Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Games of Wednesday, July 23

Kansas City       54     37      .593     ---
Seattle               50     41       .549     4
Chicago             46     43      .517      7
Montreal           45     46       .495      9
California          45     48       .484   10 
Philadelphia      44     47       .484   10
San Diego         40     49       .449   13
Cleveland          39     52      .429    15

Wednesday's games
Chicago (Horlen) at Montreal (Waslewski)
San Diego (Niekro) at Philadelphia (Wise)
Cleveland (McDowell) at Kansas City (Nelson)
Seattle (Barber) at California (McGlothlin)

Montreal 9, Chicago 8: Mack Jones hit a walk-off homer off Wilbur Wood to give the Expos a win in a game they lead most of the way. Montreal scored two unearned runs in the first inning on a Coco Laboy triple and batted around in the third against Gary Peters for four runs. Bob Bailey's two-run homer in the fourth made the score 8-1 for the Expos. But the White Sox erupted for five runs in the fifth, with back-to-back homers from Bill Melton and Gail Hopkins, and Melton hit another homer in the eighth to even the score at eight. Melton totaled five RBIs, while Montreal got three RBIs apiece from Laboy and Bailey. Gary Sutherland went 2-for-2 with three walks and three runs scored. Montreal's Adolpho Phillips was injured (3 days) and will be replaced on the roster by Don Bosch; Phillips is eligible to return Aug. 2.

Philadelphia 5, San Diego 2: Larry Hisle homered and tripled twice to back Grant Jackson's complete-game four-hitter. Hisle drove in two runs and scored a pair. John Briggs hit a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Phillies in the lead. Clay Kirby (six innings, four runs, five hits) took the loss.

Kansas City 5, Cleveland 4  (11 innings): Kansas City scored four unearned runs, including the game winner, on three Cleveland errors. The Royals got the winner when Jackie Hernandez singled, stole second, took third on a Ken Suarez error and scored on Ellie Rodriguez' single. Steve Jones got the win with one inning of scoreless relief; Ron Law took the loss, allowing the one unearned run in 3.1 innings. Jose Cardenal homered and doubled while going 3-for-6 with two runs scored for the Indians.

Seattle 5, California 3: Diego Segui allowed two hits and two earned runs in eight innings, while Wayne Comer and John Kennedy each hit two-run homers in the sixth inning for Seattle. Jim Spencer hit a three-run homer for the Angels in the first, but after that Segui allowed only a single to Jim Fregosi in the third and a walk to Aureilo Rodriguez in the eighth. Bob Locker allowed a single in a scoreless ninth for the save.

Player of the Day: Larry Hisle, Philadelphia.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Games of Tuesday, July 22

Kansas City       53     37      .588     ---
Seattle               49     41       .544     4
Chicago             46     42      .523      6
California          45     47       .489     9 
Montreal           44     46       .489      9
Philadelphia      43     47       .478   10
San Diego         40     48       .455   12
Cleveland          39     51      .433    14

Wednesday's games
Chicago (Peters) at Montreal (Renko)
San Diego (Kirby) at Philadelphia (Jackson)
Cleveland (Hargan) at Kansas City (Butler)
Seattle (Segui) at California (May)

Chicago 7, Montreal 3: The White Sox batted around in the ninth inning for five runs to pull out the victory. Losing pitcher Dan McGinn faced five hitters in the inning and did not record an out. Montreal's Coco Laboy and John Bateman hit back-to-back homers off Tommy John  in the sixth to give the Expos a 3-2 lead, and Bill Stoneman and Claude Raymond combined to hand that lead off to McGinn. Dan Osinski (one hitless inning) got the win. Rusty Staub will miss the second game of the doubleheader and the Wednesday game as well.

Chicago 9, Montreal 8: Another five-run ninth for the Pale Hose, including a grand slam by Ken Berry to tie the game and a solo homer by Buddy Bradford following him, gave them the doubleheader sweep. Roy Face took the loss; Jerry Nyman got the win despite allowing three runs in two innings, and Wilbur Wood pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Gary Sutherland homered and doubled for the Expos and drove in three runs. Coco Laboy also homered for Montreal.

San Diego 13, Philadelphia 3: Nate Colbert homered in the first and second innings and drove in six runs for the Padres. Chris Cannizzaro also hit a three-run homer for the victors. Johnny Podres allowed one run on two hits in seven innings; Tony Taylor homered and doubled off him. Podres walked three and fanned four. Mike Ryan homered for Philadelphia. Jerry Johnson took the loss.

Cleveland 3, Kansas City 1 (11 innings): Luis Tiant went all 11 innings for the Tribe, scattering seven hits and three walks while striking out three. Kansas City scored in the first inning on a leadoff triple by Pat Kelly and a two-out single by Lou Piniella, but Tiant kept them off the board the rest of the way. Cleveland score the tying run in the fifth on a passed ball, and musted only two hits but seven walks off Jim Rooker in seven-plus innings. Dave Wickersham escaped an inherited two-on, no-out jam in the eighth, and Tom Burgmeier threw two scoreless frames before yielding a pair in the top of the 11th on three walks and a Max Alvis double.

California 12, Seattle 11 (12 innings): The Angels hit six homers, the last a walk-off two-run shot by Bill Voss, to overpower the Pilots. Seattle hit three homers of their own. Eddie Fisher got the win despite allowing a homer to Steve Whitaker in his one inning of work. John O'Donoghue gave up the Voss homer for the loss. California's other homers came from Bubba Morton (first inning), Jim Spencer (third inning), Joe Azcue and Roger Repoz (sixth), and Rick Reichardt (seventh). Tommy Harper and Steve Hovley each homered for Seattle.

Player of the day: Nate Colbert, San Diego

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Games of Monday, July 21

Kansas City       53     36      .596     ---
Seattle               49     40       .551     4
Chicago             44     42      .512      7.5
Montreal           44     44       .500     8.5
California          44     47       .484   10
Philadelphia      43     46       .483   10
San Diego         39     48       .448   13
Cleveland          38     51      .427    15

Tuesday's games
Chicago (John and Bell) at Montreal (Stoneman and Wegener)
San Diego (Podres or Sisk) at Philadelphia (Johnson)
Cleveland (Tiant) at Kansas City (Rooker)
Seattle (Brunet) at California (Kealey)

Philadelphia 4, San Diego 1: Woodie Fryman allowed just one of the last 21 men he faced to reach base, and Larry Hisle and Mike Ryan homered for the Phillies. Fryman finished with a four-hitter; he walked two and struck out seven. Dick Kelley took the loss.

Montreal 9, Chicago 1: Howie Reed held the White Sox to four singles and a walk in seven scoreless innings, and the Expos got home runs from Mack Jones and Jim Fairey to rout Chicago. Jones walked twice, was hit by a pitch and scored three runs; Rusty Staub also walked twice and was plunked and scored twice. Paul Edmondson took the loss.

Kansas City 3, Cleveland 2: A scoreless duel turned sharply in the ninth inning, as the visiting Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth and the Royals responded with three in the bottom of the inning. Pat Kelly drove home the winner with a sac fly. Mike Paul was charged with all three runs for the loss. Dave Wickersham, who retired the only hitter he faced to end the top of the ninth, was the winner.

California 3, Seattle 0: Andy Messersmith allowed just one hit in six innings before leaving with a minor injury, and Pedro Borbon and Ken Tatum combined for three no-hit innings of relief. Messersmith walked five and struck out six. Gene Brabender went 7.2 innings for the loss, allowing a solo homer to Jim Fregosi. He gave up three runs on eight hits and eight walks.

Player of the Day: Woodie Fryman, Philadelphia

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Games of Sunday, July 20

Kansas City       52     36      .591     ---
Seattle               49     39       .557     3
Chicago             44     41      .517      6.5
Montreal           43     44       .494     8.5
California          43     47       .478   10
Philadelphia      42     46       .477   10
San Diego         39     47       .453   12
Cleveland          38     50      .432    14

Monday's games
Chicago (Edmondson) at Montreal (Reed)
San Diego (Kelley) at Philadelphia (Fryman)
Cleveland (Paul) at Kansas City (Drago)
Seattle (Brabender) at California (Messersmith)

San Diego 9, Montreal 2: The Expos bumbled their way through four errors and a strikeout-passed ball to help the Padres to a one-sided finale. Al Santorini didn't need all the assistance, as he allowed just four hits and one run in eight innings, striking out seven without a walk.

California 2, Cleveland 0: Tom Murphy threw a three-hit shutout and got solo homers from Tom Egan and Roger Repoz. Murphy faced three batters over the minimum. He walked two, struck out three and got a pair of double plays turned behind him. Stan Williams took the loss, allowing seven hits in eight innings without a walk. Jim Spencer (Angels) sits the second game of the doubleheader and the Monday game with an injury; he will remain on the roster.

Cleveland 4, California 2: Tony Horton drove in two runs and Sam McDowell fanned seven in eight innings as the Tribe salvaged a split of the doubleheader. Cleveland hit three doubles in a three-run third, which ended when Jay Johnstone gunned down Ken Suarez at the plate. McDowell yielded nine hits and walked two, and Horacio Pina worked a perfect ninth for the save.

Player of the Day: Tom Murphy, California


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Games of Saturday, July 19

Kansas City       52     36      .591     ---
Seattle               49     39       .557     3
Chicago             44     41      .517      6.5
Montreal           43     43       .500     8
California          42     46       .477   10
Philadelphia      42     46       .477   10
San Diego         38     47       .447   12.5
Cleveland          37     49      .430    14

Sunday's games
San Diego (Santorini) at Montreal (Robertson)
Cleveland (McDowell and Williams) at California (Murphy and Wright), 2

Philadelphia 3, Chicago 1: Johnny Callison hit a pair of solo homers and Rick Wise took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Wise allowed one run on five hits in 8.2 innings, with Turk Farrell entering to get the final out. Don Money of the Phillies was injured (seven games); he will remain on the active roster as there is no eligible player to replace him.

Chicago 8, Philadelphia 2: Pete Ward broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a two-run triple, after which three Phillies hurlers failed to contain the White Sox. Buddy Bradford drove in three runs, two on a ninth-inning homer. Joel Horlen went 7.1 innings for the win; Jack Hamilton inherited three runners in the eighth and stranded them all, finishing the game for the save. Lowell Palmer took the loss. 

San Diego 2, Montreal 1: The Padres stuck out 14 times, but they managed to turn four hits into two runs -- and hold the Expos to one run on seven hits. Joe Niekro went 7.1 innings for the win, and Gary Ross retired all five men he faced for the save. The Expos left men in scoring position in the, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, including the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth. Gary Waslewski allowed both San Diego runs in five innings; Howie Reed, Larry Jaster and Don Shaw combined for four perfect innings of relief.

Kansas City 4, Seattle 3: Pinch-hitter Joe Keough drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Marty Pattin to  bring home the winner. This followed a top of the ninth in which the Pilots evened the score but failed to fully capitalize on a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Moe Drabowski got the win for the Royals and Pattin took the loss.For the Pilots, Mike Hegan (seven days) and Steve Hovley (one day) were injured. Hovley will remain on the active roster, but Hegan will be replaced by Ron Clark. Hegan is eligible to return for games of July 30.

Kansas City 2, Seattle 1: Bob Oliver's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth gave the first-place Royals a second walk-off win on the day. Until that homer, Kansas City hadn't gotten a runner past second base against John Gelnar. The only run Seattle got off Wally Bunker was unearned. Tom Burgmeier got the win with one inning of relief.

Cleveland 3, California 0: Dick Ellsworth threw a 10-hit shutout, getting three double plays. Larry Brown homered for the Tribe, and Ken Harrelson went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Both teams made roster moves before the game; Cleveland reactivated Russ Snyder and deactivated Chuck Hinton, while the Angels reactivated Bubba Morton and deactivated Vern Geishert. Hinton and Geishert are eligible to return July 29. Harrelson was injured (two days) and will remain on the active roster.

Player of the Day: Bob Oliver, Kansas City