Like a well-oiled machine, Houston Hoots starter Juan Marichal turned in another dominant performance. Marichal improved to 4-1, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits in 8 innings against the St. Louis Wizards. Stan Musial’s 8th inning double plated the only St. Louis run. Wizards starter Greg Maddux scattered 9 hits and struck out 9 to keep pace with Marichal. He hurt his own shot in the 5th inning when he misplayed a dribbler from Tim Raines. Rogers Hornsby followed with a triple, and scored on Oscar Charleston’s base hit, giving Houston their only two runs. With the 2-1 win, the Hoots improved to 13-9. The Wizards fell to 8-14 and have now lost 7 straight games. Marichal leads the entire Maelstrom with a 1.26 ERA in 5 starts. Bruce Sutter pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 7th save.

Hoots @ Wizards – 4/23/23

New York starter Bob Feller pitched out of two bases-loaded jams caused by his inability to find the strike zone. Feller walked two hitters in each of the 3rd and 4th innings, but only allowed a single run to score. All of that changed in the 5th. Lou Gehrig led off the inning with a solo homerun. Harmon Killebrew added a 3-run shot later in the inning. Feller allowed another solo homer to Killebrew the next inning. When Hank Greenberg led off the 7th with another solo home run, it ended Feller’s day. Feller allowed 9 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings, but still struck out 7. Rickey Henderson added a solo homer off reliever Red Ruffing. In the 8th, Killebrew hit his 3rd home run of the game. All told, Oakland hit 6 homers, including 5 solo shots. Lefty Grove picked up his 1st win of the season, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings. Whitey Ford allowed another three Swats runs in the 9th thanks to 4 straight singles, but the Oakland Jacks still walked away with a 12-6 win. Killebrew finished 3 for 5 with 3 HR and 5 RBI. Yogi Berra led the New York offense, going 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. New York is now a Maelstrom worst 8-14.

Jacks @ Swats – 4/23/23

Carl Hubbell finally earned his 1st win of the season, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits in 8 innings against the Chicago Docs. That run only scored due to an error by Ron Santo in the 8th inning. Chicago’s Rick Reuschel kept the game close, but the Los Angeles Dynamos managed a run on Todd Helton’s RBI double, and another scored on a groundout by Jackie Robinson. Reuschel allowed just 4 hits in 8 innings. Tug McGraw had his 1st appearance since joining the Maelstrom, but struggled. McGraw walked two and allowed back-to-back singles with 2 outs in the 9th, as LA carried a 5-1 lead to victory. Los Angeles has now won 6 straight and are just 1/2 game behind Houston in the National League.

Dynamos @ Docs – 4/23/23

The Boston Splinters continued to pull away in the American League, winning their 6th straight game. Bert Blyleven became the 1st American League pitcher with 5 wins, earning his first shutout of the season as the Splinters topped the Detroit Rockets 5-0. Blyleven scattered 7 hits and struck out 6. Ted Williams and Frank Thomas hit solo home runs against Detroit starter David Cone to lead the Boston offense. Cone allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings, and is now 1-4. The win gives the Splinters a 5-game lead in the American League race, as they improved to 16-6. Detroit fell to 11-11.

Splinters @ Rockets – 4/23/23

The Los Angeles Dynamos kept their winning streak going, topping the Chicago Docs 8-2 to pull into a tie for 2nd place with the Docs. Sandy Koufax entered the game with two straight shutouts, but Chicago ended that streak with Buster Posey’s RBI single in the 1st inning. The Docs lead was short-lived, as Jackie Robinson hit an RBI triple in the 3rd off Cole Hamels. Hamels allowed 3 runs that inning, and another in the 5th. In the 6th, Frank Robinson put the game away with a 2-run home run, giving LA a 7-1 lead. Barry Bonds added a solo homer off Koufax in the 8th, but that’s all Chicago would get. Kevin Brown pitched 3 innings of relief for the Docs, allowing a run on a sacrifice fly to Tony Gwynn. Koufax became the 1st pitcher with 5 wins. He also added 9 strike outs, and leads the league with 57. The 5-game winning streak puts Los Angeles in a tie with Chicago in the National League, both teams 1 game behind Houston.

Dynamos @ Docs – 4/22/23