Struggling to start the 2nd half of the season, the St. Louis Wizards held just a 2-game lead over the Los Angeles Dynamos in the National League. Coming to LA for a 4-game series, and having lost their last 4 games against the Dynamos, the Wizards needed a win. They made a dramatic statement, scoring 7 runs in the first 3 innings against Don Drysdale and topping LA 9-2. Starter Steve Carlton allowed 9 hits but only 2 runs in 8 innings. The Wizards had 11 hits and 7 runs against Drysdale in his 7 innings, and another 2 runs on 4 hits against Tom Glavine in relief. St. Louis leadoff man, Oscar Charleston was 4 for 4 with a walk. Willie McCovey went 2 or 3, scoring 3 runs in his first game back from injury. The win extends the Wizards’ lead in the NL back to 3 games.

St. Louis @ Los Angeles – 5/15/22

The Detroit Rockets wasted a 7-4 lead in the 8th inning against the Oakland Jacks, but won anyway on a Dick Allen walk-off single in the 9th. The Rockets got in front early, scoring 3 runs in the first two innings against Bob Feller. In the 4th, the Jacks came back, scoring 4 runs off Frank Tanana, led by a 3-run homer by Minnie Miñoso. The Rockets scored 2 in the 6th, and 2 more in the 7th thanks to back-to-back errors by Feller and Robin Yount. Tanana left the game after allowing Joe Gordon’s 2-run shot to cut the Rocket lead to 7-6. Dan Quisenberry has been stellar this year, but Joe DiMaggio took him deep to tie the game on his first pitch. With the score tied in the 9th, Kenny Lofton led off the Detroit half with a triple. Oakland reliever Whitey Ford struck out Ichiro Suzuki and Álex Rodríguez to give the Jacks hope, but Dick Allen hit a clean single into left field to win it for the Rockets. Suzuki went 0 for 5 to end his hitting streak at 24 games. Detroit improved to 23-16, while Oakland dropped to 16-22 with their 3rd straight loss.

Oakland @ Detroit – 5/15/22

The Boston Splinters came from behind to sweep their doubleheader with the Oakland Jacks at Fenway Park. Jim Palmer held the Jacks to 2 runs on 7 hits in 8 innings. Rod Carew drove in both runs. Ted Williams hit a 2-run double in the 7th off Mike Mussina to put the Splinters on top. Mussina allowed 3 runs in 7 innings for Boston. Rollie Fingers pitched a perfect 9th for just his 4th save of the season. Boston’s games are usually not close enough for the save. The win improved Boston to 21-16. They’re now just 1/2 game behind Detroit in the American League. Oakland fell to 16-21 with the loss. Derek Jeter went 3 for 4 in his 1st start of the season. Robin Yount took a rare game off. Boston’s Carlton Fisk left the game in the 5th after injuring himself running to 1st. He’s not expected to miss more game time.

Oakland @ Boston (Game 2) – 5/14/22

Oakland Jacks starter Bert Blyleven allowed 8 hits and walked 7, including 3 in the 4th inning when he also walked in a run, but still only allowed that one earned run in 8 innings of work. Boston’s Pedro Martinez had some bad luck when he took a 3-hit shutout into the 8th, losing it when Nellie Fox doubled in 2 runs. Mariano Rivera came in to close out the 9th for Oakland. Rickey Henderson and Tony Oliva grounded out, but Ted Williams drew a walk. Frank Thomas followed, taking the first pitch he saw from Rivera deep for a walk-off 2-run homer to win it for Boston 3-2. Boston improved to 20-16 with the win in this first game of a doubleheader thanks to a rain postponement yesterday.

Oakland @ Boston (Game 1) – 5/14/22

Houston starter Phil Niekro kept the Los Angeles hitters off-balance, allowing just 1 hit in his first 5 innings of work, giving the Hoots the momentum they needed to end the Dynamo win streak at 8 games. Sandy Koufax had an uncharacteristic poor start, allowing 11 hits and 6 earned runs in 7 innings of work, failing to become the first Baseball Maelstrom pitcher with 8 wins. LA hitters finally scored 2 runs in the 6th and 7th innings, kicked off by solo home runs from Frank Robinson and Cristóbal Torriente. Lee Smith picked up his 11th save for the Hoots. The loss drops Los Angeles to 23-15, 2 games behind the St. Louis Wizards in the NL. Houston is now 17-21.

Houston @ Los Angeles – 5/14/22

Chicago’s Rick Reuschel allowed a 3-run homer in the 1st inning to Larry Walker, and the St. Louis Wizards took advantage of errors by Albert Pujols and Troy Tulowitzki to score 3 more runs on their way to a 6-3 win over the Docs to keep their lead over the LA Dynamos in the NL standings. After batting around in the 1st, the Wizards wouldn’t score again, but it was more than enough. St. Louis starter Juan Marichal allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 8 innings, striking out 5. Bruce Sutter pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 10th save. Bill Mazeroski was 1 for 3 with a walk in his first start of the season. St. Louis improved to 25-13, keeping a 1 1/2 game lead over Los Angeles, who have won 8 straight. Chicago has now dropped 6 straight games.

Chicago @ St. Louis – 5/13/22

New York’s Walter Johnson allowed just 4 hits and struck out 11 in a complete game start against the Detroit Rockets. But one of those hits was an RBI single in the 1st that extended Ichiro Suzuki’s hitting streak to 24 games. The other was a solo home run by Adrián Beltré. That would be the only runs the Rockets would need. Detroit starter Bret Saberhagen allowed a solo homer to Lou Boudreau in the 1st, but then held New York scoreless, scattering 9 hits and pitching out of jams throughout. Saberhagen picked up his AL-leading 7th win. Tom Henke pitched a scoreless 9th for his 9th save. Detroit improved to 22-16, while New York fell to 16-22.

Detroit @ New York – 5/13/22

Pete Alexander walked 5, but scattered 6 hits to do his part to give the Los Angeles Dynamos their 8th straight win. Houston Hoots’ slugger Mike Schmidt’s solo home run was the only run allowed by Alexander. Houston starter Tom Seaver allowed 5 runs on 10 hits in a losing effort. LA’s Eddie Mathews hit a 2-out grand slam off Rube Marquard in the 8th to give the Dynamos a 9-1 lead. That’s when things got interesting. LA reliever Tom Glavine hadn’t allowed an earned run in his last 16 innings of relief, but Houston Hoots hitters nearly did the unthinkable. Willie Stargell hit a solo shot to lead off the 9th against Glavine. Pop Lloyd singled, and Jeff Bagwell walked. Then Billy Williams hit a 3-run homer. Three batters later, Gary Carter hit a 2-run shot to make it a 9-7 game. Los Angeles closer Goose Gossage came in and walked the first 2 batters he faced but got Stargell to ground out in his 2nd at-bat of the inning, and struck out Lloyd to end the game and avoid an epic collapse. LA improved to 23-14 with the win, keeping pace with the Wizards for the NL lead.

Houston @ Los Angeles – 5/13/22

Boston’s chance to get back into 1st place in the American League will have to wait another day. Rain postponed the game between the Boston Splinters and the Oakland Jacks. The teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow. The Splinters are 19-16 and sit just one game behind the Detroit Rockets. The Jacks are 16-19.

St. Louis broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th when Oscar Charleston drew a bases-loaded two-out walk against Dwight Gooden, but they had to survive a crazy 8th inning to snap their losing streak. Robin Roberts allowed just 2 runs, one of them unearned, before he allowed back-to-back singles to Chicago’s Buster Posey and Todd Helton. Wizards closer Bruce Sutter got Troy Tulowitzki to fly out before Barry Bonds hit a 3-run homer to put the Chicago Docs in the lead 5-3. In the bottom of the inning, Gooden allowed two doubles, a walk, and a single that tied the game. Docs reliever Roy Oswalt walked the first two batters he faced, including the go-ahead run, to blow Chicago’s chances and hand the Wizards a 6-5 victory. It was Chicago’s 5th straight loss. St. Louis improved to 24-13, and gave them a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL over Los Angeles. Ron Santo was 3 for 4 with an RBI and run scored for the Wizards.

Chicago @ St. Louis – 5/12/22