was the only scoring of the game as the Goose came in the ninth to slam the door for his 2nd save of the year. Dave Dravecky (2-1) got the win and McQueen (0-1) got the lose.


Game 2 Cincinnati, The Reds got revenge on the Padres in the second game of the series as they spotted their starting pitcher, Jack Billingham with an early 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning. Singles by Rose and Joe Morgan and then a three run homerun by Johnny Bench. Solo homeruns by Perez and another one by Bench later in the game made the final score 5-1 in favor of the Reds. Winning pitcher was Jack Billingham(2-2), who went the distance and allowed only 1 run on 8 hits. LeMarr Hoyt pitched a complete game for the Padres but got the loss as he moves to a disappointing 0-3 on the year.


Game 3 San Diego, Jack Murphy Stadium, The Padres hoped that returning to their home park would charge their offense. The Padres bats did wake up in the third game as they battled the powerful Reds throughout the game. The Reds got out to a 4-0 lead as they struck in the second inning. An error by third baseman Kurt Bevacqua started the rally for the Reds. The next two batters singled and pitcher Don Gullett walked to load the bases. Little Joe Morgan then hit a grandslam homerun into the seats in right field to make the score 4-0. The Padres did manage to battle back as they plated 3 runs in the fourth inning as Kevin McReynolds connected for an opposite field 2-run homer to right field and the next batter, Carmelo Martinez hit a solo blast over the temporary fence in left field. The score was now 5-3 Reds and it was a game! The Big Red Machine is not a fancy name but a testament to the power of the Reds lineup. Cincinnati added insurance in the sixth inning with two more runs and added another run in the 8th inning on back to back doubles by Driessen and Geronimo. The Padres did manage to squeak across two more runs in the bottom of the 7th on back to back homeruns by Terry Kennedy and Kurt Bevacqua. The Reds held on to win this offensive match 8-5. The winning pitcher was Don Gullett (1-2) as he pitched a complete game. Eric Show got the start and loss for the Padres and moves to 1-2 on the season as he allowed 7 runs(only 3 earned) through 6 innings pitched.


Game 4, San Diego, Jack Murphy Stadium, The last game of the series matched up former Padre Clay Kirby against the young right hander Andy Hawkins. The Padres struck first as they pushed across 5 runs in the 3rd inning. Tim Flannery and Steve Garvey drove in solo runs on singles. The big blow came off the bat of the old pro Graig Nettles as he drove in 3 runs on a double into the right field corner. Nettles had been struggling in the early going but this hit may get him going. The Reds mounted a comeback as they scored one run in the 7th inning and two in the 8th. However, the strong Padres bullpen closed the door. Craig Lefferts pitched 2 innings to set the game up for the Goose in the 9th. Gossage come in and slammed the door in the ninth to seal the game and preserve the 4 game split. Hawkins won (1-2) and Kirby suffered his first loss of the season (2-1). The Goose earned his 3rd save. -contributed by Joey Scigliano-