Juan Marichal turned in a typical performance, holding the St. Louis Wizards to one run on 6 hits while striking out 6, as the Houston Hoots won it 4-1. Marichal took a shutout into the 8th, when Joe Morgan hit a solo home run with one out to break it up. Despite an ERA of 2.95, Steve Carlton fell to 4-6. With two outs and a man on 1st in the 3rd inning, Carlton allowed 5 straight hits. The hits included RBI doubles by Rogers Hornsby and Gil Hodges, an RBI single by Jeff Bagwell, and a wild pitch that scored another run. St. Louis put runners on the corners in the 9th against Bruce Sutter, but Sutter got out of the jam for his 14th save. He still hasn’t allowed an earned run this season. Houston’s 4-1 win is their 4th straight, and puts more pressure on 2nd-place Los Angeles, who are now 3 1/2 games back in the National League.

Wizards @ Hoots – 5/19/23

Ed Walsh had his best performance of the season, shutting out the Oakland on 4 hits in a game that the New York Swats won 7-0. Robin Yount got the first Oakland Jacks hit in the 5th inning. New York scored the 1st run off Whitey Ford in the 2nd. Babe Ruth hit a towering flyball that hit a bird for a ground-rule double, scoring on a 2-out double by Charlie Gehringer later in the inning. Tony Oliva misplayed a grounder to start the 3rd, and Derek Jeter hit a 3-run homer just a few batters later. Gehringer added a 2-run single to cap a 5-run inning. Ford exited after 6 innings, allowing 6 earned runs on 9 hits. Bob Lemon allowed just 1 hit and struck out 5 in 3 innings of relief. The win moved New York to 5 1/2 games back in the American League. Oakland is 10 1/2 games back with just 11 left to play.

Swats @ Jacks – 5/19/23