For 4 innings, Don Sutton held the Houston Hoots hitless. It looked like they were on their way to their 5th loss. But that all changed in the 5th when 9 straight batters reached base en route to a 9-run inning. Hank Aaron got the Hoots on the board with a 3-run homer. Aaron would also drive in another run later in the inning with an RBI single. The Los Angeles Dynamos’ Pete Alexander allowed just 3 hits the rest of the game. Bob Gibson picked up his 2nd win, holding LA to 2 runs on 8 hits, despite just 2 strikeouts. Cristóbal Torriente drove in both Dynamo runs. Before this game, Sutton hadn’t allowed more than 3 runs in any start. The win snapped Houston’s 4-game losing streak. They’re now 7-12. Los Angeles fell to 8-11.

Los Angeles @ Houston – 4/20/22

Rod Carew made up for an early error that led to an unearned run, saving the game in the 9th with his glove to give the Oakland Jacks a 3-2 victory over the Boston Splinters. Boston turned to ace Gaylord Perry in hopes of snapping their losing streak. Perry pitched well, but allowed a homer to Mickey Cochrane in the 5th, an RBI triple to Reggie Jackson in the 6th, and then walked three straight to load the bases in the 7th. Carew followed with a double-play ball to short, but beat the throw to 1st, scoring Minnie Miñoso to give the Jacks a 3-1 lead. Meanwhile, Boston couldn’t get anything going against Whitey Ford. Ford scattered 8 hits and allowed just 1 unearned run in 8 innings. Mariano Rivera came in in the 9th, but allowed the first 3 Boston hitters to reach safely, loading the bases. Brooks Robinson hit a shallow fly to center before Rickey Henderson singled home a run to cut the Oakland lead to one. With the bases loaded and just one out, Cal Ripken Jr. hit a sharp liner down the firstbase line, but Carew made a great play catch and doubled Henderson off at 1st to end the game. Carl Yastrzemski went 3 for 4 with a double, a run, and an RBI in place of the injured Ted Williams. Williams is expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow. The win was Ford’s first of the season. Boston lost despite outhitting Oakland 11-6. Boston has now lost 5 straight, falling to 10-8. Oakland is now 8-10.

Boston @ Oakland – 4/20/22

Carl Hubbell and the St. Louis Wizards avenged yesterday’s loss to the Docs, beating Chicago 6-2 to win their 16th game. Hubbell became the first pitcher to win 4 games, allowing just 1 run and 5 hits over 8 innings while striking out 10. Hubbell also improved his Maelstrom-leading ERA to 1.71. Chicago’s Orel Hershiser picked up the tough loss. Hershiser allowed just 2 runs in 8 innings. Rogers Hornsby broke a 1-1 tie in the 8th with a go-ahead RBI double. In the 9th, with Kent Tekulve on the mound, Jimmie Rollins bobbled a double-play ball, leading to another double by Hornsby that cleared the bases and extended the Wizard’s lead. Hornsby ended 3 for 5 with 3 doubles and 4 RBI to bring his average up to .200. The loss drops Chicago to 7-12.

St. Louis @ Chicago – 4/20/22

Ty Cobb went 3 for 5, improving his average to over .200, and came up clutch to help the New York Swats top the Detroit Rockets 4-1. Hal Newhouser and Dave Stieb took a 1-1 pitcher’s duel into the 7th when New York’s Roberto Alomar led off with a double off Stieb. Three batters later, Wade Boggs worked a 2-out walk, and Cobb followed with a 2-run double to give New York a 3-1 lead. They added an insurance run off Luis Tiant in the 9th. Satchel Paige pitched a scoreless 9th for his 3rd save. Detroit’s Stieb had a scary moment in the 5th when Cobb hit a sharp comebacker off his arm. Stieb was shaken up a little on the play but was able to avoid injury. Newhouser allowed 1 run and 8 hits in 8 innings, improving to 2-1. With the win, New York improves to 9-10, while Detroit falls to 10-9. New York will look for the sweep tomorrow.

New York @ Detroit – 4/20/22

The Chicago Docs did something that no other team has been able to do this year: beat Steve Carlton. Barry Bonds hit a 2-run triple in the 3rd, but it was in the 5th that Chicago broke things open. The first five Chicago hitters reached base, and they batted around, scoring 6 runs. Keith Hernandez has been on fire lately. He went 3 for 5 with his 1st homer and 3 RBI. He’s hitting .417 this season. Meanwhile, Chicago starter Curt Schilling allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 6 to pick up his 2nd win this season. Carlton had pitched two straight shutouts before this start and hadn’t allowed more than 2 runs in any of his 4 starts. The 10-3 win was Chicago’s 1st against the St. Louis Wizards this season. St. Louis is still 15-3, while Chicago improved to 7-11. They’ve now won 3 straight.

St. Louis @ Chicago – 4/19/22

Nolan Ryan may have Harry Heilmann to thank, after he outdueled David Cone to win his 2nd game this season as the New York Swats beat the Detroit Rockets 3-2. The Swats scraped together 3 runs against Cone in the first 4 innings with some well-placed singles, and a Babe Ruth double. Ryan took a shutout into the 6th when Bobby Veach singled with two on and one out. Charlie Blackwell was waved home, but Harry Heilmann unleashed a perfect throw to Iván Rodríguez to gun him down at home. Adrián Beltré and Lou Whitaker followed with singles of their own before Bill Freehan grounded out to end the inning. The Rockets would only plate one run. Veach homered in the 8th to cut the New York lead to 3-2, but that’s all Detroit could muster, as Satchel Paige picked up just his 2nd save of the season. Paige’s saves have come on Ryan’s only wins this season. The win improved the Swats to 8-10, while Detroit fell to 10-8.

New York @ Detroit – 4/19/22

Los Angeles humiliated the Houston Hoots in both hitting and pitching. The Dynamos’ Sandy Koufax hurled his first shutout of the season, allowing just 6 hits and walking 2 while striking out 6. But the real story was the LA offense, who hit 9 homers, just one shy of the Toronto Blue Jays MLB record set in 1987. Johnny Bench set the tone in the 1st inning off Houston’s Randy Johnson with a 3-run shot. Bench was then ejected in the bottom of the inning while catching for arguing on a close pitch that led to a Ryne Sandberg walk. Johnson gave up 6 homers in 3 innings of work, exiting with a 10-0 deficit. Rube Marquard gave up 3 homers in 3 innings of relief. All told, Chuck Klein and WIllie Mays hit back-to-back homers twice, once in the 2nd and once in the 4th. Johnny Mize and Frank Robinson went back-to-back in the 3rd, and Mize added another homer an inning later. Jackie Robinson also hit a homer in the 3rd. Los Angeles scored 14 runs on 19 hits to improve to 8-10. Houston is now 6-12 and will look to rebound with a severely depleted bullpen.

Los Angeles @ Houston – 4/19/22

The Oakland Jacks saw a rare rainout today as they prepared to host the Boston Splinters. Whitey Ford was set to take the mound against Gaylord Perry. Now they’ll face off tomorrow. The game has been rescheduled for May 27th, which had been a scheduled off-day for both teams before their season-ending series before the post-season. The extra day off could be just what the Splinters need. They came to Oakland riding a 4-game losing streak. Ted Williams was also scheduled to miss the game due to a nagging injury but will likely play tomorrow.

The Chicago Docs took advantage of poor play by the Los Angeles Dynamos to take 2 of 3 games in the series. LA leftfielder Frank Robinson misjudged a flyball in the first, setting up two unearned runs for the Docs against Greg Maddux. A Willie Mays homer in the bottom of the inning off Chicago starter Rick Reuschel would keep them in it, and Johnny Mize’s bases-clearing double in the 6th put the Dynamos up 5-4. Los Angeles brought in Trevor Hoffman to keep the lead in the 8th, but Hoffman loaded the bases with two outs. Chicago’s Pete Rose hit a grounder down the line that Eddie Mathews couldn’t get a glove on, plating two and putting the Docs up 6-5. Kent Tekulve and Billy Wagner pitched a perfect 8th and 9th to give the Docs the win. Chicago improves to 6-11, while the Dynamos fall to 7-10.

Chicago @ Los Angeles – 4/18/22

Boston Splinters starter Jim Palmer struggled with control, walking 9 batters and picking up his 1st loss of the season. Palmer started strong before walking in two runs in the 4th. In the 5th, he walked the bases loaded, and Bobby Veach took advantage, driving in two runs with a single. Rockets starter Frank Tanana allowed a Brooks Robinson homer and 5 singles over 8 innings to pick up his 2nd win. The Rockets have now won 5 straight, including this sweep of Boston, to tie the Splinters at the top of the American League standings. The struggling Splinters have lost 4 straight. Ted Williams’ hitting problems continued with an 0-3 outing. On top of that, Williams will likely miss the next game after injuring himself on a check-swing in the 6th. Joe Cronin went 2 for 4 in his first start for Boston, filling in for a resting Rickey Henderson.

Detroit @ Boston – 4/18/22