Jackie Robinson committed his 1st two errors of the season, as the Houston Hoots topped the Los Angeles Dynamos 8-5. Sandy Koufax allowed all 8 runs, but only 1 of those runs was earned. LA had a 4-2 lead until the 8th inning. That’s when Ron Santo bobbled a grounder, allowing a run to score. Robinson’s 2nd error extended the inning. Houston took full advantage with three straight 2-out singles after the errors for a 6-run 8th. Bruce Sutter had another perfect inning to pick up his 5th save. Sutter hasn’t allowed an earned run yet this season. Todd Helton was the offensive star for the Dynamos, going 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBI. Fergie Jenkins picked up the win for Houston, allowing 3 earned runs on 10 hits in 8 innings. The win improves Houston to 6-4, and they are now tied with Chicago for 1st place in the National League.

Hoots @ Dynamos – 4/10/23

For the 2nd straight game, the Oakland Jacks mounted a comeback that fell just short, as the Boston Splinters won 8-7 to take their winning streak to 9 games. Despite a shaky start, Bert Blyleven became the 1st pitcher to 3 wins. Blyleven allowed 10 hits and 4 runs, including 2 home runs in 8 innings. Meanwhile, Oakland led 4-3 into the 5th inning when Stan Coveleski allowed 4 straight RBI singles with 2 outs. Jack Morris allowed a 2-run homer to Jimmie Foxx in the 9th, followed by a single by Ken Griffey Jr., but retired Lou Gehrig, Reggie Jackson, and Hank Greenberg to escape with his 1st save. Rollie Fingers had picked up the save in the prior 3 straight games. Frank Thomas was 2 for 4 with his league-leading 7th homer.

Jacks @ Splinters – 4/10/23

For the 3rd straight game, the St. Louis Wizards starter pitched a complete game. This time it was Don Sutton, who held the Chicago Docs to 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 5 in an 8-1 victory. Curt Schilling ran into trouble in his 2nd straight start, lasting just 4 innings. Duke Snider hit a 2-run double in the 1st and an RBI single in the 3rd. Later in the 3rd, Mike Schmidt hit a Grand Slam to put the game away. The only Docs run scored in the 1st inning when Keith Hernandez led off with a double and scored on a Barry Bonds double later in the inning. Stan Musial added 2 triples as the Wizards collected 11 hits. The loss drops Chicago to 6-4 as the Wizards improve to 4-6.

Docs @ Wizards – 4/10/23

The Detroit Rockets took advantage of 10 walks to score 5 runs in the 1st 2 innings against Swats starter Lefty Gomez. But a 7-run 3rd inning put New York back in it. After Cal Ripken Jr. flew out to lead off the inning against Dave Stieb, the Swats had 9 straight batters reach base, including an error by Bobby Grich. The inning put New York up 7-5. Detroit battled back with solo home runs by Dick Allen and Bobby Veach to tie the game. Facing Urban Shocker in the 7th, Adrián Beltré hit a 3-run shot to give the Swats the lead for good. Beltré finished 3 for 3 with a homer, a double, a walk, and 4 RBI. Red Faber allowed just 1 run on 2 hits in 4 innings of relief for the win, as New York improved to 3-7. Detroit has dropped back down to 5-5.

Rockets @ Swats – 4/10/23

It looked like it would be another tough-luck start for Steve Carlton. Carlton allowed two ground-ball RBI through 6 innings against the Chicago Docs. Meanwhile, Jerry Koosman held the St. Louis Wizards scoreless. All of that changed in the 6th, when Stan Musial put the Wizards on the board with an RBI single that would mark the start of a 9-run inning. After Koosman hit Larry Walker, Mike Schmidt followed with a 3-run homer. Dave Winfield, who led off the inning with a double, hit a 2-run homer later in the inning. Koosman allowed 8 hits during the inning. Carlton cruised the rest of the way, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 12 in 9 innings to pick up his 1st win of the season. It was only the 3rd win of the season for the Wizards, and only the 3rd loss for the Docs.

Docs @ Wizards – 4/9/23

Detroit starter Bret Saberhagen got roughed up in the 1st 5 innings facing the New York Swats. The Swats scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, capped by a 2-run home run by Roberto Alomar. Ruth and Ripken added solo homers in the 3rd and 4th. Bob Feller allowed just 1 Rocket run through 5, and entered the 6th with a 9-1 lead. But Feller walked the bases loaded with 2 outs, and Kenny Lofton followed with a grand slam to cut the lead in half, and Detroit scored 2 more runs to pull closer. Heading into the 8th, the Swats still hung on to a 9-7 lead. That’s when New York’s shaky bullpen struck again. Red Ruffing pitched a perfect 7th, but allowed 4 straight hits to start the 8th to tie the game, led off by a double from Lofton. Miguel Cabrera’s sacrifice fly off Ted Lyons put Detroit on top. The Rockets offense added 2 more insurance runs off Lyons in the 9th. Detroit closer Tom Henke allowed a Harry Heilmann single and Babe Ruth double to make things interesting, but Lofton made a sliding scoop of a Joe DiMaggio liner and gunned down Heilmann at the plate to end the threat. The loss drops New York to 2-7 this season. The win ends a Detroit 4-game losing streak after they won the 1st four games of the season

Rockets @ Swats – 4/9/23

Juan Marichal scattered 8 hits over 8 innings, allowing just one run as the Houston Hoots topped the Los Angeles Dynamos 3-1. Marichal took a shutout into the 8th before allowing a run to score on an infield grounder. Bruce Sutter picked up his 4th save with a perfect 9th inning. LA’s Carl Hubbell also allowed just 8 hits in 8 innings, but the Hoots were more efficient. Rogers Hornsby was 3 for 4 with a triple and two doubles, scoring all 3 Houston runs. Oscar Charleston was 2 for 3 with an RBI before colliding with Hornsby on a deep popup in the 6th.

Hoots @ Dynamos – 4/9/23

The Boston Splinters overcame an early deficit and blowing a 5-run lead, holding on to top the Oakland Jacks 10-9 for their 8th straight win. The Jacks jumped out in front with a Jimmie Foxx 2-run home run in the 1st off Gaylord Perry. But Nolan Ryan wasn’t sharp, allowing 8 runs in just 4 innings of work and striking out only one batter. George Brett drove in a run in 3 of those 4 innings. In the 7th, with the score 9-4, Perry walked the first 4 batters. Jim Kaat came in and served up a grand slam to Foxx to blow the lead. That gave Foxx 6 RBI in the game. Wade Boggs singled to drive in the go-ahead run off Early Wynn in the bottom of the 7th to give Boston back the lead. Rollie Fingers pitched a scoreless 9th for his 5th save. Boston dropped the 1st game of the season to Oakland, but haven’t lost since. Brett went 2 for 4. He’s hitting .519 this season. Oakland is now 3-6.

Jacks @ Splinters – 4/9/23

Randy Johnson had another wild start, as the Los Angeles Dynamos and Chicago Docs combined for 29 hits. Johnson struck out 9 in 5 innings, but couldn’t escape 3 1st inning walks. After walking in a run, Jeff Kent hit a bases-clearing triple to give Chicago an early lead. Gary Carter homered for the Dynamos, and Pee Wee Reese tied the game at 6 when he hit a 3-run shot against Rick Reuschel in the 3rd. But that’s the last runs LA would score, as Reuschel, Kent Tekulve, and Jim Jeffries shut them out the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Buster Posey hit a go-ahead double in a 2-run 5th. The Docs would score 3 more runs against Tom Glavine in relief to win it 11-6 and improve to 6-2. Kent and Posey finished 3 for 5, and Sammy Sosa also had 3 hits for Chicago. Chipper Jones was 4 for 4 for the Dynamos. Johnson is off to an 0-2 start and has an ERA of 9.00 in his 1st two starts. Reuschel has won both of his starts this season.

Dynamos @ Docs – 4/8/23

Just 3 hitters into the game, George Brett took David Cone deep to give the Boston Splinters a 2-0 lead over the Detroit Rockets. It’s all they would need. Catfish Hunter held Detroit to 4 hits and 1 run in 7 innings, despite walking 7. Hunter also struck out 7. A Kenny Lofton sacrifice fly led to the only Rockets run of the game. A lengthy rain delay in the 8th ended the night for Hunter. Jack Morris pitched a scoreless 8th, and Rollie Fingers pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 4th save. With the sweep, Boston has now won 7 straight games after losing on Opening Day. David Cone didn’t allow a run after the Brett homer, finishing 7 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs and 7 hits but falling to 1-1. The Rockets are now 4-4 after a hot start.

Splinters @ Rockets – 4/8/23