What was billed as a duel between two top pitchers did not disappoint, as Houston’s Juan Marichal and Los Angeles’ Tom Seaver turned in amazing performances. Timely hitting by Houston ended up being the difference. Arky Vaughan tripled in the 1st inning with one out against Seaver, and Oscar Charleston followed with a sacrifice fly to put the 1st Houston run on the board. In the bottom of the 5th, Tony Gwynn singled and stole 2nd for LA. Jackie Robinson followed with a base-hit to even the score 1-1. After retiring 14 straight hitters, Seaver walked Tony Gwynn in the 6th. Gwynn stole 2nd, but Vaughan grounded out for the 2nd out of the inning. Charleston came through again, belting a triple into the corner to put the Hoots back on top. Rogers Hornsby led off the 7th with a double and scored on a single by Gil Hodges for Houston’s 3rd run. Seaver allowed those 3 runs on just 4 hits in 8 innings, striking out 8. Marichal came into the game with the best ERA in the Maelstrom, and improved it even more. Other than their run in the 5th, the Dynamos had runners in scoring position in three other innings but failed to plate any more. Marichal lowered his ERA to 1.20 despite allowing 9 hits in 8 innings. Bruce Sutter pitched a perfect 9th to pick up his 8th save. Marichal is now 6-1. Meanwhile, Seaver is just 2-4 despite a 3.24 ERA. The 3-1 win gives Houston a crucial victory against LA in the National League. At 17-11. they are now just 2 games up on the Dynamos.

Hoots @ Dynamos – 5/3/23

The Boston Splinters continued their hot season, holding off a late rally to top the Oakland Jacks 8-5 on the back of great pitching by Bert Blyleven. Blyleven took a 5-hit shutout into the 8th before Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo home run. Oakland’s Addie Joss picked up his 1st loss thanks to two tough innings. With two outs in the 4th, Joss’ throwing error extended the inning and led to two unearned runs. In the 7th, Boston batted around, scoring 5 runs as 6 straight hitters reached base. Blyleven entered the 9th eyeing a complete game, but gave up a single to Jimmie Foxx and back-to-back doubles to Eddie Collins and Harmon Killebrew. Jim Kaat got Reggie Jackson to fly out before Lou Boudreau singled and Lou Gehrig doubled. With the score 8-4, and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Rollie Fingers came in. Fingers got Hank Greenberg to ground out, scoring another. But Griffey flew out to end the game. Blyleven improved to 7-0 on the season, and Fingers got his 9th save with the 8-5 win. George Brett had another hot game, going 4 for 5 to raise his average to .413. Boston is now 20-8 this season, with a 7-game lead over the 2nd-place Detroit Rockets.

Jacks @ Splinters – 5/3/23

St. Louis Wizards starter, Don Sutton, continued his surprising dominance, holding the Chicago Docs to 2 runs, scattering 9 hits while striking out 11 in a 6-2 win. Sutton hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs in any start this season. He’s now 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Chicago had plenty of chances, getting runners into scoring position in almost every inning. Sutton struck out Sammy Sosa to end four different innings. Mike Piazza led the St. Louis offense against Chicago starter William Bell. Piazza was 4 for 4 with two doubles and drove in 3 runs. While the Wizards have been in last place this season, Sutton has been an unexpected bright spot. St. Louis is now just two games behind Chicago in the National League.

Docs @ Wizards – 5/3/23

Detroit’s Bobby Veach showed a rare power display, and Frank Tanana set a career high in strikeouts, as the Detroit Rockets topped the New York Swats 7-3 to end a 4-game losing streak. Batting 3rd against New York’s CC Sabathia, Veach hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning to get the Detroit offense started. In the 3rd inning, he added another 2-run shot. Veach had just one home run all of Season 1. Manny Ramírez added a solo homer to lead off the 5th inning, which was his 1st of the season and kicked off a 3-run 4th inning. Frank Tanana allowed just 3 runs and scattered 7 hits over 7 2/3 innings while striking out 11. Tanana hadn’t struck out more than 5 in any of his prior starts. Dan Quisenberry relieved in the 8th with Swats runners on the corners and got Al Kaline to fly out. He finished with the save. CC Sabathia allowed 7 runs on 8 hits in 6 1/3 innings for his 1st loss. Babe Ruth hit his 13th home run of the season during the game. With all teams chasing the Boston Splinters, Detroit is now in 2nd place at 13-15, 6 1/2 games back.

Rockets @ Swats – 5/3/23

The Chicago Docs ended their 3-game losing streak, using a new lineup to top Steve Carlton and the St. Louis Wizards 5-2 to start the 2nd half of the season. In just his 2nd start of the season, Willie Davis went 3 for 5 and hit his 1st home run. The teams took a 1-1 tie into the 6th when Keith Hernandez hit a 2-run double to put the Docs in the lead. The 1st four hitters reached base in the inning against Carlton. The Wizards nearly matched the inning against Dwight Gooden in the bottom of the 6th. Mike Piazza hit an RBI double and Stan Musial walked to load the bases. Gooden struck out Larry Walker and got Willie McCovey to fly out to hold them to one run. Davis’ solo shot came in the 8th off Billy Wagner to give Chicago some cushion. Tug McGraw pitched a scoreless 9th for his 2nd save. Carlton finished allowing 4 runs on 12 hits in 7 innings to fall to 3-4. Gooden is now 4-3. The loss drops St. Louis to a Maelstrom worst 10-17.

Docs @ Wizards – 05/02/23

Bob Feller took a 4-hit shutout into the 9th, and Babe Ruth and Dick Allen each had two home runs as the New York Swats topped the Detroit Rockets 12-3. After a sacrifice fly scored the 1st New York run in the 2nd, Ruth had a solo homer in the 4th and a 2-run shot in the 5th off Roger Clemens. Dick Allen followed with his 1st homer of the game. The Swats carried a 6-0 lead into the 8th when they unloaded on reliever Urban Shocker. Allen led off the 9th with another solo homer, as Shocker allowed 4 hits and walked two, capped by Joe DiMaggio’s 1st homer of the season, a 3-run shot that made it 12-0. Meanwhile, Feller kept the Rockets hitless into the 4th. Detroit threatened with a 2-out double by Álex Rodríguez in the 8th, but Feller struck out Miguel Cabrera to end the inning. In the 9th, Feller tired, walking Rafael Palmeiro and giving up a single to Mark McGwire before Bobby Veach tripled in the 1st Detroit runs. Feller allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in a strong complete game showing, striking out 12. The loss is the 4th straight for the Rockets, as both teams are tied at 12-15. It was just the 2nd win of the season for Feller.

Rockets @ Swats – 05/02/23

Sandy Koufax picked up the 2nd half of the season right where he left off, holding the Houston Hoots to one run on just 3 hits in 8 innings to send the Los Angeles Dynamos to a 3-1 win over the Houston Hoots. The win cuts the Houston lead in the National League to just one game. LA has now won 8 of their last 10 games. Jeff Bagwell gave Houston some hope when he hit a solo shot off Koufax in the 1st inning. But the Hoots wouldn’t get their 2nd hit until the 7th inning. Meanwhile, Bob Gibson also had a strong start. Chipper Jones tied things with a home run in the 2nd. LA finally got to Gibson in the 6th, doubling and singling twice to score two more runs. Lee Smith came in for LA in the 9th. Chuck Klein drew a leadoff walk, but Dave Bancroft hit into a double-play. Roberto Clemente singled before Smith struck out Mel Ott to end the game. Smith picked up his 7th save and has yet to allow an earned run. Koufax is now 7-1 this season with a 1.61 ERA.

Hoots @ Dynamos – 05/02/23

Two days after an All-Star Game start, Boston Splinters ace Gaylord Perry took a 3-0 shutout into the 8th inning before the Oakland Jacks finally unloaded. The Jacks cut the lead to 3-2 with two 2-out singles that ended Perry’s day. Eddie Collins doubled off reliever Dennis Eckersley to give Oakland the lead, and Harmon Killebrew followed with a 2-run home run that capped their 6-run inning. Boston took advantage of Nolan Ryan’s wildness, and Tris Speaker drove in two with a triple to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the 8th. With two outs, Ichiro Suzuki and Nellie Fox hit back-to-back RBI singles to put the Splinters back on top. Rollie Fingers pitched a perfect 9th for his 8th save of the season. The 7-6 win expands Boston’s lead in the American League to 6 1/2 games. Ryan finished with 7 runs on 8 hits and 7 walks in 7 2/3 innings. Before the 8th inning, all three Boston runs were hitters who had walked. Speaker was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI to lead the Splinters’ offense.

Jacks @ Splinters – 05/02/23

The 2nd Baseball Maelstrom POPs League All-Star Game brought the drama again. For 5 1/2 innings, the teams battled in a one-run game. That’s when the American League All-Stars broke out for 4 runs against NL hurler Don Sutton to put the game out of reach on their way to a 7-3 victory for their 2nd straight All-Star Game win. The National League was hopeful after Jeff Bagwell doubled in the 1st inning, driving in Oscar Charleston for the game’s 1st run. Sandy Koufax had uncharacteristic control problems, walking 3 in the bottom of the inning, including one with the bases loaded to tie the game. Mike Schmidt’s solo home run in the 2nd against Bert Blyleven put the NL back in the lead. But it was walks again that hurt the NL in the 4th. Steve Carlton walked the 1st two batters he faced, and Ichiro Suzuki hit a 2-run single to give the AL a 3-2 lead. Álex Rodríguez led off the 6th with a solo shot against Sutton, who allowed back-to-back singles to Eddie Collins and Suzuki. That’s when Joe DiMaggio came off the bench to hit a monster 3-run shot to give the American League a 7-2 lead. Tony Gwynn drove in Turkey Stearnes in the 7th, but that was the last NL hit, as Tom Henke, Mariano Rivera, and Rollie Fingers shut them down the rest of the way. While the NL outhit the AL 12-10, American League sluggers walked 7 times. Meanwhile, AL pitchers didn’t walk any. Lou Boudreau committed two errors for the AL, but neither factored into the game. Charleston led the NL offense, finishing 3 for 3. Willie Stargell and Buster Posey both finished 2 for 3. Suzuki was 2 for 3 and was the only AL hitter with more than one hit. In addition to winning both All-Star Games, an AL team, the Detroit Rockets, won the World Series last season. The National League hopes to end AL dominance this postseason.

NL All-Stars @ AL All-Stars – 4/30/23

Juan Marichal turned in another great performance, holding the Chicago Docs to one run on 8 hits in a complete game that improved his record to 5-1 this season. The win gives the Houston Hoots a 16-10 record, tops in the National League heading into the All-Star Break. Rick Reuschel couldn’t solve Houston hitting, giving up 3 runs in the 1st, capped by Willie Stargell’s 7th home run of the season. Reuschel allowed 7 runs on 13 hits in 6 innings to fall to 2-4. Barry Bonds doubled in Joey Votto for the Hoots’ only run. Oscar Charleston was 3 for 5 for Houston, with a double, an RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Charleston leads the Maelstrom with a .355 average. Marichal’s ERA in the 1st half is a Maelstrom best 1.21.

Hoots @ Docs – 4/28/23