Coming off a shutout, Juan Marichal continued his dominance of National League hitters. This time, Marichal allowed just 5 hits in a complete game 8-2 win against the St. Louis Wizards. Solo home runs by Larry Walker and Duke Snider were the only two runs allowed. Marichal also finished with 8 strike outs. St. Louis starter Greg Maddux had another tough outing, allowing a couple of sacrifice flies and a 2-run double to Jeff Bagwell. Maddux exited after 4 innings due to some tightness in his pitching arm. Dizzy Dean didn’t fare much better, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings of relief. The win improved Marichal to 3-1 with a league-leading 1.29 ERA. Houston is 11-6, and has expanded their lead to 2 1/2 games in the National League.

Wizards @ Hoots – 4/18/23

New York Swats starter Pedro Martínez shut out the Oakland Jack’s, allowing just 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 in a 10-0 win. Babe Ruth was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, including his 8th home run of the season. Dick Allen hit his 1st homer with the Swats, and his Baseball Maelstrom leading 11th overall, connecting off Lefty Grove in the 7th. New York scored 5 more runs off reliever Early Wynn, capped by a homer by Al Kaline. It was the 2nd straight win for the Swats, who have pulled into a tie with Oakland at 7-10 in the American League. Lou Gehrig and Ken Griffey, Jr. each had 2 hits against Martínez. Jimmie Foxx struggled at the plate, grounding into two double plays.

Swats @ Jacks – 4/18/23

Steve Carlton made a few mistakes in the 1st inning, which opened the door to an eventual Houston Hoots win. Carlton hit Rogers Hornsby, and uncorked a wild pitch before Jeff Bagwell took him deep to give Houston a 3-1 lead in the 1st inning. Cy Young, in his 1st start, put St. Louis runners in scoring position in nearly every inning, but surprisingly allowed just 2 earned runs on 12 hits in 7 innings. Trevor Hoffman retired three straight batters in the 8th after Young put Mike Schmidt and Ozzie Smith on to lead off the inning. Larry Walker and Duke Snider led off with base hits in the 9th against Warren Spahn, but Fergie Jenkins struck out Willie Mays and got Willie McCovey to ground into a double play to end the inning. Jenkins struck out two more batters in the 10th to keep St. Louis scoreless in extras. Meanwhile, Christy Mathewson had pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th himself. But Roberto Clemente led off the 10th with a triple for the Hoots. Hornsby followed with a clean base-hit in the gap to give Houston a 4-3 walk-off win. Houston has now opened up a bigger lead in the National League, improving to 10-6.

Wizards @ Hoots – 4/17/23

Oakland Jacks starter Nolan Ryan took a 2-hit shutout into the 8th, but wasn’t able to become the 1st pitcher with 4 wins this season. Harry Heilmann tripled for the New York Swats, and scored on Joe DiMaggio’s 2-out single to tie the game. In the 9th, Joe Mauer walked and Cal Ripken Jr. followed with a 2-run homer to give the Swats a 3-1 lead. Ed Walsh was just as good in his 1st start with New York since joining the league. Walsh allowed a 1st-inning RBI double to Ken Griffey Jr. He would allow just 4 hits and that run in 8 innings. Satchel Paige pitched a scoreless 9th for his 2nd save. Ryan finished allowing just 5 hits, but 7 walks, while only striking out 5. The Swats are now just 6-10, but hope that Walsh can give them more outings like this one.

Swats @ Jacks – 4/17/23

Cole Hamels took a shutout into the 8th inning, but it was a few big home runs that doomed the Los Angeles Dynamos, in an 11-4 Chicago Docs win. Gene Tenace hit a solo homer in the 1st to get the scoring started against LA starter Carl Hubbell. In the 4th, Hubbell issued 3 straight walks with 2 outs. Sammy Sosa followed with a no-doubt grand slam to give Chicago a 7-0 lead. Barry Larkin finally got the Dynamos on the board with a 2-run homer in the 8th. Facing Jim Bunning in the 9th, the Docs added to their lead thanks to a 3-run shot by Ken Boyer. LA scored two in the 9th themselves, but William Bell came in to shut them down to end the game. Hubbell allowed 7 runs on 7 walks and 5 hits in just 5 innings, falling to 0-2. The win gets Chicago back to .500 at 8-8.

Docs @ Dynamos – 4/17/23

Miguel Cabrera and Rafael Palmeiro hit back-to-back home runs against Catfish Hunter to give the Detroit Rockets a 4-0 lead, but the Boston Splinters came back against Frank Tanana. Frank Thomas’ 2-run homer started the comeback, and Mickey Mantle’s 2-run shot in the 5th gave Boston the 5-4 lead. Hunter pitched out of trouble and allowed just 3 earned runs on 8 hits in 7 innings. In the 9th, Rollie Fingers retired Lou Whitaker before Kenny Lofton singled, but Lofton got gunned down at 2nd by Iván Rodríguez for the 2nd out. Needing just one more out, Ichiro Suzuki singled. That’s when Álex Rodríguez connected for his 1st home run of the season, a 2-run shot to give Detroit the lead. Tom Henke pitched a perfect 9th for the save. It was the 2nd blown save for Fingers. The Splinters have now lost 4 straight, while Detroit has won their last 3 games, cutting the Boston lead to just one game. Palmeiro finished his 1st appearance in the league going 2 for 4 with that home run.

Rockets @ Splinters – 4/17/23

Ron Santo went 4 for 5 and drove in 2 runs to lead the Los Angeles Dynamos over Dwight Gooden and the Chicago Docs in a 6-4 win. Santo drove in a go-ahead run in the 2nd with a double, but Chicago took the lead right back in the 3rd with 3 runs against Don Drysdale, capped by Joey Votto’s 2-run double. Santo put LA in the lead for good in the 4th with another RBI double. The Docs only managed one hit after the 3rd inning, as Drysdale finished allowing just 4 runs on 6 hits in 8 innings. Lee Smith pitched a perfect 9th for his 3rd save. Gooden finished 7 innings, allowing 6 runs on 12 hits, but striking out 8. Kevin Brown allowed a hit and hit a batter in the 8th, but struck out Todd Helton and Chipper Jones in his 1st appearance of the season. LA improved to 6-9, while Chicago dropped to 7-8, losing their 3rd straight.

Docs @ Dynamos – 4/16/23

The game between the Detroit Rockets and Boston Splinters was called after 5 innings due to heavy downpours, but it was considered mercy for the home team. Roy Halladay and Walter Johnson had rude welcomes to the league in their 1st appearances. Halladay allowed 8 runs on 8 hits, including 3 home runs in just 3 innings. Walter Johnson allowed 5 more runs and 2 homers in his 2 innings of work. Detroit’s Bill Freehan kicked off the Detroit scoring with a grand slam in the 2nd. He added a 2-run homer in the 4th to knock Halladay from the game. Dick Allen also had 2 homers for the Rockets, driving in 4 runs himself as he became the 1st player to reach 10 homers this season, and that accomplishment in just 15 games. Meanwhile, Detroit starter Roger Clemens kept Boston hitters off-balance, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 4 in a rare 5-inning shutout. The 13-0 win improves Detroit to 8-7, just 2 games behind the Splinters, who have now lost 3 straight.

Rockets @ Splinters – 4/16/23

Robin Roberts allowed 2 runs on 7 hits in 8 innings, and the St. Louis Wizards offense put up a big inning on Bob Gibson as they topped the Houston Hoots 9-5. Duke Snider hit his first home run of the season, a 3-run shot in the 1st inning off Gibson, but it was the 7th inning when things really fell apart for the hurler. Gibson entered the inning having only given up 4 hits, but St. Louis batted around, scoring 5 runs on 8 hits in that inning alone. Jeff Bagwell homered off Roberts in the 2nd, and Oscar Charleston added an RBI single in the 8th. Eddie Mathews added another homer in the 9th, the 1st of 3 runs off reliever Rube Marquard. Burleigh Grimes came in to get the final out and end Houston’s comeback hopes. With the win, St. Louis is 8-7 and just a game behind Houston in the National League race.

Wizards @ Hoots – 4/16/23