Jim Palmer took a 1-hit shutout into the 8th, and Tris Speaker drove in 3 as the Boston Splinters topped the Oakland Jacks 7-2 for their 13th victory. Speaker hit his 1st home run of the season in the 1st inning, taking Stan Coveleski deep for a solo shot. Speaker added sacrifice flies in the 5th and 8th. George Brett was 2 for 5 with a 2-run homer, and is hitting .480 this season. Palmer walked 6, but otherwise kept the Oakland offense guessing. Jimmie Foxx hit a 2-run homer in the 8th to break up the shutout. Palmer finished with a complete game, allowing 5 hits and improving to 3-1. Coveleski continued his struggles, allowing 12 hits and 7 runs in 8 innings. Boston now leads the league with a 13-6 record. Ichiro Suzuki was 1 for 5 in his 1st game with the Splinters after joining the Hall of Fame team.

Splinters @ Jacks – 4/20/23

Sammy Sosa put on a show, going 3 for 5 with 2 home runs, a double, and 4 RBI to lead the Chicago Docs over the St. Louis Wizards 9-3. Sosa hit a 2-out 2-run homer in the 1st against Wizards starter Robin Roberts. He added his 2nd homer, a solo shot, to lead off the 5th. In the 6th, he hit a 2-run double, again with 2 outs, as part of a 4-run inning for the Docs against Roberts. Roberts allowed 13 hits and 9 runs in 6 innings. St. Louis scored their 3 runs in the 4th when Duke Snider hit an RBI double, and Willie Mays followed with a 2-run homer. Chicago starter Orel Hershiser allowed 4 hits in the inning, but only 2 hits during the rest of his 6-inning start. Hershiser improved to 2-0. William Bell pitched 3 scoreless innings for a rare save. With the win, the Docs are now 10-9, while St. Louis has fallen to 8-11. Wizards catcher Mike Piazza left in the 2nd inning after getting hit by a foul tip.

Wizards @ Docs – 4/20/23

Dave Stieb allowed just 4 hits and a run, a solo home run to Cal Ripken Jr., while striking out 6 as the Detroit Rockets topped the New York Swats 3-1 in their 1st game without Ichiro Suzuki. Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and left the team to join the Boston Splinters. Despite the great pitching by Stieb, Detroit still needed some help to win. With two outs in the 3rd inning, Álex Rodríguez hit a liner to center that Ty Cobb misjudged, allowing 2 runs to score. Miguel Cabrera followed with an RBI single to give Detroit another run. Swats starter Mike Mussina allowed just 5 hits and struck out 7 in 8 innings, with those three unearned runs making the difference. The Rockets win keeps pressure on Boston, as Detroit has cut the Splinters lead to 1 1/2 games. Shoeless Joe Jackson struggled in his 1st game in the league, going 0 for 4 with a strikeout in place of Suzuki. Tom Henke recover from his blown save yesterday, pitching a scoreless 9th.

Swats @ Rockets – 4/20/23

Barry Bonds led the Chicago Docs offense, going 2 for 4 with a double, home run, and 3 RBI, but it was Jerry Koosman who was the star of the game, as the Docs topped the St. Louis Wizards 7-0. Koosman held the Wizards to 4 hits and struck out 4 in the 1st shutout of his POPs league career. Koosman was 2-8 last season, but has already matched that win total this year. Burleigh Grimes allowed 7 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings for the Wizards. Two of those runs were thanks to Wizards errors. The Docs are now 9-9, while the loss drops the Wizards to 8-10. It’s still a close race in the National League, with the Houston Hoots leading at 11-7.

Wizards @ Docs – 4/19/23

The Detroit Rockets topped the New York Swats 7-6 after a crazy 8th and 9th inning. Swats starter Bob Feller and Bret Saberhagen allowed two runs each heading into the 6th inning when Robert Alomar hit a solo home run to give New York a lead. Feller retired the 1st two hitters in the bottom of the 8th, but Ichiro Suzuki drilled a double into the gap to keep the inning alive. Álex Rodríguez followed with a mammoth two-run shot to give the Rockets the lead. Detroit turned it over to Tom Henke to close things out in the 9th, but Henke ran into trouble right away. Joe Mauer singled to lead off the inning, and Derek Jeter, in his 1st start of the season, tripled to tie the game. Ty Cobb followed with a 2-run homer to give the Swats a 6-4 lead. After Harry Heilmann grounded out, Henke pulled it together to strike out Dick Allen and Babe Ruth to end the inning. Satchel Paige got two quick outs in the bottom of the 9th, but left a fastball over the plate for pinch-hitter Dwight Evans, who hit a solo home run to cut the lead. Paige then walked pinch-hitter Manny Ramírez, and Kenny Lofton tripled to tie the game. Suzuki then came in clutch with a clean single to walk it off for the Rockets. Suzuki finished 3 for 5 in, potentially, his final game with Detroit. He’s expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, so would join one of the American League Hall of Fame teams before tomorrow’s games.

Swats @ Rockets – 4/19/23

Despite just 3 hits through 7 innings against Phil Niekro, the Los Angeles Dynamos rode a Ralph Kiner 3-run home run into the 8th inning. That’s when Tony Gwynn led the inning off with a triple, Ron Santo singled, and Turkey Stearnes hit a 2-run shot, his 1st homer since joining the league. For LA, Tom Seaver took a shutout into the 8th before Tim Raines hit an RBI double. The Dynamos feasted on Warren Spahn in the 9th, batting around and scoring 6 more runs, thanks to a grand slam by Chipper Jones. Willie Stargell did hit a solo shot off Seaver in the bottom of the 9th, but LA won it 12-2. Seaver won his 2nd game, holding Houston to just 7 hits and striking out 7. The loss drops the Hoots lead in the NL to 2 1/2 games.

Dynamos @ Hoots – 4/19/23

Oakland’s Hal Newhouser scattered 7 hits in 9 innings of work against the American League leading Boston Splinters. But a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch were all Boston would need to end up on top 2-1. Boston starter Bert Blyleven held the Jacks to just one run on 5 hits, striking out 5 in 8 innings. The game was tied through 6 innings when Tris Speaker singled with one out. Ted Williams followed with a double. That’s when Newhouser thew a ball in the dirt that skipped by Josh Gibson, allowing Speaker to score. Mickey Mantle and Frank Thomas grounded out to end the inning. With the victory, Blyleven became the 1st AL pitcher to 4 wins. Rollie Fingers pitched a perfect 9th for his 6th save. Boston is now 12-6, with a 2 1/2 game lead over Detroit in the American League.

Splinters @ Jacks – 4/19/23

Sandy Koufax turned in another dazzling performance, holding the Chicago Docs to 4 hits while striking out 10 in his 3rd shutout in 5 starts this season. The win improved Koufax to 4-1, and he now accounts for over half of Los Angeles’ 7 wins this season. Chicago’s Rick Reuschel allowed just 6 hits himself, but back-to-back doubles by Turkey Stearnes and Todd Helton put Chicago up 2-0 in the 6th. Reuschel hurled a complete game too, but picked up the loss to drop to 2-2. The Docs dropped to 8-9, and are now 3 games behind Houston in the National League. Koufax leads the NL in wins and strikeouts, and trails just Juan Marichal with a 1.67 ERA.

Docs @ Dynamos – 4/18/23

Ted Williams went 3 for 5 with two doubles, a home run, and 6 RBI against the Detroit Rockets. Meanwhile, Gaylord Perry scattered 8 hits and struck out 8 in a complete game 11-1 victory for the Boston Splinters. Detroit starter David Cone struggled with control, allowing 7 earned runs on 7 hits while walking 6 in 5 innings. Luis Tiant held Boston scoreless for 2 innings of relief, but Urban Shocker gave up a 3-run shot to Williams in the 8th. Perry’s lone run came thanks to an error by Frank Thomas in the 3rd inning. George Brett went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .489. Boston had lost 4 straight, but with this win, they’ve extended their lead in the American League to 2 games.

Rockets @ Splinters – 4/18/23