The Boston Splinters made up for losing a rain-postponed game earlier in the day by unleashing their offense on Detroit’s Frank Tanana. Tanana allowed runs in 5 straight innings, before exiting. Mickey Mantle, who had a 2-run homer against Tanana earlier in the game, took Rockets reliever Urban Shocker deep for 2 more runs in the 6th. Light rain fell, but it wasn’t enough to delay this game. Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez allowed just one run on 6 hits while striking out 7 in 8 innings of work for the Splinters to earn his 1st win in two starts. With the 10-2 win, Boston retook the lead in the American League. They are now 12-9, while Detroit fell back to 12-10.

Boston @ Detroit – 4/23/22

The Boston Splinters resumed their rain-postponed game against the Detroit Rockets. The Splinters’ Dennis Eckersley was tasked with holding a 1-0 lead that Jim Palmer gave him with a stellar performance yesterday, but it only took one inning for him to lose it. Eckersley walked Kenny Lofton and allowed a one-out single to Charlie Blackwell before Alex Rodriguez took him deep with his 6th homer of the year. Adrián Beltré had an RBI double a few batters later to give the Rockets a 4-1 lead. Luis Tiant took the mound for Detroit and allowed a run in the 7th and 8th before handing things over to Rockets closer Tom Henke, who shut down the Splinters for the 4-3 win. Yesterday’s starter, Bret Saberhagen, picked up the win on a day he didn’t pitch. Boston fell to 11-9, while Detroit improved to 12-9 to take 1st place in the American League. The teams will play again later this afternoon.

Boston @ Detroit – Resumed Game from 4/22/22

For the first two innings, the Los Angeles Dynamos and the Chicago Docs traded runs and leads at Wrigley Field. But then Dynamos starter Jim Bunning settled down while the Docs’ Jerry Koosman continued to struggle. LA put up 5 runs in the 3rd, aided by Barry Larkin’s 2nd homer of the game, and never looked back. They were Larkin’s first homers of the season. Bunning allowed 4 runs in those first two innings, all driven in by Barry Bonds, but held Chicago scoreless in the next 5. In fact, 6 of the Docs’ 7 hits were in those first two innings. Bunning picked up his first win in this outing. Meanwhile, Chicago’s Koosman was shelled for 10 runs. He fell to 1-4. LA inched closer to .500 and is now 10-11. Chicago has fallen to 7-14. The Docs’ Todd Helton was ejected in the 7th for arguing a 3rd strike call.

Los Angeles @ Chicago – 4/22/22

The Detroit Rockets will have a day to regroup. Boston starter Jim Palmer had held them scoreless with two hits in 5 innings when heavy rains led the game to be suspended. The Splinters’ Carlton Fisk hit a solo homer off Detroit starter Bret Saberhagen in the top of the 6th, just as rain started to fall. Rickey Henderson and Tony Oliva followed with singles as heavier rains moved in, but Saberhagen got the next three Boston batters to ground out, keeping the Splinters to just one run. With no end to the bad weather in sight, umpires suspended the game. Per MLB rules, the game will resume tomorrow before the clubs’ already scheduled game.

Boston @ Detroit – 4/22/22 – SUSPENDED TO RESUME 4/23/22

When the St. Louis Wizards had back-to-back doubles from Rogers Hornsby and Orlando Cepeda to break a scoreless tie in the 5th, it seemed like a familiar script for another Wizards win. But Houston’s Gary Carter answered with a solo homer in the 6th, and starter Tom Seaver retired the next 11 batters. Duke Snider’s solo shot in the 8th against Juan Marichal was only Houston’s 3rd hit of the game, but it put them up 2-1. In the 9th against St. Louis reliever Fergie Jenkins, Jeff Bagwell hit a 2-run homer to add some insurance, and Billy Williams hit another in the next at-bat to make it 5-1. The Wizards’ Stan Musial hit a 2-run homer of his own off Rube Marquard in the bottom of the 9th to narrow the gap to 5-3, but Lee Smith came in to close it out and hand the Wizards just their 4th loss this year. Houston improved to 8-13 with Smith’s 5th save. Seaver pitched 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits and walk while striking out 7 to improve to 3-1. Marichal got the tough loss, also allowing just 3 hits in 8 innings.

Houston @ St. Louis – 4/22/22

New York’s Wade Boggs probably wishes he could have today’s game back. Fielding errors in the 2nd and 6th innings and a throwing error in the 5th led to 3 unearned runs. Then, with one out and the bases loaded in the 9th down by just 2 runs, Boggs grounded into a double-play to end the game. The Oakland Jacks won it 5-3 despite just 4 hits. Swats starter Bob Lemon walked 7. Oakland starter Bob Feller earned his 1st win with 8 innings pitched, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 6. With Mariano Rivera resting after two straight rough relief outings, Ted Lyons was called on to close out the game but nearly blew it. New York’s Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 2-run homer, then Eddie Collins, Harold Baines, and Iván Rodríguez hit three straight singles before Boggs’ double-play. Collins had entered the game after Roberto Alomar was ejected for arguing a 3rd strike call in the 4th. Oakland is now 9-11, while New York fell to 9-12.

Oakland @ New York – 4/22/22

Things got tense in the 3rd inning between the St. Louis Wizards and Chicago Docs. Chicago ace Dwight Gooden hit St. Louis leadoff hitter Oscar Charleston with the first pitch of the inning. Charleston had a few words with Gooden and both benches cleared, but order was restored without any ejections. Charleston scored on a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Charleston led off the game with a triple, but was gunned down at the plate by Jim Edmonds a batter later. Orlando Cepeda hit a 2-run homer for his 1st of the year. Overall, Gooden allowed 6 runs and 9 hits in 8 innings, despite striking out 10. The Docs ace dropped to 0-4. Stan Musial hit a 3-run homer for insurance in the 9th off reliever Roy Oswalt. Wizards starter Robin Roberts stayed sharp, allowing just 1 run and 8 hits in 8 innings, picking up his 3rd win, dropping his ERA to 1.85, just behind teammate Carl Hubbell’s 1.71. The Wizards are now 17-3, while the Docs dropped to 7-13.

St. Louis @ Chicago – 4/21/22

The Detroit Rockets ace, Roger Clemens, became the 2nd Baseball Maelstrom pitcher, and the 1st in the American League, to win 4 games, allowing 1 run and 9 hits in 8 innings, striking out 9. Meanwhile, New York Swats starter, Stan Coveleski, fell to 0-2, allowing 8 runs and 10 hits in 5 innings. Detroit batted around in the 4th, scoring 6 of their runs, including two bases-loaded walks by Coveleski. The Swats lineup was dealing with illness and injury. Alan Trammell was starting at short in place of Lou Boudreau, who was out of the lineup with an illness. Harold Baines started the game in rightfield when Harry Heilmann was injured during batting practice. In the 2nd inning, Roberto Alomar was injured sliding into 2nd on a stolen base attempt. Detroit improved to 11-9 with the win, while New York fell to 9-11.

New York @ Detroit – 4/21/22

The Los Angeles Dynamos’ Don Drysdale dominated Houston Hoots hitters, allowing just one run on 5 hits in 8 innings while striking out 8. But it was Dynamos hitting that really stood out. Houston’s Dizzy Dean struggled for the 2nd straight start, allowing 9 runs in 5 innings. LA scored 2 runs in the 1st and capped Dean’s start with 6 runs in the 4th, when the first seven Dynamos hitters reached base. The Hoots’ Hoyt Wilhelm allowed 4 more runs in the 6th. Cristóbal Torriente went 4 for 5 in the game. After the 13-1 loss, Houston is 7-12, while Los Angeles is 9-11.

Los Angeles @ Houston – 4/21/22

Down to their final out after blowing a 6-1 lead and facing Oakland closer Mariano Rivera and a potential 6th straight loss, Frank Thomas came in clutch. Harmon Killebrew was on 1st with 2 outs when Thomas hit one in the gap against Rivera to tie the game. Charlie Gehringer followed with an RBI single to give the Boston Splinters the lead. Minnie Miñoso singled off Rollie Fingers in the bottom of the inning, but Fingers retired Hank Greenberg and Joe DiMaggio to win it. Fans questioned Connie Mack leaving Rod Carew on the bench and allowing George Sisler to hit in the 9th down a run. Carew is hitting .375 this year and was key in Oakland’s 3-2 win over Boston in yesterday’s game. Sisler is hitting just .143. Ted Williams returned to the Boston lineup and broke out of his slump, going 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer and 2 walks. Boston was up 6-2 with 2 out in the 5th when starter Lefty Grove allowed 6 straight baserunners and 4 runs to lose the lead. Bert Blyleven allowed 5 earned runs in 5 innings for Oakland. Boston is now 11-8, while Oakland fell to 8-11.

Boston @ Oakland – 4/21/22