Houston’s Burleigh Grimes escaped a rough first inning when Willie Stargell threw Barry Bonds out at the plate, but the real story was Chicago starter Curt Schilling’s continued struggles with keeping the ball in the park. Hank Aaron hit a solo shot in the 2nd off Schilling, and another 3-run homer in the 4th. Mike Schmidt hit another homer in the next at-bat to put the Houston Hoots up 5-1. The Chicago Docs’ Albert Pujols hit a 2-run double to cut the lead to 5-3, but Schmidt hit another homer in the 6th, a 2-run shot, to extend the lead again. Overall, Schilling allowed 7 runs in 6 innings. Grimes improved to 2-0 in his 1st start of the season with the 9-5 win, allowing 5 runs in 8 innings of work. The victory improved Houston’s record to 13-18, while Chicago fell to 10-21.

Chicago @ Houston – 5/6/22

Making just his 4th start of the season, Detroit Rockets starter Dave Stieb had the best game of his season, holding the Oakland Jacks to just 2 runs on 8 hits to collect his 1st win. Stieb has been the #5 starter for Detroit all season, but due to the schedule, they’ve had little reason to use him, especially after some poor early starts. The Rockets were always one step ahead of the Jacks in the game. Jack starter Bert Blyleven allowed 3 runs, including Álex Rodríguez’s 10th home run of the season. The teams took a close 3-2 game into the 9th, but Jacks reliever Bullet Rogan allowed 3 runs when the Rockets collected 5 straight hits on their way to a 6-3 win. The win improved Detroit to 17-14 and cut the Boston lead in the American League to just 1/2 a game. Oakland fell to 14-16. Ichiro Suzuki was 2 for 5 and has now hit safely in 18 straight games.

Detroit @ Oakland – 5/6/22

Two of the top pitchers in the Baseball Maelstrom, both lefties, faced off at Sportman’s Park when Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers came to town to face Steve Carlton’s St. Louis Wizards. Koufax scattered 7 hits, striking out 7 for his league-leading 6th win, improving his ERA to 2.19, tops in the Maelstrom. Carlton’s bad luck continued, as he allowed just 4 hits in the loss. Rogers Hornsby couldn’t hold on to a throw from Mike Piazza, which would have caught Jackie Robinson stealing. Instead, Johnny Bench drew a 2-out walk and Frank Robinson hit an RBI single to put LA up 2-1. Robinson has struggled this season, hitting under .200, but came in with the clutch hit when the Dynamos needed it most. Johnny Mize hit a solo homer for LA’s other run. Goose Gossage struck out all 3 hitters he faced in the 9th to pick up his 6th save. Los Angeles improved to 17-14 to cut the St. Louis lead in the National League to 5 games.

Los Angeles @ St. Louis – 5/6/22

Coming off of a start that didn’t see him record an out in the 1st inning, Boston Splinters starter Jim Palmer returned to form against the New York Swats, allowing just 6 hits and 2 runs in 7 innings. Swats starter Nolan Ryan took a 2-hit shutout into the 7th before Tony Oliva and Frank Thomas hit run-scoring doubles to give Boston a 3-1 lead. But with Palmer gassed in the 8th, the Splinters turned to Red Ruffing, who allowed singles to Wade Boggs and Lou Boudreau before Babe Ruth hit a bases-clearing double to retake the lead for New York. Ruth had struck out in his 3 prior at-bats. Swats closer Satchel Paige allowed one run in the 9th, but Boston stranded Ted Williams, the tying run, on 2nd with one out to give the Swats the 5-4 win. Boston has lost 3 straight to fall to 17-13, just one game in front of Detroit in the American League. New York is now 13-18.

Boston @ New York – 5/6/22

Houston’s Randy Johnson allowed 3 homers and 5 runs, but the Hoots nearly won it anyway after LA’s Don Drysdale left after the 2nd inning with a tight hamstring. But Tony Pérez hit a 10th-inning walk-off solo homer off Rube Marquard to give the Dynamos the win. It was Pérez’ 2nd homer of the game, both solo shots. Los Angeles’ Don Sutton came in to start the 3rd, allowing 3 runs in the 5th and a Jeff Bagwell 2-run homer in the 7th to tie the game. For the 3rd straight game, the teams headed to extra innings. With both bullpens overworked, Marquard was asked to pitch into his 3rd inning when Pérez connected with one out. Los Angeles improved to 16-14, while Houston fell to 12-18. Goose Gossage allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out the side in a scoreless 10th for the win. Dave Winfield and Jackie Robinson both hit 2-run homers for the Dynamos.

Houston @ Los Angeles – 5/5/22

Jim Kaat made his first start of the Baseball Maelstrom season, allowing just one run on 5 hits in 8 innings while striking out 8 against the Boston Splinters. Kaat had worked out of the Oakland Jacks bullpen for the first half of the season, leading the team in ERA and earning an All-Star appearance. Boston’s Lefty Gomez also made his first start after working out of the bullpen all season. Gomez kept pace with Kaat, allowing just 3 hits until the 8th inning when the 1st three Jacks hitters reached base. Dennis Eckersley got out of the 8th-inning jam but wasn’t so lucky in the 9th. He allowed four 2-out RBI, capped by a 3-run homer by Goose Goslin to give Oakland the 8-3 win. The loss dropped Boston to 17-12, while the Jacks improved to 14-15. Jack’s shortstop, Robin Yount, went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI in the game.

Oakland @ Boston – 5/5/22

In his last start, Carl Hubbell allowed 8 runs in 5 1/3 inning but escaped without a loss. Today, he dominated the Chicago Docs. Hubbell hurled his first complete game this year, allowing just 4 hits and walking 3, while striking out 14, including the final 6 Chicago Docs batters in the game. It’s a Baseball Maelstrom single-game record. Hubbell allowed just one run, a solo home run to Jeff Kent in the 7th. Chicago’s Jerry Koosman allowed 2 unearned runs in the 3rd, but 2 more earned runs thanks to RBI doubles by St. Louis’ Orlando Cepeda and Larry Walker in the 5th. In the 6th, Wizards slugger Andre Dawson led off with a solo homer, and Stan Musial put things away with a 3-run shot. Koosman is now 1-6. The 8-1 loss dropped Chicago to 10-20, while St. Louis improved to 22-8.

Chicago @ St. Louis – 5/5/22

Bob Lemon and the New York Swats were down 5-0, partly from a bases-loaded triple by Bobby Veach, before they even got to bat. But they fought back against David Cone and the Detroit Rockets, taking the lead in the 6th before Detroit would tie it back up an inning later. The Detroit bats wouldn’t quit. New York’s Early Wynn allowed a 2-run homer to Manny Ramírez and another to Adrián Beltré in the 7th to put the game back out of reach. Detroit finished with 22 hits in the 15-8 win, splitting the series in New York. Bobby Veach was 4 for 6 with 4 RBI. The win improved Detroit to 16-14, cutting Boston’s lead in the American League. New York fell to 12-18, still in last place.

Detroit @ New York – 5/5/22

The Chicago Docs and St. Louis Wizards traded home runs. The game ended in a walk-off homer in the 12th by Ted Simmons. Todd Helton started things for the Docs with a leadoff homerun off Juan Marichal. Marichal served up another solo shot to Barry Bonds in the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Willie McCovey hit a solo shot of his own off Chicago’s Orel Hershiser. Two innings later, McCovey added a 2-run homer to put the Wizards in front 3-2. Not to be outdone, Jeff Kent added a 2-run homer of his own to give the lead back to the Docs. But in the bottom of the 7th, Chicago reliever Jim Jeffries allowed a 2-out RBI single to McCovey to tie the game at 4. With the game still tied after 9, the teams headed to extra innings but struggled to get men on base. Finally, in the 12th, facing Billy Wager, Larry Walker and Stan Musial had back-to-back hits. McCovey had another chance at heroics but hit a shallow flyout to center to give the Docs hope of getting out of the inning. That’s when Ted Simmons connected for a 3-run walk-off homer to give St. Louis the 7-4 win. Chicago fell to 10-19 with the loss, while St. Louis has improved to a Baseball Maelstrom best 21-8.

Chicago @ St. Louis – 5/4/22

New York’s Hal Newhouser allowed back-to-back solo home runs to Manny Ramírez and Mark McGwire, but gave up just 7 hits total in 8 innings. Meanwhile, the Swats had just two baserunners against Detroit’s Frank Tanana until the 6th. Then, Eddie Collins walked to lead off the inning, and Harry Heilmann and Ken Griffey Jr. singled to load the bases. That’s when Yogi Berra took advantage of the short porch at the Polo Grounds for a Grand Slam to give the Swats a 4-2 lead that would stand until the end of the game. Satchel Paige pitched a scoreless 9th for his 4th save, improving New York’s record to 12-17. The loss dropped the Detroit Rockets to 15-14.

Detroit @ New York – 5/4/22