May 19
Major League News
Chicago will be without one of thier main bullpen components for about a week as
Donnie Moore (1 SV,1.62 ERA) has caught a bad case of strep throat and has been banished from the clubhouse until he is over it. Moore is understandably bummed out about it.
Los Angeles has locked up starter
Tommy John for 4 more years as the left-hander signed an extension worth $8,784,000 at $2,196,000 a year. The Dodgers are reeling, having lost 6 straight.
Dan Meyer (.324) scores on a fielders choice by
Bill Stien (.192) in the top of the 9th to give Seattle a 9-8 win over Oakland. Catcher
Bob Stinson (.236) goes 4-for-4 and
Julio Cruz (.322,13 RBI) adds 3 hits, including his 4th homer for Seattle as every starter has at least 1 hit and 18 as a team. Oakland starter
Vida Blue (3.96 ERA) lasts only 1 2/3 innings as errors by C
Jeff Newman (4th) and 3B
Wayne Gross (7th) lead to 4 unearned runs.
Don Baylor (.276) has 3 hits for the A's in the losing effort.
The Twins win 5-4 over California by using an error by defensive replacement
Mario Guerrero (1st error) to thier advantage in the top of the 9th inning as
Larry Hisle (.266) scores on a fly ball by
Butch Wynegar (.291,21 RBI) that would have been the 3rd out had Guerrero not misplayed a grounder earlier in the inning.
Lyman Bostock (.299,3 HR,25 RBI) has 3 hits and 3 RBI and
Jeff Holly (1-2,4.11 ERA) pitches a scoreless 8th for the win.
After Cubs CF
Greg Gross tied the score in the top of the 9th on a wild pitch by Atlanta pitcher
Mike Marshall (2-1,1 BS,3.14 ERA),
Biff Pocoroba (.282) singles home
Willie Montanez from 2nd base off
Bruce Sutter (1-2,4.50 ERA) in the bottom of the frame to give the Braves a 3-2 win over Chicago.
Phil Niekro (4.62 ERA) goes 8 innings for Atlanta, giving up just 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 6.
After 4 hours and 26 minutes of play,
Ellis Valentine (.262,4 HR,19 RBI) sends the fans home happy with a 2-run blast off
Rick Sawyer (0-1,4.15 ERA) in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Expos a 7-5 win over San Diego.
Mickey Stanley (.211,9 RBI) has 3 hits for Montreal, including his 3rd home run of the year while 1B
Mike Ivie (.305) had 3 hits as well for the Padres.
Don Sutton (5.67 ERA) falls to 0-6 as 2 errors by
Ron Cey (2nd & 3rd) and 1 by
Davy Lopes (6th) lead to 6 unearned Pittsburgh runs en route to 10-2 Pirates victory.
Ed Ott (.281,2 HR,10 RBI) hits 2 home runs and drives in 4 runs while
Dave Parker (.312,10 HR,33 RBI) collects 3 RBI with his 3 hits for Pittsburgh. Pirates starter
Jerry Reuss (5-1,2.59 ERA) did his part, shutting down the Dodgers on just 3 hits and 2 earned runs in 8 innings of work.
Steve Carlton (4-3,3.26 ERA) and 2 relievers give up just 2 hits to the Astros in Philadelphia's 2-0 win. Carlton only goes 6 innings and 93 pitches, only giving up just a single to pitcher
J.R. Richard before being replaced with
Warren Brusstar. Richard (2-4,4.41 ERA) pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 10.
The hitting streak of
Jack Clark (.353,5 HR,14 RBI), now standing at 34 games, is put on hold as he fractures his hand in a collission at 2nd base with
Mike Phillips while breaking up a double play attempt in the 5th inning. Clark had continued his streak earlier that inning by bunting for a single off Mets pitcher
Jon Matlack. Word is the Giants will recall 2B
Rob Andrews and place Clark on the 15-day DL. The Giants would go on to win the game 5-2.
Injury Report
- MR
Donnie Moore is suffering from strep throat. He is expected to miss about a week.
- SP
Jack Clark suffered a fractured hand. He is expected to miss about 1-2 weeks.
Minor League News
Manti Carnivores (16-29) at Lake City Moths (28-17)
Manti 6
Lake City 3 (12)
W: Mark McDoolan (3-3) L: Jerry Clayton (2-1) S: Pat Bailey (2)
HR – MAN: Robert Willis (5), Sam Melnick (3)
POG: Sam Melnick (MAN) 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR
We are struggling at this point. Our bullpen is getting tired due to the extra work we are giving them which is due to the depleted rotation which is due to the injury bug. Curse you baseball gods!!
Jerry Clayton has been rock solid for us until today as he gave up the 3-run bomb to
Robert Willis in the top of the 9th to cost us the game. Overall, we have stopped hitting - the losses of
Brandon Hayden and
Daniel Jones have really put a damper on our offensive mood. Jones should be back soon I hope. Hayden I am afraid, will be awhile.
May 20
Major League News
Milwaukee's
Bob McClure (2-3,2 BS,1.96 ERA) goes nuclear again as he walks
Ted Cox in the bottom of the 9th then gives up 3 consecutive singles to
Butch Hobson (.200),
Bernie Carbo (.287) and
Rick Burleson (.232) to give Boston the win, 6-5. The win comes at a cost for the Red Sox however as
Carl Yastrzemski (.287,8 HR,25 RBI) suffered a strained groin in the 5th inning and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks. The Brewers had taken the lead in the top of the inning when
Cecil Cooper (.338,23 RBI) hit his 7th home run of the year - his 4th hit of the game.
White Sox starter
Ken Kravec (2.89 ERA) leaves the game after the 2nd inning and by the end of Chicago's 5-4 loss to Detroit, the trainers have confirmed the Kravec will miss the next 4 weeks with a hyperextended elbow.
Mark Fidrych (5-3,3.26 ERA) goes 8 innings, giving up 9 hits and strikes out 6 while Tiger CF
Ron LeFlore goes 4-for-4 (.277,9 RBI) in the Detroit win.
Doug Rau (3-5,5.31 ERA) comes to the Dodgers rescue and helps break LA's 6-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout win over Pittsburgh. Rau gives up 5 hits and strikes out 5 while 1B
Steve Garvey (.278) has 3 of the Dodgers 7 hits to keep LA from falling farther back in the NL West race.
Gary Templeton (.288,12 RBI) leads the Cardinals 22-hit assault with 6-for-6 effort of his own as St. Louis destroys San Francisco 19-7 at Busch Stadium.
Ted Simmons (.380,10 HR,37 RBI),
Bake McBride (.373) and
Ken Reitz (.286) all have 3 hits for the Cards and Simmons adds 2 home runs and 7 RBI as every starter in the St, Louis lineup has 1 hit and scored at least 1 run.
Eric Rasmussen (6-2,4.10 ERA) cruises to the easy victory even though he gives up 6 earned runs in 6 innings.
Hal McRae hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game and
Tom Poquette (.293,9 RBI) gets his 4th hit of the game, an RBI single all off closer
Jim Kern (0-3,2 BS,4.76 ERA) in the bottom of the 9th to score an 8-7 win over the Indians.
Al Cowens (.299) has 3 hits, including 2 doubles for the Royals while
Paul Dade (.280) has 3 singles for the Tribe.
Injury Report
- 1B
Carl Yastrzemski suffered a strained groin. He is expected to miss about 2-3 weeks.
- SP
Ken Kravec suffered a hyperextended elbow. He is expected to miss about 4 weeks.
- 1B
Jerry Tabb suffered a concussion. He is expected to miss about 2 weeks.
Minor League News
Manti Carnivores (17-29) at Lake City Moths (29-17)
Manti 4
Lake City 3 (12)
W: Scott Burch (2-4) L: Derek Todd (3-5) S: Pat Bailey (3)
HR – None
POG: Ronald Reed (MAN) 3-5, 1 RBI, 2B
The team is struggling to come through with the clutch hits that used to be no problem before. Started catcher
Jared White in RF again and put shortstop
Shawn Osorio in CF because my outfielders are complaining about fatigue. I am hoping at some point, White will learn the position and make the transfer full time to the outfield. Having White and Osorio in the OF probably contributed to the increase in hits
Derek Todd gave up today, but he still kept things close, but we left 12 men on base as a team and squandered countless scoring opportunies with runners in scoring position. To top in off, we have let the other teams in the division back into the race as 5 of the 6 teams are within 1 game of the lead.
May 21
Major League News
Backup catcher
Joe Ferguson (.291,2 HR,10 RBI) hit the jackpot when the Astros resigned him at $6,280,000 over 4 years at $1,570,000 for the first 3 years and a player option for the 4th. Ferguson has a career average of .240 and as long as
Cliff Johnson is ahead of him, I don't see him earning this much. Of course maybe Johnson is trade bait now.
The Astros also resigned SP
Joe Niekro (6-1,3.70 ERA) for 1 more year worth $239,000.
Milt Wilcox (5-4,2.21 ERA) and
Silvio Martinez (0-1,2.00 ERA) both pitch complete games, but it is Wilcox who comes away with the win, pitching a 3-hit shutout to beat Chicago 2-0. Wilcox would strikeout 4 and walked 5 while earning his 5th win of the year. Martinez pitched well, scattering 7 hits and only 1 walk, but a key 2-out 2 RBI double from
Steve Kemp (.276,14 RBI) would be the deciding factor.
Reggie Jackson (.298,4 HR,28 RBI) hits a 3-run shot off of
Jim Palmer (3-6,3.88 ERA) in the bottom of the 8th inning to give the Yankees an eventual 5-4 win over Baltimore. The win gives
Ron Guidry (6-1,2.61 ERA) his 6th win of the season while giving Palmer his 6th loss.
Mickey Rivers (.390) adds 3 hits for New York in the win.
Phil Garner (.276,13 RBI) triples home
Omar Moreno in the bottom of the 13th inning off
Dennis Lewallyn (2-2,2.55 ERA) to beat the Dodgers 4-3. It is Garner's 5th triple of the year and ties him for the league lead.
Terry Forster (2-0,2.79 ERA) gets the win in relief.
After
Ellis Valentine (.258,5 HR,21 RBI) hits a 2-run blast off of
Randy Jones (3.81 ERA) in the bottom of the 9th to tie the score at 2,
Dave Winfield (.272,9 HR,23 RBI) sends a 2-run rocket to left field off
Bill Atkinson (0-2,3.71 ERA) in the top of the 14th to lead San Diego to a 4-2 win over Montreal. Jones would also hit the first home run of his career in the 3rd inning against
Hal Dues.
Paul Siebert (1-0,4.26 ERA) pitches 3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
RF
Champ Summers (.200,3 HR,5 RBI), replacing the injured Ken Griffey, hits 2 solo home runs and scores 3 runs to lead Cincinnati to a 9-1 crushing of the Mets.
Pat Zachry (3-1,2.70 ERA) goes 8 innings in the win, giving up just 4 hits and striking out 5 while allowing 1 earned run.
Trades
Trade between Cleveland and St. Louis :
Cleveland gets :
MR Clay Carroll (36) - $607,950 / 2
_ STL: 1-1 / 8.10 ERA / 13 G / 13.1 IP / 12 ER / 4 BB / 6 K / 1.73 WHIP
C Riley Smith (26) - A
St. Louis gets :
2B Duane Kuiper (26) - $68,310 / 1
_ CLE: .344 / 64 AB / 10 R / 0 HR / 5 RBI / .425 OBP / .375 SLG
It looks as if Cleveland is satified enough with
Bobby Grich as the new 2B as they practically gave Kuiper to the Cardinals. I've said it before that Grich may be the 2B of the future for the Tribe, but Kuiper had been hitting the ball so well before his injury a few weeks ago. I find the timing of this trade odd as I felt they could have waited to make a decision. Apparently Grich had done enough to win the job while Kuiper was on the DL, because Kuiper had just been activated when this trade happened. On some side notes, St. Louis optioned 2B
Ken Oberkfell to AAA Chesapeake to make room for Kuiper and
Alfredo Griffin has been promoted to take the backup role behind Grich.
Edge: At this very moment, it is St. Louis. Grich just hasn't shown enough while Kuiper was hurt to make this trade viable to me. I have no crystal ball to see into the future, but it seems Cleveland gave up to fast on Kuiper.
Injury Report
- SS
Ivan DeJesus suffered a finger blister. He is day-to-day for about 5 days.
Minor League News
Manti Carnivores (18-29) at Lake City Moths (29-18)
Manti 7
Lake City 5
W: Odalis Guzman (5-0) L: Tommy Malone (0-2) S: John Clark (8)
HR – Miguel Tirado (1)
POG: Miguel Tirado 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR
The offense still isn't clicking on all cylinders, but
Miguel Tirado sure was tonight. Twice he was able to deliver with runners on base to help lead us to a 5-2 lead going into the 7th inning.
Bobby Charles pitched brilliantly for a spot starter, but began to wear down in the 6th. So instead of leaving him in too long like I have been known to do, I brought in
Tommy Malone to hold the barndoor shut. Instead, he let the whole damn herd out as Manti scored 5 runs in the inning off 3 walks, 2 hits and an error by
Danny Mac. We have just gotten swept for the first time this season - by a team who was ranked 25 in the power rankings last week. Sigh.
Major League Standings
Through May 21, 1977
Code:
AL East W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Boston Red Sox 23 13 .639 -- 36 7-3 W5 3 7
New York Yankees 23 15 .605 1.0 38 6-4 W5 5 12
Detroit Tigers 22 17 .564 2.5 39 3-7 W2 8 5
Milwaukee Brewers 21 19 .525 4.0 40 6-4 L4 11 9
Toronto Blue Jays 19 21 .475 6.0 40 6-4 L2 15 8
Baltimore Orioles 16 20 .444 7.0 36 3-7 L3 22 20
Cleveland Indians 16 22 .421 8.0 38 6-4 W1 20 23
AL West W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Texas Rangers 24 13 .649 -- 37 7-3 W4 2 2
Minnesota Twins 20 18 .526 4.5 38 4-6 L1 12 22
California Angles 21 20 .512 5.0 41 5-5 W1 10 10
Chicago White Sox 19 18 .514 5.0 37 5-5 L2 13 11
Kansas City Royals 16 21 .432 8.0 37 6-4 L1 19 19
Oakland Athletics 15 23 .395 9.5 38 4-6 W1 23 16
Seattle Mariners 14 29 .326 13.0 43 5-5 L1 25 25
NL East W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Philadelphia Phillies 25 12 .676 -- 37 8-2 W1 1 1
St. Louis Cardinals 23 14 .622 2.0 37 8-2 W4 4 4
New York Mets 22 18 .550 4.5 40 6-4 L1 7 6
Pittsburgh Pirates 18 20 .474 7.5 38 4-6 W1 17 18
Montreal Expos 17 20 .459 8.0 37 6-4 L1 18 24
Chicago Cubs 14 24 .368 11.5 38 4-6 W1 24 21
NL West W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Cincinnati Reds 21 16 .568 -- 37 5-5 W1 6 15
Houston Astros 21 17 .553 .5 38 3-7 L1 9 3
san Diego Padres 22 21 .512 2.0 43 3-7 W1 14 17
San Francisco Giants 18 20 .474 3.5 38 6-4 L2 16 13
Los Angeles Dodgers 18 22 .450 4.5 40 3-7 L1 21 14
Atlanta Braves 12 27 .308 10.0 39 5-5 L1 26 26
Single-A Standings
Through May 21, 1977
Code:
North W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Tampa Blitz 32 16 .667 -- 48 5-5 W2 1 1
Spokane Cloverleafs 30 18 .625 2.0 48 6-4 L2 2 3
Valle Arroyo Seco Vendetta 26 22 .542 6.0 48 7-3 W1 5 10
Saint Petersburg Pioneers 24 24 .500 8.0 48 5-5 L2 15 18
Garland Sapphires 22 26 .458 10.0 48 5-5 W1 17 17
Stockton Wild Cats 20 28 .417 12.0 48 2-8 L2 24 23
Monte Vista Annihilation 19 29 .396 13.0 48 6-4 W2 22 24
South W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Gallipolis Crows 28 20 .583 -- 48 7-3 W2 3 4
Henderson Neons 26 22 .542 2.0 48 3-7 L1 14 8
Fremont Llamas 24 24 .500 4.0 48 8-2 W2 10 14
Fort Wayne Crowns 23 25 .479 5.0 48 5-5 L1 16 15
Putney Mudhens 21 27 .438 7.0 48 5-5 L1 18 19
Santa Ana Skuas 21 27 .438 7.0 48 4-6 W1 19 16
Red Lake Falls Current 20 28 .417 8.0 48 2-8 L2 25 21
East W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Fountain Hills Lobsters 28 20 .583 -- 48 5-5 W3 4 6
Lake City Moths 28 20 .583 -- 48 3-7 L5 11 2
Staunton Bluefins 28 20 .583 -- 48 4-6 L1 7 5
Delavan Cyber Rays 27 21 .563 1.0 48 6-4 L1 6 13
East Los Angeles Hippos 27 21 .563 1.0 48 4-6 L1 9 9
Manti Carnivores 19 29 .396 9.0 48 5-5 W5 20 25
West W L PCT GB G L 10 Streak POW LW
Baton Rouge Liberators 26 22 .542 -- 48 6-4 W1 8 11
Glendale Locusts 25 23 .521 1.0 48 6-4 L2 12 12
Horton Geese 25 23 .521 1.0 48 6-4 L3 13 7
Modesto Rancheros 20 28 .417 6.0 48 5-5 W1 21 20
Buffalo Battlecats 18 30 .375 8.0 48 5-5 W1 23 22
San Bernadino Marlins 17 31 .354 9.0 48 5-5 W2 26 26