The Detroit Rockets jumped out to an early 8-0 lead against Jim Palmer and the Boston Splinters, and never let go. Palmer allowed 5 straight hits to start the game, capped by an RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro for a 4-run 1st inning. Bill Freehan led off the 2nd with a solo home run, and Palmeiro drove in two more with another double to put Detroit up 7-0. An error by Nellie Fox led to another unearned run in the 3rd. Ted Williams finally drove in the 1st Boston run against Bret Saberhagen in the 6th. Mark McGwire put the game out of reach with a 3-run homer off reliever Walter Johnson in the 7th. Five straight hits in the 8th ended Saberhagen’s day, but the 4 runs were too little too late, and Detroit held on for an 11-5 win. Palmeiro finished 3 for 5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. Joe Jackson went 4 for 5. Frank Thomas was 3 for 4 to lead the Boston offense. Heading into the final 10 games of the season, Boston still holds a 5 1/2 game lead over New York for the American League pennant.

Rockets @ Splinters – 5/20/23

The Los Angeles Dynamos held off a comeback, topping the Chicago Docs 6-5 in a sloppy game. Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run off Tom Seaver to lead off the game for Chicago. After an error by Ron Santo in the 2nd, Barry Bonds took Seaver deep to put Chicago up 3-0. Los Angeles responded in the bottom of the inning against William Bell. Craig Biggio hit an RBI single with 2 outs, and Turkey Stearnes followed with a 3-run homer to give LA the lead. Los Angeles loaded the bases to lead off the 4th and 5th innings, but only had one run to show for it, as Bell pitched out of the jam nearly unscathed both times. Chicago mounted a rally in the 6th when Jim Edmonds singled home Buster Posey. Pete Rose walked to load the bases with just one out. Bonds followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game, but that’s all Chicago would get. After a Tulowitzki error, Ron Santo hit a sac fly to put LA on top again. Chicago had a chance in the 8th when back-to-back errors by Pee Wee Reese and Tony Gwynn loaded the bases, but Seaver struck out Lonny Frey and got Tulowitzki to ground out to end the chance. Lee Smith pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 9th save. The win ends LA’s 4-game losing streak and keeps them 3 games behind Houston. Stearnes finished 4 for 5, and is hitting .415 so far.

Dynamos @ Docs – 5/19/23

The Detroit Rockets held a brief lead, but couldn’t mount a comeback to overcome two home runs by the Boston Splinters. An RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro in the 4th put the Rockets up 1-0. Nellie Fox drove in Ichiro Suzuki in the 5th to tie it up. In the 6th, the Boston offense finally broke out against David Cone. Frank Thomas led off the inning with his 13th homer. With two outs, Alan Trammell doubled in another run, and Iván Rodríguez followed with a 2-run shot. RBI doubles by Kenny Lofton and Álex Rodríguez would cut the Boston lead to 5-3, but that’s where Detroit stalled. Rollie Fingers pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 11th save. Bert Blyleven improved to 9-1, leading the American League. Cone, on the other hand, fell to 1-8 for Detroit. Suzuki went 3 for 4 to extend his lead in the American League batting title race. Boston has won 7 of their last 10, and hold a 6-game lead in the AL with just 11 left to play.

Rockets @ Splinters – 5/19/23

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

Bob Gibson held Chicago to 5 hits and struck out 8, dominating the Docs with a shutout. Gibson is now tied with Koufax with 3 shutouts on the season. Clayton Kershaw pitched well, but couldn’t compete. Ted Simmons singled in Roberto Clemente in the 5th, and then Clemente hit a 2-run home run in the 9th, giving the Hoots a 3-0 win. Clemente finished 3 for 4. Kershaw allowed 8 hits in his 1st loss in two starts since joining the league after retiring from the MLB. Houston has taken advantage of Los Angeles’ losing streak to increase their lead to 3 games in the National League with their 3rd straight win. Chicago has lost 3 in a row and is 7 games back with just 12 left to play.

Hoots @ Docs – 5/18/23

The Detroit Rockets dropped a 6-run inning on Oakland starter Nolan Ryan, but Frank Tanana couldn’t hold the lead in a game that saw each team hit 3 home runs. Edgar Martínez hit a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to give Oakland a 2-0 lead. Four hits and two walks in the 3rd inning, capped by a Mark McGwire grand slam, put Detroit up 6-2. Joe Gordon hit a solo homer in the 5th to cut the Detroit lead in half, but Miguel Cabrera responded in the bottom of the inning to push it to 7-3. Oakland added two runs in the 7th, but Detroit entered the 8th still up 7-5. Tanana got two quick outs, but Rickey Henderson snuck a single through the infield. Lou Boudreau walked, and Jimmie Foxx followed with a 3-run go-ahead homer in a 5-run inning. Rafael Palmeiro hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, but that’s as close as the Rockets would get. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 9th to seal the 10-8 win. Hank Greenberg went 4 for 5 for Oakland. After winning the World Series last year, Detroit is now 8 games back in the American League with just 12 left to play.

Jacks @ Rockets – 5/18/23

After a 3-game losing streak that dropped them to 2 games back in the National League race, the Los Angeles Dynamos turned to ace Sandy Koufax. Koufax entered the game 9-2 with a 1.35 ERA. But the St. Louis Wizards had other plans, putting together a big inning and scoring 6 runs against the southpaw. Los Angeles looked good early, scoring 2 runs in the 1st off Don Sutton with a Todd Helton double and an errant throw by Willie Mays. In the 3rd, St. Louis responded with 5 base-hits, scoring 5 runs capped by a big 3-run homer by Mays. Mike Schmidt added a solo homer in the 4th to put the Wizards up 6-2. St. Louis took a 6-3 lead into the 8th when Billy Wagner nearly blew it. Four straight baserunners and a wild pitch led to two LA runs, but Gary Carter flew out and Tony Gwynn grounded out, stranding the tying run on 2nd base. Rich Gossage pitched a perfect 9th to seal the 6-5 win and earn his 7th save. Koufax hadn’t allowed more than 2 runs since Opening Day.

Wizards @ Dynamos – 5/18/23

CC Sabathia was dominant for the New York Swats. Sabathia allowed just one run on 6 hits in 8 innings to help snap a New York losing streak. A Wade Boggs home run was his only run. Meanwhile, Babe Ruth tied teammate Dick Allen, hitting his 16th homer of the season in the 4th to give the Swats their first two runs. In the 8th, Dick Allen took the lead back, launching a solo shot, and giving New York some insurance. Satchel Paige collected his 9th save, pitching a scoreless 9th inning. The win put New York back at .500 at 21-21, while Boston’s lead in the American League closed to 6 games with just 12 games left in the season.

Swats @ Splinters – 5/18/23

The St. Louis Wizards scored 5 early runs, holding off a late rally by the Los Angeles Dynamos to win their 3rd straight game, and handed LA their 3rd straight loss. Mike Piazza got the scoring started in the 2nd against Don Drysdale with an RBI single. A pair of walks led to two more runs in the 3rd. In the 4th, Drysdale walked three straight in a 2-run inning to take a 5-1 lead. Joe Morgan hit a 2-run home run in the 8th to expand the lead. LA took advantage of three straight hits to lead off the bottom of the 8th against Christy Mathewson with 3 runs, cutting the lead to 7-5. Rich Gossage came in to close out the 9th and made things interesting when Turkey Stearnes singled and Todd Helton walked to lead off the inning. Gossage got two groundouts and then struck out Pee Wee Reese to end any rally attempts. After these losses, LA has fallen to two games behind Houston in the National League race.

Wizards @ Dynamos – 5/17/23